Pension Fund Blues! Agency MBS Prices And Mortgage REITs Declining As Fed Withdraws Monetary Stimulypto (Duration Risk Increasing)

Pension funds have long been investing in “safe” agency mortgage-backed securities.

But as The Fed does its “tighten up”, we are seeing agency MBS prices falling and duration risk rising.

I remember showing my Fixed-income class at Chicago and George Mason the “MBS doom chart” showing the perils of The Fed pushing rates so low that the risk of rising rates becomes a serious problem when rates start to rise. Well, here we are … after I have retired from teaching.

Note the double whammy of Fed rate increases and the gradual shrinking of The Fed’s balance sheet as The Fed withdraws it ample stimulus. But while The Fed was overstimulating markets, it was quite a rush.

But the rush is gone … for the moment. But “Feddie Krueger” is waiting in the wings to do it all over again!

The Thrill Is Gone! US Existing Home Sales Plummet -23.79% YoY, Median Price Drops To 8.07% YoY (Longest Decline In EHS Since 2007)

The thrill is gone … from all the Covid stimulus out of Washington DC.

Today’s existing home sales were … gruesome. While EHS month-over-month were down only -1.5%, on a year-over-year basis EHS was down a staggering -23.79%.

If you look at the declining growth rate of M2 Money (green line) and rising mortgage rates (yellow line), we can see why the housing market is struggling.

How about median price? That dropped to 8.07% YoY as inventory for sale remains lower than before Covid and Covid stimulypto.

With Fed tightening and historic inflation, we are all living under a bad sign.

The NEW logo for The Federal Reserve! If it wasn’t for The Fed, we would have no luck at all.

US Mortgage Rates Climb To 7.20% (Highest Since 2000) As Core Inflation And Diesel Prices Soar With The Fed Counterttacking (Mortgage Rates Likely To Rise To 9-9.25% By May 2023)

US 30-year mortgage rates rose to 7.20% yesterday, the highest rate since 2000. Why?

Core inflation is rising and its the highest since 1992. Diesel prices, the all-important fuel for the transportation industry, is rising again after a brief respite and is near the all-time high.

But will mortgage rates continue to rise? That depends on The Federal Reserve. Will they continue to try to combat inflation (largely caused by … The Federal Reserve and voracious Federal spending under Biden/Pelosi/Schumer (The Three Amigos).

As of today, investors in Fed Funds Futures are pointing to a peak of Fed tightening in May 2023, then a slow decline in rates.

While this is The Fed Funds rate, it is likely that mortgage rates will continue to rise to May 2023 then level out at 9%-9.25%.

I really miss teaching college students. An example of a test question I gave was the first chart: who was The President when all hell broke loose (pink box)? 1) Joe Biden, 2) Donald Trump or 3) Millard Fillmore?

The answer, of course, is Joe Biden.

Doesn’t Millard Fillmore, the 13th President of the United States, look like actor Alec Baldwin after too many cheeseburgers and chocolate milkshakes at In-N-Out Burger?

Bear in mind that the are numerous wildcards in play, like the Russia/Ukraine war and the probability the China will invade Taiwan in the near future.

Alarm! US Diesel Fuel UP 107% Under Biden, Diesel Inventory DOWN -35.2% (The US Is The Truck Stop At The End Of The World!)

We’re at the truck stop at the end of the world!

US core inflation keeps rising and diesel fuel, the life line of the economy, is rising again and is UP 107% under Biden. And the inventory of diesel fuel is DOWN -35.2%.

Speaking of the end of the world, NAHB foot traffic has collapsed.

The B.I.D.E.N System! Biden Plans To Release Additional 10-15 Million Barrels Of Crude Oil From Strategic Petroleum Reserve (Regular Gasoline Prices UP 62% Under Biden And Diesel Fuel Prices UP 101.4%)

Joe Biden reminds me of Dennis Reynolds from “Its Always Sunny In Philadelphia.” And his D.E.N.N.I.S System. But Biden’s System is blatant politics. With the midterm elections in November and Democrats looking a bit behind, Biden is pulling out the political guns by 1) ramping up student loan forgiveness … again and 2) releasing 10-15 million MORE barrels from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve to lower gasoline prices. Particularly after his failed attempts to get the Saudis to pump more oil (too bad Biden put the kabash on US energy exploration and cancelled the Keystone pipeline).

