US Mortgage Demand Rose 7.1% With Mortgage Rates Declining (Purchase Demand Rose 4% While Refi Demand Rose 9% From Preceding Week)

It came out of The Fed.

Mortgage applications increased 7.1 percent from one week earlier, according to data from the Mortgage Bankers Association’s (MBA) Weekly Mortgage Applications Survey for the week ending October 24, 2025.

The Market Composite Index, a measure of mortgage loan application volume, increased 7.1 percent on a seasonally adjusted basis from one week earlier. On an unadjusted basis, the Index increased 7 percent compared with the previous week. The seasonally adjusted Purchase Index increased 5 percent from one week earlier. The unadjusted Purchase Index increased 4 percent compared with the previous week and was 20 percent higher than the same week one year ago.

The Refinance Index increased 9 percent from the previous week and was 111 percent higher than the same week one year ago.

The average contract interest rate for 30-year fixed-rate mortgages with conforming loan balances ($806,500 or less) decreased to 6.30 percent from 6.37 percent, with points decreasing to 0.58 from 0.59 (including the origination fee) for 80 percent loan-to-value ratio (LTV) loans.

Yesterday, The Fed lowered their target rate by 25 basis points. And the 30-year conforming rate index fell by 0.037 basis points to 6.155%.

On the government shutdown side, USDA applications fell more than 26 percent.

Fed Chair Jerome Powell at The Federal Reserve Building in Washington DC.

The Empire Strikes Out! Business Conditions Expectations Plunged To Lowest Since 9/11

The Emperor is actually China’s Xi Jinping! Causing the Empire Fed Manufacturing index to decline.

Despite the slump in ‘soft’ survey data, analysts expected Empire Fed Manufacturing to bounce back from March’s tumble to one year lows and they were right with the headline index rising from -20.0 to -8.1 (considerably better than the -13.5), but still negative. However, while current conditions jumped, expectations plunged to the lowest since 9/11/.

Did NAIOP Get The Memo? Moody’s Predicts 24% Of Office Towers Will Be Vacant By 2026 (Attendance In 10 Largest Business Districts Still Below 50% Of Pre-COVID Level)

Did NAIOP get the memo? NAIOP (National Association of Industrial and Office Properties) is a trade group comprised of commericial real estate developers and academics. Lobbying for more office space to be built despite overbuilding,

Another chink in the armor of the US economy (not the roaring economy Biden and Yellen keep screaming about). Overbuilding of office space, COVID shutdowns, remote working and urban crime. A recipe for office vacancy. Moody’s predicts 24% of office towers will be vacant by 2026!

During the first three months of 2023, U.S. office vacancy topped 20 percent for the first time in decades. In San Francisco, Dallas, and Houston, vacancy rates are as high as 25 percent. These figures understate the severity of the crisis because they only cover spaces that are no longer leased. Most office leases were signed before the pandemic and have yet to come up for renewal. Actual office use points to a further decrease in demand. Attendance in the 10 largest business districts is still below 50 percent of its pre-COVID level, as white-collar employees spend an estimated 28 percent of their workdays at home.

A new report from Moody’s offers yet another grim outlook that the commercial real estate downturn is nowhere near the bottom. Elevated interest rates and persistent remote and hybrid working trends could result in around 24% of all office towers standing vacant within the next two years. The office tower apocalypse will result in more depressed values that will only pressure landlords.

“Combining these insights, with our more than 40 years of historic office performance data, as well as future employment projections, our model indicates that the impact on office demand from work from home will be around 14% on average across a 63- month period, resulting in vacancy rates that peak in early 2026 at approximately 24% nationally,” Moody’s analysts Todd Metcalfe, Anthony Spinelli, and Thomas LaSalvia wrote in the report.

In a separate report, Tom LaSalvia, Moody’s head of CRE economics, wrote that the office vacancy rate’s move from 19.8% in the first quarter of this year to the expected 24% by 2026 could reduce revenue for office landlords by between $8 billion and $10 billion. Factor in lower rents and higher costs, this may translate into “property value destruction” in the range of a quarter-trillion dollars.

In addition to remote working trends, Moody’s analysts pointed out that the amount of office space per worker has been in a “general downward trend for decades.”

At the peak of the Dot-Com boom, office workers used an average of 190 sq ft. The figure has since slid to 155 sq ft in 2023.

“The argument for maintaining or even increasing remote work practices remains compelling for many businesses,” the analysts said, adding, “If productivity remains stable and costs can be reduced by forgoing physical office spaces, the rationale for mandating in-office attendance diminishes.”

