4 Of USA’s Most Affordable Cities Are In Ohio (Cleveland, Dayton, Cincinnati, Columbus), None In California (Ohio Requires 10 Workdays To Afford Monthly Mortgage Payment)

No, its not 1903. Its 2025 and Dayton Ohio is the third most affordable city in the USA.

Ohio, the cradle of American Presidents (McKinley, Grant, Taft, Benjamin Harrison, Hayes, Garfield, Harding), is also home to 4 of the most affordable cities in the USA, according to The Virtual Capitalist.

Workdays required to afford a monthly mortgage payment is 10 days, near the lowest in the USA (behind West Virginia, Iowa, Oklahoma, Arkansas, and Mississippi). California is by far the highest at 28 days.

Of course, Ohio will be clobbered by the polar vortex.

Canadiam PM Justin Trudeau will think this is evidence of Trump trying to screw Canada.

Tariffs, Gold And Bitcoin! Gold Stable, Bitcoin And Stock Market Down, Mexican Peso Down And On Verge Of Collapse

As expected, the Trump Administration levied tariffs against Canada, Mexico, China, etc. The short-term result? Gold is stable, Bitcoin fell. Or as Gene Autry sang, “South of the Border (Down Mexico Way)”.

The stock market? Down -1.53%.

And then we have the doom porn about Mexico’s “impending” collapse. The Peso is declining, and Senator Chuck Schumer is getting hysterical about Mexican exports to the USA for Super Bowl Sunday. He incorrectly claimed that most beer is imported from Mexico and avacados for guacamole. Avacados are also grown in the USA, Peru, etc.

Bear in mind that Mexico is like California where the Left holds a supermajority. Hence, Mexico employs destructive economic policies (it could only be worse if California Governor Gavin Newsom was President of Mexico. But Mexico’s impending collapse is years in the making and Trump’s tariffs were only the last nudge over the cliff. Mexico COULD try to get control over the drug and human trafficking cartels, stop illegal immigration and stop the flow of fentanyl.

Bitcoin Versus M2 Money: M2 Increased By 12.7% Under Clueless Joe Biden While Bitcoin Increased By 249% (Retail Holdings Declining As Large Investor Holdings Increase)

Nobel prize winner in economics, Gene Fama, said recently that cryptocurrencies will eventually be worthless. Well Gene, not if The Federal Reserve and other central banks keep printing money.

Global M2 money supply is at $97T and increasing. And with the increase in global M2, bitcoin and other cryptos are likely to keep rising.

On the US side, M2 Money has increased 12.7% under reckless spending Joe Biden while Bitcoin has increased 249%.

Retail investor holdings have declined while large investor holdings as Bitcoin increases in price.

On a different note, the Philadelphia Eagles will be playing the Kansas City Swifties next Sunday.

Spirit Of DC! Biden Handed Trump A Big Pile Of Steaming … Losses (Fed Incurs Losses Of $218 Billion)

The Federal Reserve (aka, The Green Slime) represents the Spirit of Washington DC. A glutenous pig spending trillions it doesn’t have on insane policies. And The Fed ends up funding the insane spending and racking up massive losses.

Trump is inheriting a Federal Reserve w/ not only unprecedented losses of $218 billion, but it’s still losing money; the Fed won’t send the Treasury a dime for the entirety of Trump’s term; that’s never happened since the inception of the Fed – another challenge for Trump.

Not Big Mac! Freddie Mac House Price Index Increased in December By Up 4.0% YoY (Austin Tx Is Down -12.7% From Peak)

No, Freddie Mac is not a new cheeseburger from McDonald’s. Freddie Mac is a government sponsored enterprised (GSE) that purchases residential mortgages from lenders and assists in the bundling of mortgages into mortgage-backed securities (MBS). They also monitor home prices.

Freddie Mac reported that its “National” Home Price Index (FMHPI) increased 0.54% month-over-month on a seasonally adjusted (SA) basis in December. On a year-over-year basis, the National FMHPI was up 4.0% in December, up from up 3.9% YoY in November. The YoY increase peaked at 19.0% in July 2021, and for this cycle, bottomed at up 0.9% YoY in May 2023.

But let’s look at the dark side of home prices, which is price declines. Led by Communist enclaved Austin Texas, down -12.7% from peak. The next six cities are all in Florida.

I was watching Varney and Company on Fox Business and it dawned on me that Jonathan Hoenig from Capitalist Pig needs to lay off the caffeine!

Maybe Freddie Mac should partner with McDonald’s. After all, clumsy shooter Angel Reese from WNBA’s Chicago Sky just signed with McDonald’s.