Having said that, we can see that BEFORE the latest SPR order, the US Strategic Petroleum Reserve, meant to cope with national emergencies like … Russia dropping a nuke on the US, has declined -36% under Nuclear Joe.

At the same time, regular gasoline prices are UP 62% under Biden and the all-important diesel fuel prices are UP 101.4% under Biden.

Of course, expect The B.I.D.E.N System to do everything in its power to destroy the economy if Republicans win the midterms. Including no more SPR release.

The B.I.D.E.N. System.

Pivot Powell? “Temporary” Cash Added To Banking System Seems Strangely Permanent Under Bidenflation (Will The Fed Break The Market?) Stocks UP Over 1% Today

Will The Fed break the … market?

I love to teach, but my students at Chicago, Ohio State and George Mason would fall asleep when I would discuss repurchase and reverse repurchase agreements (or REPOs and Reverse REPOs). But repos and reverse repos are a critical part of the banking system.

In short, the Repo market is a window into what’s going on behind the scenes.

As Bidenflation soars, and The Fed counterattacks, we see Fed’s repo market remains elevated. Note that The Fed’s balance sheet (orange line) is only slowly being reduced.

Right now, the risk lurking in the shadows is Balance Sheet Runoff. The Fed, the markets, the regulators, have limited experience with the Fed shrinking the balance sheet. Bottom line: there’s a risk that Balance Sheet Runoff will breaking something.

The global stock market is up again today, despite Fed tightening and a war in Ukraine. The Dow is up 1.38% and the S&P 500 is up 1.75%.

Likely cause? Rumors that The Fed and other global central banks will pivot sooner than later.

It is likely that The Fed will pivot to prevent a crash and the stock market in pricing in that pivot.

Bernanke, Yellen and Powell are NOT Paul Volcker. In fact, I am coining a new nickname for Fed Chair Jerome Powell: Pivot Powell.

The Empire Strikes Out! NY State General Business Conditions Tanks To -9.1 As Global Yields Plummet

The Empire Strikes Out!

The US Empire State Manufacturing Survey General Business Conditions SA index fell to -9.1 in October, continuing a downward trend along with the downward trend in Fed M2 Money stock growth.

And the global sovereign debt market is showing fear as 10-year sovereign yields drop -10 basis points. The UK 10-year is down -36.8 bps! The US is down only -6.6 bps this morning.

The Empire (State) strikes out.

This One’s Going To Hurt You! US Dollar Continues To Rise, Hurting Investors (US Dollar UP 25.2% With Bidenflation)

This one’s going to hurt you for a long, long time.

Over the past year, the dollar has been on a tear: The U.S. Dollar Index, which measures the dollar’s strength against a basket of foreign currencies, is up 18%. And up 25.2% under 80-year old US President Joe Biden (well, he will be 80 in November).

For tourists, a strong dollar is great news. It means you get more for your money abroad.

But for investors, a beefed-up buck is decidedly bad news.

When the dollar strengthens, that means foreign revenues are going to translate into fewer dollars. Those earnings are going to come in lower and any overseas investment you own is going to hurt you in a rising dollar environment.

Winter Is Coming! US Electricity Prices UP 24% Under Biden (S&P 500 Index DOWN -25.3% In 2022 As Fed Rate Reversal Expected In May 2023)

It’s beginning to look a lot like winter. Perhaps we should call Biden “Frosty The Snow Man” because it is going to be a miserable winter for the middle class and low wages workers as Biden’s green energy policies sink in.

The US CPI for electricity is up 24% under Nuclear Joe as The Fed continues to leave their balance sheet relatively untouched.

You might have to bail on the stock market to stay warm this winter, but it is a shame that the S&P 500 index is down -25.3% in 2022 as The Fed counterattacks Bidenflation.

When will The Federal Reserve pivot? That is, when can we sing “Here comes Santa Claus”?

According to the Fed Funds Futures data, Santa Claus is expected to return in May 2023 (rate reversal).

Double! US Diesel Prices Rising Again (UP 100% Under Biden) As Inventories Have Shrunk By -37.5% (And You Wonder Why Inflation Is Soaring?)

Like in the Sean Connery movie “The Hill,” we are seeing US diesel prices doubling.

Diesel, the lifeline of the shipping industry, is UP 100% under Biden (that is, diesel prices have doubled) while the inventory of diesel fuel has declined by -37.5% under Biden.

And you wonder why inflation is at 40 year highs?