Related research from the McKinsey Global Institute forecasts that office property values will plummet by $800 billion to $1.3 trillion by the decade’s end.

Moody’s expects vacancy rates to top out as office towers are demolished or converted to residential ones in the coming years.

“Right-sizing will continue over the next decade as the market shakes out less efficient space for flexible floorplans that support our relatively new working habits,” they said.

Earlier this year, Goldman analyst Jan Hatzius pointed out that a further 50% price decline would make office tower conversions financially sensible.

Meanwhile, in March, Goldman’s Vinay Viswanathan penned that “office mortgages are living on borrowed time.”

Office stress isn’t entirely done yet. The downturn is likely to persist through 2026.

Recession In Mid 2024? Bank Credit And Deposit Growth NEGATIVE After The Stimulus Has Worn Out (EU Ordered To Accept 75 Million More Migrants)

This headline from Zero Hedge makes me so glad I have eaten heart-healthy Quaker Oats and Cheerios every morning for the last 20 years! Study Finds 80% Of Americans Exposed To Fertility-Lowering Chemicals In Cheerios, Quaker Oats. The chemical (chlormequat chloride) was detected in “92 percent of oat-based foods purchased in May 2023, including Quaker Oats and Cheerios.” But that was nothing compared to this Zero Hedge headline: EU “Suicide Pact” Threatens To Flood Continent With 75 Million More Migrants. Makes me wonder if Biden/Mayorkas are under orders from the UN/WEF/Soros to let immigrants pour across our southern border (including 20,000+ Chinese military age males). But back to the economy.

Both bank credit growth year-over-year (YoY) and bank deposit growth (YoY) are NEGATIVE. Covid resulted in massive Federal government stimulus spending (and Federal Reserve hyper stimulus) in 2020, but as the stimulus wears out, so does bank lending and deposits.

Having seen The Fed’s QT appear to stall in February, as Reverse Repo liquidity withdrawal accelerates, all eyes are once again back on the situation on bank’s balance sheets and how deposits are standing up (‘adjusted’ by The Fed’s magical seasonals).

And after the prior week’s miraculous surge in deposits (again, according to The Fed), last week saw total bank deposits (seasonally-adjusted) drop $57BN – the biggest weekly drop since October…

This data is from the week when Regional bank shares shit the bed thanks to NYCB…

Interestingly, on a non-seasonally-adjusted basis, total bank deposits declined about the same as SA -$58BN (and are down $180BN YTD)…

And, excluding foreign banks, domestic deposits dropped $52BN SA (Large Banks -$40BN, Small Banks -$12BN), and tumbled $65BN NSA (Large Banks -$57BN, Small Banks -$$8BN)

As the chart above shows, on an NSA basis, domestic banks have only seen one week of inflows in 2024.

As one might expect, loan volumes shrank during that week by just over $9BN (Large banks -$4.6BN, Small banks -$4.4BN)…

And finally, as a reminder – despite the rebound off the lows again this week in regional bank shares, which must mean everything is awesome, right? – the regional bank crisis is still very much alive as evidenced by the red line below (without The Fed’s imminently expiring BTFP facility)…

…what else are big banks (green line) going to do with all that cash burning a hole in their pockets?

The bottom line is – this looks a lot like a ‘Small Bank’ crisis. The last time this happened, the crisis sparked a sudden $300BN ‘run’ in small bank deposits…

Is The Fed ‘hoping’ for a controlled bank-run this time – so as many small bank deposits are drained voluntarily, before they are drained all at once in a panic (and the Reverse Repo facility is empty, unable to provide any cushion)?

It is looking like a recession in mid-2024 as Covid Stimulypto has run its course. Is the US economy so lame that is requires constant Federal government and Federal Reserve manipulation??

Joe Biden (President of the top 1% of Americans) and his likely replacement “Greasy Gavin” Newsom, wrecker of the California economy. Two economy wreckers on the same stage.

Remember when Democrats were the party of the working man and Republicans (like George HW Bush) were called “Country Club Republicans”? Now Biden and Democrats represent the elitist top 1% of wealth and Trump/Republicans (that Biden snidely calls “Maga Republicans”) represent the bottom 99%. Who woulda thunk??

BTW. Congrats to Iowa’s Caitlin Clark who set the all-time NCAA women’s scoring record with a PERFECT shot.

