KJP “Hurts So Good” Presser: Prices UP 16.6% And Real Wages Down -3% Since Biden Took Office (Food UP 56%, Gasoline UP 52%, Mortgage Rates UP 153%) Hurt So Good???

Biden Press Secretary KARINE JEAN-PIERRE: “The American people are beginning to feel Bidenomics”

Prices are up 16.6% and real wages are down 3% since Biden took office.

Well, at least Jean-Pierre didn’t claim like her boss Joe Biden claimed that he “ended cancer as we know it.”

But getting back to Jean-Pierre’s claim that “The American people are beginning to feel Bidenomics.” She is right (for once). Americans are REALLY feeling Bidenomics. And it hurts SO BAD!!!

What hurts so bad? Food (CRB Foodstuffs) are up 56% under Bidenomics. Real weekly wage growth is down -90% since Biden assumed office. Regular gas prices are up 52%. And the 30Y mortgage rate is up a staggering 153%. Yes, Karine, this hurts so bad!

While real wages are down -3% under Biden and the real average weekly wage growth is down -90%. That REALLY hurts so good.

But Biden and KJP think that Bidenomics “hurts so good.”

A video of Bidenomics.

CRE Storm? “Nobody Understands Where Bottom Is” For Commercial Real Estate (Fed STILL Slow To Remove Monetary Stimulus)

Where is the bottom for commercial real estate (CRE)?

Starwood Capital Group’s Barry Sternlicht recently told Bloomberg’s David Rubenstein about the ongoing crisis in the commercial real estate sector, equating it to a severe “Category 5 hurricane“. He cautioned, “It’s sort of a blackout hovering over the entire industry until we get some relief or some understanding of what the Fed’s going to do over the longer term.”

Currently, the biggest problem in the CRE space is sliding office and retail demand in downtown areas. Couple that with high-interest rates, and there’s a disaster lurking for building owners. According to Morgan Stanley, the elephant in the room is a massive debt maturity wall of CRE loans that totals $500 billion in 2024 and $2.5 trillion over the next five years.

Senior markets editor for Bloomberg, Michael Regan, chatted with John Fish, who is head of the construction firm Suffolk, chair of the Real Estate Roundtable think tank and former chairman of the board of the Federal Reserve Bank of Boston, in the What Goes Up podcast to discuss the biggest problems in the CRE market.

Fish warned that “capital markets nationally have frozen” and “nobody understands value.” He said, “We can’t evaluate price discovery because very few assets have traded during this period of time. Nobody understands where the bottom is.”

For a sense of recent price discovery trends, we were the first to point out to readers of a wicked firesale of office towers in the downtown area of Baltimore City:

As for the overall CRE industry, Goldman Sachs chief credit strategist Lotfi Karoui recently told clients, “The most accurate portrayal of current market conditions with Green Street indicating a 25% year-over-year drop in office property values.”

Sooooo, Powell and The Fed will likely raise rates this week. And maybe a few more times over the next few months. And The Fed remains defiant about taking away the Covid monetary stimulus.

Powell’d! Interest Expenses Soar At Big Banks As Fed Tightens Money (The Fed Is Playing A Game)

What screams may come! Actually, the aftermath of excessive monetary policies under Bernanke, Yellen and Powell are coming home to bit the big banks.

Interest expenses at big US banks are rising much more quickly than interest income. Across the six largest US banks, interest expenses are set to climb to roughly $78.7 billion from $15.5 billion in the same period last year.

There is still $8.3 Trillion in monetary stimulus sloshing around the monetary system.

The Fed played a game. And is still playing!!

There Goes The Economy! US Producer Prices Approach Deflation With 0.1% Annual Rise (US Dollar Down -8.2% Since Sept ’22 As Fed Tightens The Noose) Silver UP >2% Today!

There goes the economy!

As The Federal Reserve is poised to continue it inflation-fighting crusade, the US economy is rapdily approaching DEFLATION. US Producer Price Index FINAL DEMAND fell to 0.1% YoY in June.

