“Middle Class” Joe’s War On … The Middle Class (WTI Crude UP 102% Under Biden, Reg Gasoline UP 83%, Diesel Fuel UP 111%)

Joe Biden likes to sell himself as “Middle Class” Joe. But Middle Class Joe declared war on the middle class with executive orders on fossil fuel drilling and killing the Keystone pipeline. Hence, his press conference on reducing inflation left off one thing: he could rescind the aforementioned executive orders. But he didn’t. So its Band-Aids on Band-Aids.

Since Biden was elected President, WTI Crude Oil futures are up 102%. Regular gasoline is up 83% and the lifeline of the shipping industry, diesel, is up 111%. Of course, inflation measures don’t measure the harm to the middle class at 8.5% YoY.

Here is Biden’s speech, blaming everyone but himself for inflation. And then walks away (as usual) when asked a tough question. But he lied. He COULD cancel his executive orders on oil and natural gas exploration, but didn’t. Instead, he blamed Trump and MAGA voters.

Morning Update! S&P 500 Futures UP, Mortgage Rates UP To 5.57%, Apartment Rents UP 20% YoY, WTI Crude Down -1.76%

At least S&P 500 futures are up this morning, an opportunity to buy the dip.

But on the housing front, we see that mortgage rates have pieced the 5.50% barrier and is now at 5.57%.

On the rent side, apartment rents are growing at 19.3% YoY for both Class A and Class B units.

Commodities are down this AM. WTI Crude is down -1.71%, iron ore is down -4.06% and nickel is down -6.29%.

Whoops! After a positive futures reading before opening, the Dow is down near a full percentage point, but the NASDAQ is almost breakeven for the day.

And the 10-year Treasury yield is down 8.6 bps.

As The Boss sang, “We’re going down.”

Blue Monday Or Stagflation? Commodities Signal Stagflation (WTI Crude DOWN 2.72%, Iron Ore DOWN 5%, S&P 500 Futures DOWN 1.7%, 10Y Treasury Yields Rise To 3.20% Then Sinks)

As the US is engulfed in inflation while The Federal Reserve is engaged in trying to fight inflation (well, sort of), we are seeing markets taking a shellacking, particularly commodities.

One indicator of a slowdown is declining commodity prices. Crude oil futures are down around -2.5%. Iron Ore is down -5% and steel rebar is down -3.21%.

Inflation numbers are due out Wednesday and are forecast to be 8.1% YoY (based on headline CPI). But combined with a slowing global economy, we get the dreaded “STAGFLATION.”

Meanwhile, the S&P 500 index futures are down around 1.726% for Monday open. Asian markets already got clobbered with the Hang Seng down almost -4%.

On the bond side, the 10Y Treasury Note yield rose to 3.20% early in the morning, but has retreated to 3.1447% as of 8:40am EST.

Both stock and bond market volatility measures are increasing.

So, is it a Blue Monday effect? Or global stagflation?

Time for supplemental income under the Biden Administration.

Weekend Update! Mortgage Rates UP 87% Under Biden, Gasoline UP 80%, Food UP 59%, Commodities UP 63%, WTI Crude UP, Rents UP 17% YoY (Ain’t That A Kick In The … Head!)

As crooner Dean Martin once said, “Let ’em have it!” Ain’t this a kick in the … head.

Perhaps Joe Biden and Fed Chair Jay Powell are channeling Dean Martin by letting us have it.

Since Obama’s 3rd term as President (aka, Biden’s installation as President on January 20, 2021), mortgage rates have risen 87%, regular gasoline prices have risen 80%, CRB foodstuffs are up 59% and Commodities are up 63%.

And don’t forget about America’s energy life force, WTI Crude Oil. It is UP 123% under Biden.

Rents? Rising at a 16.8% rate.

Rents rising, food costs rising, energy costs rising, Biden and The Fed are taking us higher. In terms of prices and cost of living.

Cooler Kings! As Biden Keeps Going Green And Fed Raises Rates, Everything Is Cooling (Mortgage Rates UP, Venture Capital Down 53%, Stocks Crushed, Etc)

The Biden Administration and The Federal Reserve together should be called “The Cooler Kings” in that their policies are putting a Big Chill on the mortgage market and equities.

Mortgage rates are skyrocketing thanks to the Federal Reserve.

The 30-year fixed-rate mortgage averaged 5.27% for the week ending May 5, according to data released by Freddie Mac FMCC, -1.62% on Thursday. That’s up 17 basis points from the previous week — one basis point is equal to one hundredth of a percentage point, or 1% of 1%.

House price growth to wage growth is below the all-time high, but remains above housing bubble levels of 2005-2007.

The Refinitiv Venture Capital Index is down 53% since November ’21 as The Fed cranks up interest rates.

Well, at least commodities are soaring under “The Cooler Kings.” Pretty much everything else is sucking wind.

Home prices are actually falling in some cities, like Toledo Ohio, Detroit Michigan, Rochester NY, and Pittsburgh PA. Even La-La Land (Los Angeles CA) is seeing a drop in median listing price since 2021 of -5.0%.

