A strange narrative of “defeated inflation” is circulating in the mainstream in the wake of the Federal Reserve’s recent 75bps interest rate hike, but we’ve seen this kind of false optimism from the Fed and the media before.
Newsfeed: China And Japan Cut US Treasury Holdings As Federal Reserve Hikes Rates Read More »
U.S. mortgage rates jumped more than half a percentage point this week, an increase not seen in decades and one sure to price even more Americans out of the housing market.
Three weeks ago, we showed readers what happens when the infamous “Bullwhip effect” reversal takes place by presenting the unprecedented surge in the “Inventory to Sales” ratio for a broad range of US retailers covering the furniture, home furnishings and appliances, building materials and garden equipment, and a category known as “other general merchandise,” which includes Walmart and Target. Since then, this ratio has only gotten even more extended, and as shown below it is now at the highest level since the bursting of the dot com bubble!
Newsfeed: Deflationary Tsunami On Deck: A “Tidal Wave” Of Discounts And Crashing Prices Read More »
A little over a month ago, when mortgage rates were still “only” 5% we shared several devastating anecdotes from real estate agents and industry execs who validated our worst fears: US housing was imploding… fast, with subsequent observations only confirming this dire conclusion about the state of the most popular asset class among the US middle class.