Bidenomics, the combination of insane monetary stimulus and insane directed Federal spending towards going green at all costs, is running out of steam. M2 Money growth was last measured to be -4% YoY and the US Dollar is down -8.2% since September 2022.

The good news? Silver is up over 2% today!

And Bitcoin is up almost a percent today.

Speaking of the Biden White House ….

ADP Jobs Added 497k In June! Almost Guarantees Another Rate Hike At July FOMC Meeting, 10Y T-Yield UP >10 BPS, 2Y T-Yield UP 16 BPS (Yellen Goes To China?) Bitcoin Cash UP 10%

The good news (if true)? ADP announced that 497k jobs were added in June.

The bad news? A 497k print on jobs (many seasonal, it is summer!) almost guarantees that The FOMC (Fed Open Market Committe) will raises rates again at at the July meeting.

The 2-year Treasury yield is up over 10 basis points.

The 2-year Treasury yield is up 16.5 basis points.

Bticoin Cash is up 10% today.

I should have bought nickel!

Why is Biden sending Treasury Secretary Janet “The Marxist Midget” Yellen to China? A Treasury Secretary and former Federal Reserve Chair? Likely trying to convince China that our $32 TRILLLION AND GROWING national debt is not a problem, since China is the third largest holder of US Treasury debt (after The Fed and Japan). Note that China has decreased its holdings of US Treasuries by -25.6% since January 2018.

Hopefully, Yellen isn’t acting as a bag man for The Biden Crime Family. 10% for The Big Guy?? How much does Yellen get??

US Manufacturing Activity Shrinks By Most in Three Years As Cardboard Box Shipments Declining At Fastest Rate Since Financial Crisis) Ethereum UP >2% This AM

I was hoping that the week of July 4th would start off with fireworks, but we got bad news about the economy.

US factory activity contracted for an eighth month in June, slipping to the weakest level in more than three years as production, employment and input prices retreated.

The Institute for Supply Management’s manufacturing gauge fell to 46, the weakest since May 2020, from 46.9 a month earlier, according to data released Monday. The current stretch of readings below 50, which indicates shrinking activity, is the longest since 2008-2009.

The decline in the ISM production gauge, which also stands at the lowest level since May 2020, suggests demand for merchandise remains weak. The index of new orders contracted for the 10th straight month and order backlogs shrank, which may help explain a pullback in a measure of manufacturing employment.

The ISM gauge retreated to a three-month low and, at 48.1, indicates fewer producers adding to payrolls.

Many Americans continue to limit their spending on merchandise as they rotate to services and experiences. Others are simply tightening their belts as still-high inflation takes a toll on their incomes.

And then we have cardboard box shipments declining at fastest rate since 2008/2009.

At least Ethereum is up over 2% this morning.

And the US Treasury 10Y-2Y keeps on diving deeper into inversion.

Joe Biden, the face of Bidenomics.

Bidenomics? US Bank Credit Growth Approaches Stall Speed (0.7% YoY) As M2 Money Growth Reverses Course, But Still Negative Growth At -4% YoY (Biden Contemplates Blocking The Sun To Prevent Global Warming!)

Bidenomics is based on massive Federal spending and massive Fed monetary stimulus. But like all stimulus, it wears off. Such is the case with bank lending as The Fed raises interest rates.

US bank credit year-over-year (YoY) has stalled to a lowly 0.7% rate as M2 Money growth YoY increases slightly to -4%.

White House report signals openness to manipulating sunlight to prevent climate change.

Its figures. With the Socialist Federal Reserve manipulating interest rates and Biden/Congress spending like drunken sailors trying to manipuate economic growth, it makes sense that Biden wants to explore Bill Gate’s idiotic idea of blotting out the sun to prevent global warming.

Of course, Biden can hide at any of his 4 mansions and wear his Ray-ban Aviators to avoid the horror of his policies.

The Core! US PCE Core Deflator Remains High At 4.6%, Spending Slows (Taylor Rule Suggests Fed Funds Target Rate Of 10%, Halfway To Target!!)