US Pending Home Sales Plunged -5.5% MoM In December

Pending home sales in the US plunged 5.5% MoM in December (vs 0.0% exp and below all estimates), dragging the total sales down 2.9% YoY (vs +4.2% exp).

This is the lowest December print since records began (in 2000).

Let’s see if Trump can loosen up regulations on mortgage lending and housing. Hopefully, the new HUD Secretary (Scott Turner) will be an upgrade over DofHealth’s Rachel Levine.

M1 Money UP 365% Since Covid, M2 Money UP 40%, Federal Spending UP 45% (Is Chuck Schumer REALLY Boss Tweed?)

Wow. Money printing by The Federal Reserve went will after the Covid outbreak in early 2020. So did Federal spending. Unfortunately, politicians are addicted to Federal spending. And Senators like Chuck Schumer (D-NY) and Adam Schiff (D-CA) are trying to obstruct any spending cuts by Trump and his DOGE.

Well, M1 Money printing is UP 365% since Covid while M2 Money printing is UP 40%.

Federal current expenditures are up 45% since the Covid outbreak. But were never returned to normal spending levels.

New York senator Chuck Schumer is opposed to Trump’s efforts to cut Federal spending. Is Senator Schumer REALLY the political boss of Tammany Hall, the Democratic Party’s political machine that played a major role in the politics of 19th-century New York City and State?

New Home Sales Increase to 698,000 Annual Rate in December (Despite Mortgage Rates Being Around 7%)

Home, home on the range … Where the realtors and mortgage lenders play.

Sales of new US homes ended 2024 on a high note in December as customers took advantage of incentives from builders, leading to a second straight year of increased purchases.

For the full year, customers purchased 683,000 homes, up about 2.5% from 2023’s total.

Sales of new single-family houses in December 2024 were at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 698,000, according to estimates released jointly today by the U.S. Census Bureau and the Department of Housing and Urban Development. This is 3.6 percent above the revised November rate of 674,000 and is 6.7 percent above the December 2023 estimate of 654,000.

My Mortgage Market Was Gone! Mortgage Purchase Applications Rise 7% Since Previous Week, But Refi Applications Fall 3%

As The Pretenders sang, “My City Was Gone.” That song was about Akron, Ohio. But it applies to the US Mortgage Market under Biden/Harris. The question is whether Trump’s deregulation plans can return to its former glory.

Mortgage applications increased 0.1 percent from one week earlier, according to data from the Mortgage Bankers Association’s (MBA) Weekly Mortgage Applications Survey for the week ending January 17, 2025.

The Market Composite Index, a measure of mortgage loan application volume, increased 0.1 percent on a seasonally adjusted basis from one week earlier. On an unadjusted basis, the Index increased 3 percent compared with the previous week. The seasonally adjusted Purchase Index increased 1 percent from one week earlier. The unadjusted Purchase Index increased 7 percent compared with the previous week and was 2 percent higher than the same week one year ago.

The Refinance Index decreased 3 percent from the previous week and was 42 percent higher than the same week one year ago.

The Pretenders’ lead singer Chrissie Hynde likely would have made a better Federal Reserve Chair and Treasury Secretary than Janet Yellen.

Left Behind! Aka, The Mess Biden/Harris Left Behind: 36+ Trillion In Debt, Massive Budget Deficits, Declining Real Wages (And $226 Trillion In Unfunded Liabilities, 6 Times The Federal Debt)

I can’t wait for Billions Biden, The DC parasite who selectively shoves billions of dollars to his friends and nothing for the others. For example, bailing out the LA wildfires but stiffing the people of North Carolina and Florida for hurricane/flood damage. And funding Ukraine while real wage growth is negative. And heavy investment in green energy, the ultimate fool’s errand.

Let’s start with declining real wage growth under Biden/Harris (blue line). Meanwhile, Federal government spending (dashed green line) continues to grow causing inflation.

Meanwhile, Biden/Harris and Congress left Trump with the largest budget deficit in history. Like endlessly funding Ukraine and illegal immigration.

Leaving American taxpayers with growing Federal debt of $36+ trillion. And unfunded liabilities of $226 trillion, over 6 times the national debt.

The US will hit its debt ceiling the day after President Trump is inaugurated, and Yellen said that the Treasury will launch “extraordinary measures” to stave off the threat of a national default. Bear in mind, Janet Yellen personally oversaw total debt increase by a staggering $15 trillion. Way to go, Janet!

I wonder how Trump’s Treasury secretary will handle this? At least better than Janet Yellen, I hope!