The Most Splendid Housing Bubbles in America: Price Drops & Gains in 33 Big Expensive Cities, March 2026

by Wolf Richter • Apr 16, 2026 • 13 Comments

From the “Mansion Shortage” in AI-bubble-epicenter San Francisco infecting mid-tier home prices, to Austin & Oakland where prices plunged over 25% since 2022.

The Largest Foreign Holders of US Treasury Securities and the “Basis Trade”: April 2026 Update

by Wolf Richter • Apr 15, 2026 • 41 Comments

Foreign demand for the ballooning US Treasury debt is an increasingly important issue. But how much of that demand is actually “foreign?”

Car & Truck Inflation in America: Cost of Vehicle Ownership Soared by 36% since 2020

by Wolf Richter • Apr 14, 2026 • 103 Comments

Prices of new & used vehicles, insurance, gasoline, maintenance & repairs, parts & accessories, and fees.

Dear Readers, Please Donate to WOLF STREET: Spring 2026 Reminder

by Wolf Richter • Apr 14, 2026 • 30 Comments

Your generous support over the years has kept WOLF STREET free and open to all, without paywall. Thank you!!

PPI Jumps by over 6% Month-to-Month Annualized for 3rd Month in a Row. Energy Price Spike just Latest Wrinkle

by Wolf Richter • Apr 14, 2026 • 21 Comments

The hit from energy in March was softened as food and services briefly backed off. In prior months, services were the driver.

Single-Family Home Sales Drop Further into Deepfreeze, Supply Hits 10-Year High, Condo Sales Plunge to Record Low

by Wolf Richter • Apr 13, 2026 • 93 Comments

March was a lousy beginning of spring selling season. But mortgage rates ticked up only modestly.

US Government Sold $620 Billion of Treasury Securities this Week. 10-Year Yield Ends at 4.31%, 30-Year Yield at 4.91%

by Wolf Richter • Apr 11, 2026 • 120 Comments

Those yields look too low for what’s coming at the bond market: The next wave of Inflation and a Fed that’s comfortable with 3%+ core PCE inflation.

First Wave of Energy Price Spikes Hit CPI Inflation

by Wolf Richter • Apr 10, 2026 • 31 Comments

Energy that Americans pay for directly: Gasoline, propane, fuel oil, other fuels, utility natural gas, and electricity.

US Government Interest Payments, Tax Receipts, Average Interest Rate on the Debt, and Debt-to-GDP Ratio in Q4 2025

by Wolf Richter • Apr 9, 2026 • 40 Comments

It’s ugly, but slightly less ugly.

The Once Uber-Dovish ECB Continues QT, Shed €66 Billion in March, Has now Shed 50% of QE Assets since Peak

by Wolf Richter • Apr 9, 2026 • 13 Comments

Marking its gold to market every quarter (unlike the Fed), the ECB booked another big write-up of its gold holdings in Q1.

Six-Month Core PCE Inflation (still before Iran War) Jumps by Most since June 2024. The Fed Needs to Pay Attention

by Wolf Richter • Apr 9, 2026 • 39 Comments

“Market-Based Core PCE price index,” which excludes the imputed housing components, spiked by the most since February 2023.

Home Prices in the Largest European Countries Range from Housing Bubbles to a Market that Fell back to 2010

by Wolf Richter • Apr 8, 2026 • 50 Comments

Germany, France, Italy, Spain, Netherlands, Poland, Belgium, Sweden, Ireland, Austria, Norway, Denmark, Romania, Czech Republic, Finland, Portugal, Slovakia, Hungary, Bulgaria.

Used Vehicle Wholesale Prices Jumped. That’s How it Started in 2020 when Broad Inflation Took Off

by Wolf Richter • Apr 7, 2026 • 54 Comments

These new inflation pressures suddenly building up in the pipeline are concerning.

Bank of Japan Accelerated QT Further, Started Selling Equity ETFs & J-REITs, Shed 12.6% of its Assets since the Peak

by Wolf Richter • Apr 7, 2026 • 12 Comments

BOJ tries to put a floor under the yen and a lid on inflation through QT, rather than with rate hikes.

About those Orders for Durable Goods that Factories in the US Received

by Wolf Richter • Apr 7, 2026 • 20 Comments

The 12-month average, which irons out Boeing’s huge orders, shows the trend: +8.8% year-over-year.

Japanese Government 10-Year Yield Highest since 1997, Yen at 160 despite Intervention Threats, But Bond Vigilantes Still Dead

by Wolf Richter • Apr 6, 2026 • 27 Comments

Inflation and the deteriorating yen pushed the Bank of Japan into a hawkish stance, and bond yields are on their own.

Bond Market Gets Nervous about Rising Inflation, Ballooning Debt, Sees Rate Hike. Mortgage Rates Jump to 6.46%

by Wolf Richter • Apr 4, 2026 • 65 Comments

10-Year Treasury yield bounced to 4.35% on Friday, after dipping earlier in the week. 30-year Treasury near 5%. Entire Yield Curve above EFFR.

This is the Weirdest US Labor Market I’ve Ever Seen

by Wolf Richter • Apr 3, 2026 • 117 Comments

Weak demand for labor and job destruction at federal & state governments should push up unemployment. But the supply of labor has plunged.

My Take on Auto Sales in March – Come to Think of it, My Take on the Tough & Ugly US Auto Market

by Wolf Richter • Apr 2, 2026 • 93 Comments

GM, Ford, Honda in a quagmire. Tesla now like GM & Ford. Stellantis & Nissan try to exit a death spiral. Toyota gains. Hyundai-Kia rocks from record to record.

The Massive Unsustainable Trade Deficit in Goods Has Improved Sharply. Tariffs Are Doing their Job

by Wolf Richter • Apr 2, 2026 • 74 Comments

The 6-month average trade deficit in goods fell to $80 billion, the least-bad since 2020.