Winter Is Coming 2! Mortgage Rates Hit 6%, Gasoline Prices Hit $5, Inflation Continues To Rage (Taylor Rule Implies 22.10% Target Rate, Only At 1.75%)

Where is Stanford’s John Taylor when we need him?

Even since the housing bubble burst and ensuing financial crisis on 2007-2008, The Federal Reserve under Ben “The Savior!” Bernanke, Janet Yellen and Jerome Powell let their zero/low interest rate policies be too low for too long that anyone with common sense knew would lead to serious problems when The Fed was forced (this time by inflation) to end the massive OVER monetary stimulus. We are now living through The Great Reset of the US economy.

Since Biden was sworn-in as President (or El Presidente) in January 2021, 30-year mortgage rates are up 108% to 6%, regular gasoline prices are up 108% to $5 a gallon nationally. Inflation is up to 8.6% YoY.

Bernanke, Yellen and Powell did not follow any rule per se, just a “seat of the pants” panic button approach. Using the Mankiw specification of the Taylor Rule model, the Fed Funds target rate should be 13.25% based on CORE PCE. Notice starting in 2014, The TR suggested target rate started to be higher than the actual Fed target rate. And since the Covid monetary blast of 2020, the gap between the Taylor Rule and Fed target rate (red area) has grown to near the highest level in history. Even now Mohamed A. El-Erian, Chief Economic Advisor at Allianz, is starting to admit that The Fed’s ZIRP policies are beginning to hurt.

But if we use total inflation rather than core inflation, the measure that picks up the actual pain that Americans are feeling from rising gasoline prices and mortgage rate, we get a Fed Target rate of 22.10%. Since The Fed’s current target rate is only 1.75%, The Fed has “Room To Move.”

And in a painful. bad way.

Bernanke, Yellen and Powell must think that The Taylor Rule is the New Jersey ham pork roll.

Alarm! US Industrial Production Slows To 0.2% In May, Lower Than Expected As Fed Tightens The Monetary Noose (It’s NOT Always Sunny In Philadelphia)

Alarm!

As The Federal Reserve tightens the monetary noose (Fed Chair Powell said Fed ‘acutely focused’ on returning inflation to 2%), the US economy is slowing. In fact, May’s Industrial Production report is half of what was expected. Industrial production declined to 0.20% MoM versus the expected 0.4%. At the same time, capacity utilization rose slightly to 79%., but still below expectations.

Mortgage rates are rising rapidly, but the growth has cooled slightly as the economy cools.

Bitcoin is getting demolished by The Fed’s reaction to inflation.

And “It’s Not Always Sunny In Philadelphia.” Since the Philadelphia Fed’s Business General Conditions has dropped into negative territory with, among other things, The Fed’s monetary tightening. And they’ve only just begun (no Carpenters’ songs!).

Here is Phil Hall’s article on housing and The Federal Reserve’s noose tightening. US housing starts dove -14.4% MoM as mortgage rates soared.

If the Biden Administration and Federal Reserve jointly produced a dating site …

But its most central banks too. Look at German home prices against the ECB’s balance sheet

Opening Hell! The Morning After The Fed’s 75 BPS Rate Increase, 10Y Treasury Yield Spikes +11.5 bps, S&P 500 E-mini Down -1.8% (US Housing Starts Plunge -14.4% MoM In May)

Like in the movie The Poseidon Adventure, we can all sing “The Morning After.”

On the heels of The Fed’s 75 basis point surge in the target rate, the US Treasury yield jumped +11.5 BPS as of 8:30 AM EST. The S&P 500 E-mini futures contract is down -1.8%.

As investors brace for a recession, mortgage rates dropped to 6.03%.

Gasoline prices remain near $5 per gallon, diesel prices are near $6 per gallon and The Fed’s massive balance sheet is still in force.

On the housing front, US housing starts plunged -14.4% MoM in May, the biggest decline under Biden.

While housing starts were down -14.4% MoM in May, single-family detached home were down only -9.16%. It was 5+ unit (multifamily) starts that were down -26.83% MoM.

Good morning peeps! Reality is dawning after the market surge yesterday after investors celebrated that The Fed could have raised rates even more.

Fed Raises Target Rate By 75 Basis Points To 1.75% Despite Negative Q2 GDP Forecast

Sometimes I wonder if The Federal Reserve Board of Governors pays attention to economic news. For example, the Atlanta Fed’s GDPNow forecast for Q2 was released today at -0.002%. So what does The Fed do? They raised their target rate by 75 basis points to 1.75%.

Apparently, The Fed has chosen to fight inflation rather than help the economy.

The Fed has chosen poorly.

