Are Hopes of Lower Mortgage Rates Freezing Up the Market Further? Buyers’ Strike Continues by Wolf Richter • Jan 10, 2024 • 296 Comments Mortgage rates dropped a lot, but not nearly enough to hit the magic level that thaws out the housing market. Now they rose again.
The BTFP Will Expire in March: Fed Vice Chair for Supervision Michael Barr by Wolf Richter • Jan 9, 2024 • 80 Comments Last remaining bailout tool from the March bank panic goes away. Current arbitrage may have been a factor in shutting down this baby.
Which Industries Lost Jobs, Which Gained Jobs, including Government Jobs: Longer-Term Employment Trends in Charts by Wolf Richter • Jan 7, 2024 • 70 Comments Some are hot, some are cold. And a special look at employment in oil & gas drilling and in mining.
Fed Balance Sheet QT: -$1.28 Trillion from Peak, to $7.66 Trillion, Lowest since March 2021. Banks Got an Arbitrage Opportunity when Yields Dropped by Wolf Richter • Jan 4, 2024 • 81 Comments The Fed has shed 31% of the Treasury securities it had added during pandemic QE.
The Most Splendid Housing Bubbles in America, December 2023 Update by Wolf Richter • Dec 26, 2023 • 219 Comments Down from 2022 highs: San Francisco -12%, Seattle -11%, Portland -6%; Denver, Phoenix, Las Vegas -5%; Dallas -4%, San Diego -2%, Los Angeles -1%. But new highs in 8 metros.
QE Giveth, QT Taketh Away: German Home Prices Tank as ECB’s Balance Sheet Drops by €1.85 Trillion by Wolf Richter • Dec 24, 2023 • 82 Comments Biggest home-price drops in the data going back to 2000 triggered by the biggest QT and highest rates in ECB history.
Are Foreign Holders Finally Bailing Out of the Incredibly Ballooning US National Debt? by Wolf Richter • Dec 20, 2023 • 111 Comments China and Brazil shed large portions of their holdings, but the top financial centers loaded up.
The Shocking Price Increases of the Pickup Truck Oligopoly (Tesla Getting Ready to Mess Up Their Party?) by Wolf Richter • Dec 15, 2023 • 288 Comments The “WOLF STREET F-150 XLT & Camry LE Price Index” for the 2024 Model Year is here. Ford’s price increases are grotesque, for third year in a row.
The Most Splendid Housing Bubbles in Canada: Toronto -19% from Peak, back to Sept. 2021. Hamilton Area -25%, Back to Feb. 2021. New High in Calgary by Wolf Richter • Dec 14, 2023 • 146 Comments Something darkly humorous about these central-bank engineered easy-money spikes that then go POOF.
Beneath the Skin of CPI Inflation, November: Core Services Inflation Accelerates on Rents, Insurance, Healthcare by Wolf Richter • Dec 12, 2023 • 150 Comments But gasoline plunged and durable goods dropped. Food rose further from already painfully high levels.
