What’s Behind the WTF Spike in Used-Vehicle Prices? My Gut Says, it Can’t Last. But if it Lasts, It’s Scary-Crazy Inflation by Wolf Richter • May 7, 2021 • 207 Comments And if it doesn’t last after the stimmies are gone, dealers will sit on massively overpriced collateral, which could get messy.
Fed’s QE amid “Everything Mania”: Total Assets $7.8 Trillion, More than Doubled in 18 Months since Repo Market Blowout by Wolf Richter • May 6, 2021 • 202 Comments QE from crisis to crisis, and even when there is no crisis.
The Dynamics Behind the Ugly Amount of Empty Office Space by Wolf Richter • May 4, 2021 • 127 Comments This sort of sudden structural collapse in demand for office space raises some existential questions for landlords.
Intel & TSMC on Chip Shortage: After Blowing $84 Billion on Share Buybacks since 2011 and Now Woefully Behind, Intel Clamors for $50 Billion in Subsidies for US Chip Industry by Wolf Richter • May 3, 2021 • 292 Comments “We will not be anywhere near as focused on buybacks going forward as we have in the past”: Intel’s new CEO.
Free-Money Stimmies Blow Out Consumer Income & Spending on Goods for a Glorious WTF Chart of the Year by Wolf Richter • Apr 30, 2021 • 305 Comments This is just freaking nuts. It explains the record trade deficits, bottlenecks, shortages, and inflation pressures, among other distortions.
The Most Splendid Housing Bubbles in America: “House-Price Inflation” out the Wazoo, Ignored by CPI. April Update by Wolf Richter • Apr 27, 2021 • 237 Comments Only exception: San Francisco Bay Area condo prices, down from year ago.
Forget 2% Inflation. With Margins Forcefully Squeezed, Big Companies Raise Prices, Point at Massive Inflation Overshoot by Wolf Richter • Apr 26, 2021 • 332 Comments Smaller companies too: Boots-on-the-ground view of surging costs in the roofing manufacturing industry. The Fed will brush it off as “temporary,” but the inflationary mindset has set in.
What Companies & Office Workers Said About Work from Home: Landlords Are Out of Luck by Wolf Richter • Apr 21, 2021 • 181 Comments A “distributed operational workforce” with a net reduction in demand for office space facing a business premised on endless growth.
The Taper Next Door: Bank of Canada Cuts Bond Purchases by 25%. Total Assets Drop by 13%. Rate Hikes Moved Forward, Possibly July 2022 by Wolf Richter • Apr 21, 2021 • 89 Comments Housing craziness is front and center.
US Dollar’s Status as Dominant “Global Reserve Currency” Drops to 25-Year Low by Wolf Richter • Mar 31, 2021 • 183 Comments Central banks getting nervous about the Fed’s drunken Money Printing and the US Government’s gigantic debt? But still leery of the Chinese renminbi.