Closing Hell! 10-year Treasury Yield Surges +11.3 Basis Points And Dow Drops -151 (Biden Never More Optimistic?)

I just read that President Biden has never been more optimistic about the US economy than he is now.

Well, today’s closing bell is not optimistic and is downright bearish.

The US Treasury 10-year yield rose … ANOTHER … 11.3 basis points as rumors circulate that The Fed might actually raise their target rate by 75 basis points.

And the venerable Dow (DJIA) is down -152 points today.

Markets are anticipating an increase of The Fed Funds target rate from 1% to 1.568%, less than the rumored 75 basis point increase being bandied about.

At least Columbus Ohio home prices are growing slower than the national average.

If Biden is wildly optimistic about the economy, then he needs to get out of The White House and talk to average Americans and not people like Robert De Niro.

Curly’s Oyster Stew? April Home Prices Grow At 20.9% YoY As Fed Is Slow To Remove Massive Monetary Stimulus (But Watch Out!)

US home prices are still skyrocketing as The Federal Reserve kept its massive foot on the monetary accelerator pedal.

CoreLogic’s home price index grew at a 20.9% YoY pace in April, but is expected to slow to 5.6% YoY in late 2022.

Remember peeps, The Fed still have its staggering monetary stimulypto in place.

The Fed is signaling its withdrawal of stimulus, causing mortgage rates to soar.

Given the slowdown of the US and global economy, we shall see if The Fed keeps to its tightening plans. As of today, the market is expecting The Fed to raise its target rate from 1% to 3.819% by February 2023. That is a 291% increase in The Fed’s target rate.ng

The Fed trying to tame inflation (caused by The Fed and Biden’s energy policies and Congressional spending) is like Curly trying to eat oyster stew.

We’re Goin’ Down! Treasury Curves Goes Negative As Mortgage Rates Hit 5.87% As Fed Tightens Its Choke Hold

We’ve goin’ down!

The US Treasury 10Y-5Y yield curve has gone into negative territory (which usually occurs before a recession). At the same time, US mortgage rates are climbing like Tom Cruise in “Top Gun: Maverick” to 5.87% as The Fed tightens its choke hold on markets.

The 10Y-5Y Treasury curve typically goes negative before a recession.

And then we have today’s PPI report (Producer Price Index), rising 10.8% YoY as M2 Money stock starts to decline a bit.

Here is a better view of mortgage rates under Biden/Powell.

I hate this chart from John Burns.

Biden/Powell/Pelosi/Schumer are collectively “Mr Freeze.”

Closing Hell! NASDAQ Tanks -4.58%, 10Y Treasury Yield Spikes +22 Basis Points, 10Y-2Y Yield Curve Flattens To Near Zero (MBS Prices Pull A Titanic)

Not nibbling on baby formula, watching the sun bake, all those people paying $5 per gallon for gas. Wasting away again in Biden/Powellville.

It was closing hell for a terrible day in markets as investors struggle to process the dreadful and seemingly endless inflation report on Friday.

What happened today? The NASDAQ tanked -4.58% and the 10-year Treasury yield jumped 22.2 basis points. Gulp.

The 22.2 bps jump in the 10-year Treasury yield has led to Agency MBS prices pulling a Titanic and sank.

Somehow, I don’t think that Biden and Congress are going to help the middle class and low-wage workers.

Opening Hell! Markets In Sea Of Red Thanks To Global Slowdown And Fed Signals Of Tightening (Global Markets In Sea Of Red)

Today’s opening bell is “Opening Hell!”

US Treasury 10Y yields are up +12.1 basis points as of 9:40am EST. And rising across the globe.

Equity markets? Dow is down -621.93 points and the NASDAQ is down almost -3%. But equity markets are down across the globe.

Commodities? Once again, all commodities in the red except corn (which I don’t eat) and natural gas.

Speaking of opening hell. The US Treasury 10Y-2Y yield flattened to 7 basis points.

And then we have Markit’s Credit Default Swaps index rising to the highest level since Covid (April 2020).

Markets are in a “Sea of Red.”

Black Monday! 10Y Treasury UP 11 BPS, S&P 500 E-Mini DOWN -2.5% (Mortgage Rate Rises To 5.78%, Bitcoin Keeps Dropping)

Black Monday!

Off to bad start this week. The 10-year Treasury yield rose 11 basis points at 8am EST while the S&P 500 E-mini futures are down -2.5%.

And then we have this scary chart of mortgage rates. Bankrate’s 30-year mortgage rate is now up to 5.78%.

And then we have Bitcoin. Bitcoin is struggling as The Fed tightens the noose on the US economy with expected Fed rate hikes and a rising US Dollar.

I’ve got a whole lotta anxiety over this week.

The dynamic duo.