‘Doomsday Clocks’ Likely Needed Before Congress Hikes Debt Limit (Difficult Questions With $31.5 TRILLION in Federal Debt And A Staggering $173.6 TRILLION in UNFUNDED LIABILITIES (Social Security, Medicare, Etc.))

Its that time again when Congress does its Kabuki Theater drama about raising the US debt limit. Of course, everyone in Congress and the Biden Administration want to spend trillions of dollars so they will hike the debt limit.

With the US government facing the danger of a payments default later this year, Congress has a variety of paths to avert economic disaster and boost the debt ceiling.

All of them would likely involve going right up to the market-rattling brink, according to current and former lawmakers and aides.

The timeline kicks off within weeks, when Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen is expected to advise that the government will deploy extraordinary accounting measures to avoid running out of cash. Those steps are forecast to be exhausted after July.

Republicans now in control of the House are demanding deep spending cuts as the price for an increase in the ceiling, while President Joe Biden and congressional Democrats reject such an outcome.

Nothing has been the same since the financial crisis of 2008 and the ascension of all-time big spender Nancy Pelosi as House Speaker. Budget deficits have never been the same. The last budget surplus was under House Speaker Newt Gingrich. But since the financial crisis of 2008, Federal spending seems to have increased its trajectory.

Note that mandatory spending (Medicare, Social Security, etc) is growing like a wild fire while discretionary spending is seemingly flat. So, it mandatory spending that Congress will pretend to cut.

Yes, it is Medicare for our aging population that has blown out of control.

Then we have defense spending. The Ukraine spending should come from this pot, but forces decisions to make between Ukraine and taking care of our Navy (to compete with the growing Chinese navy).

Of course, as The Fed fights inflation, we are seeing the COST of Federal debt soaring since Covid.

And the US is facing, in addition to $31.5 TRILLION in debt, a whopping $173.6 TRILLION in UNFUNDED LIABILITIES (Social Security, Medicare, etc).

Yes, Congress NEEDS to cut back the spending, particularly on Social Security and Medicare (not to mention Ukraine spending), but it is all Kabuki theater. Queue the screams of “Republicans will take away …”.

I wish everyone in Congress were like Kentucky U.S. Senator Rand Paul, not the other spendaholic Kentucky Senator.

Fed Fireball! Newly Listed Homes Decline -21% YoY In December (Worst Decline In 6 Years) As Fed Tightens Monetary Noose

As The Federal Reserves attempts to combat inflation, the withdrawal of monetary stimulus is creating problems in the housing market. For one, as mortgage rates have risen, newly listed homes declined -21% YoY in December.

And yes, the 2022 vintage is the worst in 6 years as The Fed counterattacks inflation. And mortgage rates rose to over 7% before calming down to around 6.50%.

Magic? US Inflation Cools To -0.1% In December, 6.5% Year-over-Year YoY (REAL Weekly Earnings NEGATIVE For The 21st Straight Month At -3.1% YoY)

I don’t think this is a record that Biden can run on for re-election: 21 straight months of NEGATIVE REAL WAGE GRWOTH. Fortunately for Fed Chair Jay Powell, he is not an elected official.

The December inflation report still shows elevated inflation in the US, but only -0.1% since November (MoM), but still high compared to last year (6.5% YoY). That is still over 3x The Fed’s target inflation rate of 2%.

While headline inflation fell to 0.1% MoM, CORE inflation (removing food and energy) rose again 0.3% MoM and 5.7% YoY.

What exactly went up in price in December? Food and energy were all over 10% YoY growth.

At 6.50% YoY headline inflation, the Taylor Rule suggests a Fed Funds Target rate of … 13.13%. Well, I guess that Powell will say there is more rate hikes to be done.

As if The Fed follows any sensible rule. Instead, The Fed relies on magic tricks.

The Ravages Of Inflation: US Consumer Credit UP 7.9% YoY In November While Personal Savings Collapses -64.8% YoY

As we are painfully aware, inflation is still high at 7.1% Year-over-year (YoY). To cope with inflation, consumers have been gutting their savings and increasing their use of credit. In November, consumer credit increased 7.9% YoY while personal savings fell -64.8% YoY.

The good news? Inflation month-over-month is expected to be 0% tomorrow.

So, inflation will be gone in November?

Small Business Optimism Index Plunges Below 90 As Fed Tightens Money With M2 Money Growth YoY Hitting 0% (Baltic Dry Index Continues Downward Descent)

The NFIB Small Business Optimism Index is plunging and just fell below 90. The index was above 100 before the Wuhan virus outbreak in 2020, but has only been at 100 or above for only two months under Biden. And the trend is definitely looking bleak as The Federal Reserve fights inflation with M2 Money growth having collapsed to 0% YoY growth.

And the Baltic Dry shipping index is falling with M2 Money growth YoY.

I wonder what Fed Chair Jerome Powell is thinking?

Zoltan! Fed Will Restart QE to Stabilize Treasury Market During Summer 2023, Credit Suisse Group’s Pozsar Says

Zoltan!

The Federal Reserve will be the backstop of the Treasury market this year to alleviate dysfunction resulting from its increasing size and the retreat of regular buyers.

That’s the view of Credit Suisse Group AG analyst Zoltan Pozsar, who in a note to clients Friday predicted the Fed will restart asset purchases during the summer of 2023.

In Pozsar’s analysis, relative-value funds won’t buy Treasuries unless they cheapen a lot relative to overnight index swaps, and banks with sagging reserves are more likely to tap the funding markets than to buy Treasuries. FX-hedged buyers have been “priced out,” and geopolitical events have reduced large reserve managers’ appetite for US debt, he said.