The film “The Core” was a silly film, but core inflation in the US is a serious problem for the middle class and low-wage workers. It remains elevated despite Treasury Secretary Janet “The Marxist Gnome” Yellen saying it was “transitory.” Looks pretty permanent to me!

The Federal Reserve’s preferred measures of US inflation cooled (slightly) in May and consumer spending stagnated, suggesting the economy’s main engine is starting to lose some momentum.

The personal consumption expenditures price index rose 0.1% in May, Commerce Department figures showed Friday. From a year ago, the measure eased to the slowest pace in more than two years.

Consumer spending, adjusted for prices, was little changed after a downwardly revised 0.2% gain in April. From February through May, household spending has essentially stalled after an early-year surge. Spending on merchandise dropped, while outlays for services increased.

Excluding food and energy, the so-called core PCE price index increased 4.6% from May 2022. That’s in line with annual readings back to late 2022 and shows minimal relief from elevated price pressures. Economists consider this to be a better gauge of underlying inflation.

Indicator	Actual	Estimate
PCE price index (MoM)	+0.1%	+0.1%
Core PCE price index (MoM)	+0.3%	+0.3%
PCE price index (YoY)	+3.8%	+3.8%
Core PCE price index (YoY)	+4.6%	+4.7%
Real consumer spending (MoM)	0.0%	+0.1%

Under the hood of the government report, a key metric flagged by Fed Chair Jerome Powell showed a welcome slowdown. Services inflation excluding housing and energy services increased 0.2% in May from a month earlier, the smallest advance since July of last year, according to Bloomberg calculations. The figure was up 4.5% from a year ago.

The Taylor Rule now suggests a target rate of 10%. We are just halfway to target!

Meanwhile, Yellen Plans July China Trip, While US Preps Investment Curbs. Trying to convince China that the US won’t default on its $32 TRILLION and growing debt?

Bidenomics? US Purchase Mortgage Demand Falls -8% From Previous Week (DOWN -21% From Last Year, DOWN -45.3% Under Biden, Refi Demand DOWN -91%, Mortgage Rate UP 128%)

Eggs, bacon and toast. All more expensive under Biden’s economy. And mortgage purchase demand is down -45.3% since Biden was elected and mortgage refinancing demand is down -91% under Biden and mortgage rates are up 128% under Biden’s economy.

Mortgage applications increased 3.0 percent from one week earlier (using seasonally adjusted data), according to the Mortgage Bankers Association’s (MBA) Weekly Mortgage Applications Survey for the week ending June 23, 2023. This week’s results include an adjustment for Juneteenth holiday.

The Market Composite Index, a measure of mortgage loan application volume, increased 3.0 percent on a seasonally adjusted basis from one week earlier. On an unadjusted basis, the Index decreased 8 percent compared with the previous week. The seasonally adjusted Purchase Index increased 3 percent from one week earlier. The unadjusted Purchase Index decreased 8 percent compared with the previous week and was 21 percent lower than the same week one year ago.

The Refinance Index increased 3 percent from the previous week and was 32 percent lower than the same week one year ago.

Now for the highly (self) touted Biden economy: Mortgage purchase demand is DOWN DOWN -45.3% under Biden, Refi demand is DOWN -91% under Bidenomics, and mortgage rates are UP 128% under Clueless Joe’s Reign of economic error.

Silverado! US Treasury 10Y-2Y Yield Curve Remains Inverted At -102.7 (244th Straight Days Of Inversion) As Liquidity Evaporates (Silver UP >1%) Bitcoin CASH UP 12% This AM

Silverado! No, not the Chevy full-size pickup truck, but the precious metal Silver is up over 1% this morning!

The US Treasury 10Y-2Y yield curve remains inverted at -102.7 basis points for the 244th straight day as M2 Money YoY (aka, liquidity) evaporates.

Silver is up over 1% this morning.

Bitcoin Cash is up12.39% this morning.

Speaking of Silverado, a fully loaded new 2023 Chevy Silverado 1500 ZR2 costs around $100,000. Thanks Biden and Powell (BiPow?). Try financing that purchase with auto loan rates soaring!