Deficit Joe Strikes Again! Record $10 Trillion In US Treasuries Coming To Market In 2024 As Budget Deficits SOAR Under “Deficit Joe” (Don’t Forget About $212.5 TRILLION In Unfunded Liabilities)

The great Will Rogers once said he never met a man he didn’t like. US President Joe Biden and Democrats have never met a spending opportunity they didn’t like (except for US border security, of course).

Under “Deficit Joe” Biden, Federal budget deficits have soared! And deficits are projected to grow!

Over the past year, we have been closely watching the staggering acceleration in the growth of both US debt (the chart below which is just one month old is already woefully outdated, as total US debt just hit $34.191 trillion on the first day of February)…

… and global debt.

The problem, as Apollo’s gloomy chief strategist Torsten Slok points out, is that this feverish pace will only accelerate further, as a record $8.9 trillion of government debt will mature over the next year.

Meanwhile, the government budget deficit in 2024 will be $1.4 trillion according to the CBO (realistically expect this number to hit $2.0 trillion), and the Fed has been running down its balance sheet by $60 billion per month.

The bottom line is that someone will need to buy more than $10 trillion in US government bonds in 2024. That is more than one-third of US government debt outstanding. And more than one-third of US GDP.

This may be a particular challenge when the biggest holders of US Treasuries, namely foreigners, continue to shrink their share.

More fundamentally, Slok muses, “interest rate-sensitive balance sheets such as households, pension, and insurance have been the biggest buyers of Treasuries in 2023, and the question is whether they will continue to buy once the Fed starts cutting rates.”

(Spoiler alert: no… but that’s what QE is for, and sooner or later, it’s coming back).

Apollo’s latest updated outlook on Treasury demand is below (pdf link).

And don’t forget about $212.5 TRILLION in unfunded liabilities (Social Security, Medicare, etc).

Baby, It’s Cold Outside! Electricity Prices UP 24.25% Under Bidenomics (NASDAQ To Commodity Ratio Near Dot.com Bubble High)

Baby, it’s cold outside! Of course, government still wants to ban natural gas and coal.

The average price of electricity has risen a whopping 24.25% under Biden and Bidenomics. Brrr!!

No wonder Biden only wants to talk about unlimited abortion and NOT the immigration (Fentanyl, child trafficing, crime, etc) fiasco at the border and continually rising prices. Or Biden’s growing wars.

The NASDAQ commodity index RATIO is getting back to dot.com era bubble levels.

Will “Animal Spirits” Force “Dovish Trifecta” Off-Course? (Will The Fed Misread Soaring Stock Market And Make Yet ANOTHER Policy Error??)

It smells like … ANIMAL spirits.

The last week or so has seen a tactical ‘hawkish’ reversion in USTs and STIRs to play for a re-pricing lower in March rate-cut expectations, following the recent ‘hard-data resiliency’ with Consumer and Labor, alongside modestly “hawkish” rhetoric (despite soft data weakness)…

And, as Nomura’s Charlie McElligott highlights this morning, we are also seeing new upside being bot in SOFR Options for “dovish outcome”-hedging again, with Core PCE looming later this week.The market has had bunches of March SOFR Downside structures trading over the past few weeks to play for “Fed cut overshoot,” which has been the right trade YTD, as the implied probability distribution shows March Fed cuts now having been slashed by over half the the past week and a half (~80% priced to now just ~40%), and accordingly now we’ve witnessed some monetization of tactical Downside in recent days…

And we see the swaption surface getting mushed…

As he notes, the “dovish-trifecta” right-tail repricing has gotten us to ~4900… and, he says, the actual “realization” could then certainly push us through 5000:It’s my expectations that we could very well see:1) “March Fed cut” to pick-up Delta again after what is expected to be a “light” core PCE print this Friday…and taking back pricing following the past week’s Fed speak pushback and “too resilient” Labor- and Consumer- data, which has driven March Fed meeting “cut” probabilities being sliced in half over the past one week (~80% on 1/12/24 to today’s ~40%)The next potential dovish catalyst is 2) the QRA est / announcement end of Jan / start Feb, with “binary risk” implications on the direction of Duration and Risk-Assets, as the market generally anticipates resumption of larger Coupon issuance from the US Treasury ahead—but what if there is one final announcement where Bills stay high, Coupon increases but isn’t as large as most anticipate, AND Yellen signals that this is the final expected Coupon increase?!

