Fed Hikes by 25 Basis Points, to 5.25% Top of Range. Says, “Extent to which Additional Policy Firming May be Appropriate,” instead of “Pause.” QT Continues by Wolf Richter • May 3, 2023 • 183 Comments The rate is now where it last was during the 14-month-long pause from June 2006 to August 2007.
With Mortgage Rates Stuck at 6.5%, Spring Selling Season Turns into Dud by Wolf Richter • May 3, 2023 • 129 Comments But unlike homeowners, homebuilders know how to sell into a down-market: by cutting prices. So a shift to new home sales.
Companies Rebalance their Workforce after the Excesses: Still the Most Astonishing Labor Market by Wolf Richter • May 2, 2023 • 69 Comments Before the ink even dried on the layoff announcements, tech and social media companies are already hiring again?
Just in Time for ECB Rate-Hike Meeting: Eurozone Services Inflation Spikes to New Record. Overall Inflation Re-Accelerates by Wolf Richter • May 2, 2023 • 87 Comments These nasty surprises just keep coming when inflation is broadly entrenched in the economy.
Here’s the Great Deal JP Morgan Got on First Republic, according to JP Morgan’s Victory Lap in front of Investors by Wolf Richter • May 1, 2023 • 183 Comments A one-time “bargain purchase gain” of $2.6 billion, “over $500 million” in net income accretion, lots of other goodies amounting to an IRR of “over 20%.”
First Republic Zombie Bank Dismembered, Pieces Handed to JP Morgan, Uninsured Depositors Bailed Out. Stockholders, some Bondholders Bailed in. Cost to FDIC Fund: $13 Billion by Wolf Richter • May 1, 2023 • 135 Comments FDIC Board Member McKernan laments “our country’s bailout culture that privatizes gains while socializing losses.”
Remember the Lithium Shortage & Huge Price Spike? In the Four Months since, Lithium Collapsed 70% amid Talk of Lithium Glut by Wolf Richter • Apr 29, 2023 • 152 Comments Fits with Tesla’s big price cuts, aimed at internal-combustion-engine vehicles.
This Inflation is Stuck, Churns from Product to Product: Core PCE Price Index Moves Sideways for 9 Months, Stubbornly High Near 5%. To Top it Off, February Was Revised Higher by Wolf Richter • Apr 28, 2023 • 231 Comments It’s just not encouraging at all. Inflation is just shifting around.
Fed’s Balance Sheet Plunges $171 Billion in Five Weeks since Peak Bank Bailout as QT Continues and Liquidity Support Cools by Wolf Richter • Apr 27, 2023 • 156 Comments First Republic, is this you?
Spring Selling Season Already Goes to Heck, Pending Home Sales Plunge. Banking Crisis to Blame? by Wolf Richter • Apr 27, 2023 • 101 Comments A harbinger for closed sales in April and May.