The question, of course, is whether The Federal Reserve will back off its plans to aggressively raise interest rates in lieu of crashing stock market, venture capital, and possibly home prices.

This is Scorcher VI: Global Meltdown.

Does Biden and The Fed Feel Like We Do?

Bidenflation And Jobs: REAL Avg Hourly Earnings Growth Declines Further To -3% YoY, Fertilizer Prices UP 262% Under Biden

Trevor Noah was correct. EVERYTHING is more expensive under Biden. And REAL average hourly earnings YoY keeps declining.

REAL average hourly earnings YoY fell further to -3%.

Meanwhile, fertilizer prices, a key ingredient to food costs, is up 262% under Biden.

Today’s jobs report was better than expected, at 428k jobs added (versus 380k expected). Its just too bad Bidenflation is clubbing American workers to economic death.

US labor force participation actually declined in April and struggles to get back to levels pre-Covid and Trump.

Here is the jobs market data for April 2022.

Leisure and hospitality sector still has a way to go after the ill-advised government shutdowns surrounding Covid.

Oddly, there are two job openings for every unemployed person.

Here is the new version of American Gothic.

Don’t Panic! NASDAQ Plunges 5% As 10Y T-Note Yield Rises +16.1 BPS (NASDAQ Simply Back To Before Fed Announcement, But Treasury Rates Higher)

The headline screamed “NASDAQ PLUNGES 5%!

True, it did, but it simply lost the gain’s from yesterday’s surprisingly mild Fed announcement.

But the 10-year Treasury yield is rising faster than my blood pressure. The 10-year Treasury yield is up to 3.09%.

Cryptos? Bitcoin is down -7.27% and Dash is down -8.23%.

Watch out mortgage rates!!

Don’t panic … about the NASDAQ. EVERYBODY PANIC about rising mortgage rates.

Winter Is Coming! Natural Gas Price SOARS 216% Under Biden, Heating Oil SOARS 199% (Cost Of Heating Homes Getting Expensive!)

President Joe Biden should do an ad for his energy policies ala Game of Thrones, “Bundle up! Winter is Coming!”

Since Biden was installed as President in January 2021, natural gas futures prices are UP 216% and heating oil is up 199%.

The average price of home electricity has SOARED under Biden, as has the prices of many things.

Fortunately for Biden and Congress, they live in well-heated (and air-conditioned) digs in the DC area and are not exposed to the damage done by Biden’s executive orders on energy.

Biden looks good in that armor!

10Y Treasury Yield Hits 3% Then Retreats, Europe Suffers A Flash Crash (US Dollar Rises As Powell & The Gang Signal Tightening)

Today we saw the 10-year Treasury Note yield break through the 3% barrier, then retreat as is there was a reflecting barrier at 3%.

And in Europe, we saw a flash crash allegedly caused by Citi’s trading desk.

The selloff was triggered by a large erroneous transaction made by the U.S. bank’s London trading desk, according to people with knowledge of the matter who asked not to be identified discussing private information. A knee-jerk selloff in OMX Stockholm 30 Index in five minutes wreaked havoc in bourses stretching from Paris to Warsaw toppling the main European index by as much as 3% and wiping out 300 billion euros ($315 billion) at one point.

The US Dollar rose again as expectations of Fed monetary tightening due to inflation become a reality.

Bond Rout Boogie by Powell and The Gang!

Is YET another Fed error in the making??

Medusa Touch II: REAL Wage Earning Growth Remains Negative, Reverse Repos Continue To Grow, Lithium Prices And Mortgage Rates SOAR

President Biden (or whoever is pulling his strings) is inflicting a “Medusa Touch” on the US. That is, everything his administration touches turns to stone.

Yesterday, I walked through the rise in energy and food prices under Biden, and it is horrific. The only “disinformation” was generated by the Biden Administration itself claiming that soaring inflation is due to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. I demonstrated that inflation began with Biden’s anti-fossil fuel executive orders and the Russia invasion only made things worse.

Let’s look at average hourly earnings. Thanks to “progressive” energy policies from Biden, REAL average hourly earnings growth has crashed and burned.

But here is the chart that the Biden Administration touts showing average hourly earnings growth at 5.6% YoY (although I doubt if Jen Psaki would leave out the massive distortion caused by The Federal Reserve’s “Let’s go crazy!” monetary policy.

Another Medusa Touch moment is the reverse repo market. When I wrote about reverse repos before, several people wrote me saying “You don’t understand. This is a temporary problem and will vanish shortly.” However, The Fed’s reverse repo facility has now climbed to an all-time high.

Then we have the disruptive effects of The Federal Reserve deciding for us that mortgage rates are too low and should be higher.

Now look at lithium prices, a key element for electric car batteries. Making the switch from Internal combustion engines to electric motors far more costly.

The list goes on and on.

Suffice it to say, everything the Biden Administration touches turns to stone.

But I wager that the Biden Administration wishes that Hunter Biden’s laptop would turn to stone.

Only an elitist DC bureaucrat like Joe Biden would laugh at inflation that is ruining the lives of millions of Americans.