Flagging demand from marginal buyers will depress demand for Treasury auctions, sparking selloffs in equities, credit and emerging markets, according to Pozsar.

“This is a ‘checkmate-like’ situation,” he wrote. “The Fed won’t be a pivot and the terminal rate may have to go higher still, neither of which augurs well for either risk assets or Treasuries.”

As The Fed started to raise rates (yellow line) to fight inflation (blue dashed line), the S&P 500 index started to fall. Note that The Fed’s balance sheet (purple line) is mirroring the inflation rate.

Fed Funds Futures point to Zoltan’s reversal in June 2023.

Will The Fed pivot? Zoltan says yes, the talking Fed heads say no.

A rare glimpse into The Fed’s open market committee meeting.

Or more explicitly, “Hail Fed” or “Hail Zorp” (Zero interest rate policies (ZoRP)).

Coping With Inflation? US Personal Savings Declines -64.8% YoY In November As M2 Money Growth Falls To Lowest In History (0% YoY)

US headline inflation began to soar as soon as Joe Biden became President. A combination of massive stimulus spending related to the Covid economic shutdown and his war on fossil fuels, driving up gasoline and diesel fuel prices. In other words, headline inflation rose from 1.4% Year-over-year (YoY) at the end of December 2020 to 9.1% YoY in June 2021. It has now simmered down to 7.1% YoY as The Fed continues to remove monetary stimulus.

How have consumers coped with inflation caused by massive Federal spending and Biden’s anti-fossil fuel policies? In November, personal savings dropped -64.8% YoY. This marks 20 straight months of declining personal savings.

US M2 Money growth YoY is now … 0%. That is the lowest in US history.

Wow, when The Fed puts its foot on the brakes, …

Jobs And The Inflation Tax: December Jobs Report Add 223K Jobs, But Wage Growth (4.6% YoY) Is Still Lower Than Headline Inflation Rate (7.1%), Avg Weekly Hours Employed Falls To 34.3 (Full-Time Workers -1K; Part-Time Workers +679K)

The December jobs report is out and the top-line number is … 223k jobs were added. That is strong enough to give The Federal Reserve the green light to raise rates.

But while it was a good jobs report, it shows the inflation tax in full view. Hourly wage growth year-over-year (YoY) was 4.6% in December. Unfortunately, the inflation tax was 7.1% in November. If we assume that the inflation rate in December is the same, the REAL hourly wage growth was -2.5% YoY.

But it is likely that headline inflation cooled a bit in December as The Fed continues tightening. But unless headline inflation cooled to 4.6% YoY, the inflation tax is positive and destructive.

The average weekly hours employed fell to 34.3 while U-3 unemployment rate fell.

Here are the rest of the numbers.

The most glaring data point is Full-Time Workers -1K; Part-Time Workers +679K.

And the leading indicator for unemployment is ticking up.

Silvergate Tumbles After Bank Posts Loss, Fires 40% of Staff (Fed Tightening Making Matters Worse)

Silvergate!

Silvergate Capital Corp. shares plunged after the bank said the crypto industry’s meltdown triggered a run on deposits, prompting the company to sell assets at a steep loss and fire 40% of its staff.

Customers withdrew about $8.1 billion of digital-asset deposits from the bank during the fourth quarter, which forced it to sell securities and related derivatives at a loss of $718 million, according to a statement Thursday. Executives said on a conference call that Silvergate may become a takeover target.

“In response to the rapid changes in the digital asset industry during the fourth quarter, we took commensurate steps to ensure that we were maintaining cash liquidity in order to satisfy potential deposit outflows, and we currently maintain a cash position in excess of our digital asset related deposits,” Chief Executive Officer Alan Lane said in the statement.

The collapse of Sam Bankman-Fried’s FTX sparked a crisis for Silvergate, which held deposits for FTX units and Alameda Research, the trading firm at the heart of the crypto exchange’s downfall. Lawmakers are also scrutinizing the bank.

Silvergate plunged 44% to $12.34 at 9:48 a.m. in New York, the steepest decline since the La Jolla, California-based company went public in November 2019. The stock is down 91% in the past 12 months. Signature Bank, which said in December that it intended to shed as much as $10 billion deposits from digital-asset clients, fell 5.8% to $111.05.

Silvergate Capital Corporation operates as a bank holding company. The Company, through its subsidiary Silvergate Bank provides a banking platform for innovators, especially in the digital currency industry, and developing product and service solutions addressing the needs of entrepreneurs. Silvergate Capital serves customers in the United States.

Silvergate once saw the crypto industry as giving it a huge growth opportunity. Over the course of a decade, it transformed itself from a firm catering to small businesses into a publicly traded company known for providing banking services to major crypto clients such as Coinbase Global Inc. and Gemini Trust Co. — as well as FTX and Alameda Research.

At least Solana is on the rise.

Sam Bankman-Fried will go down in history as commiting one of the greatest financial frauds in world history. Why did he have four meetings with Biden’s top staffers prior to FTX’s crash and burn?

ADP December Report: 235k Jobs Added (Good), But Annual Salary Growth Slows To 7.3% YoY For Job Stayers (Fuel For Fed To Keep Tightening)

December’s ADP jobs report is out and it is a good news. bad news type of report.

First, the good news. 235k jobs were added in December.

Now for the bad news, job stayers saw their annual salary growth fall to 7.3% Year-over-year (YoY).

But while job growth remains good (which will allow The Fed to keep raising rates), the trajectory in the pink box is slowing.

The breakdown from ADP.

How about US Services PMI Business Activity SA? Do I detect a trend??

The Fed’s Dot Plot from December is still pointing to a pivot in 2024.