While we’re at it and relate to the Treasury’s QRA discussion, let’s not forget the “other” market- and economic- backstop being applied by the Biden Administration (and aided by what looks to be Janet Yellen’s “politically activist” US Treasury with TBAC sign-off) – which is the continued willingness to run large fiscal deficits in an attempt to “run the economy hot” in this election year, with much of it being “paid for” via Bills (so to prevent long-end Rates from pushing higher, which would tighten US financial conditions)……this is Green build, CHIPS Act, and even fresh “election surprises” like Biden announcement Friday on “forgiveness” of a fresh $5B of student loans, now making the total loan forgiveness approved by the Biden admin $136.6B

And finally as a derivative of the above mention, another hypothetical Treasury QRA where we’d see “Bill issuance remaining high, yet with Coupon increases not as large as most anticipate” would then mechnically see MMF’s continuing pulling from RRP to buy Bills, which will further accelerate the RRP drain…and as outlined in recent weeks, “low” RRP levels will act as “a” key input to Fed reaction function on determining LCLoR……which will ultimately mean 3) a pulling-forward on the market’s expected timing on the “end of QT”

This “dovish-trifecta” is the macro catalyst behind the “right-tail” scenario which has appropriately been repriced higher by the market over the course of the past month, and we’ve seen clients allocate some protection spend to this “crash-UP” scenarioAnd again, IF the above were to realize… without negative catalysts (Earnings fine, no further Rates selloff / Fed repricing, continued disinflationary trajectory rebuilds “Fed cut” implied probability) around that upcoming Feb VIXpery with all that Dealer “short VIX Calls” positioning being hedged… there is absolutely potential for an Equities slingshot if there are no issues and those customer “Long VIX Calls” bleed-out, which will mean Dealers puke out their UX1 Longs (as hedges) back into the market for a potential “kicker” to goose Spot Equities even higher…For now, no-one is worried about downside based on VVIX being back near post-COVID lows…

So what then is the largest DOWNSIDE RISK to Equities?

Outside of “Mag 7” guidance disappointments, I believe the next worst-case scenario for current positioning in Stocks would be an “Animal Spirits” US data reacceleration which forces the above “dovish trifecta” off-course and blows-out the recently calming “Fed Rates path” distribution again:Why would resumption of better US growth data negatively impact US Equities consensus thematic / singles positioning?Because after the 4Q23 de-grossing of short books and forced “Net-up” to stop the bleed and chase (massive squeeze & cover in low quality / cyclical value / leveraged balance sheet / high short interest “junk”)….2024 YTD has instead seen the market reset the prior “Momentum” regime of “Long Quality / Size / Secular Growth” i.e. MegaCap Tech, while re-shorting that economically-sensitive “low quality / junk” stuff againIn a world of slowing but positive growth to 2% GDP and now with 3m inflation annualizing sub 2% target…you go back to that “QE of old” 2010s -decade playbook of “long stuff that can grow earnings and profits without needing a hot economic cycle”…i.e. long quality, size (liquid) & secular growth / short leverage & cyclical valueBut IF we see the “animal spirits” data reacceleration off the back of the massive FCI easing that the Fed and Treasury have facilitated, plus the persistent wage growth and still too strong labor meaning consumption remains robust, along with ongoing govt fiscal stim / spending…

..we risk a chance of inflation pivoting away from the current disinflationary trajectory (God-forbid actual “reflation”) which would could see that “long secular growth / short econ sensitive / cyclical value’ trade get a shock reversal…

…as long-end Yields and accordingly then, financial conditions, re-tighten and smash the “high valuation” Quality / Secular Growth stuff, while the heavily hated / shorted Cyclicals would painfully squeeze higher.Don’t forget, we’ve seen that happen before (yes we know the magnitudes of the inflationary impulse are different, but the timing of the human-emotion/monetary-policy-over-confidence double-rip in inflation is unquestionable)…

So, be careful what you wish for from higher and higher all-time-highs for stocks – the stronger they look (on the back of dovish expectations), the more likely The Fed is to hold back the actual dovish actions so much hope is founded on.

Debt Star! Massive Money-Printing Will Accelerate As Debt Soars ($34 Trillion In Current Federal Debt And $212 Trillion In Promises To The 99% Will Require LOTS Of Money Printing!!)

Biden and Congress continue their massive spending spree, mostly on themselves and their donors, creating a massive Debt Star capable of unfathomable economic destruction. This will require massive money printing to fund the US Debt Star.

But as of today, M2 Money growth is negative as is bank credit growth.

But all this is about to change.

The U.S. federal government published a December deficit of $129 billion, up 52% from the previous year. The private sector recession is clear as expenses continue to rise while tax receipts decline. If we look at the period between October and December 2023, the deficit ballooned to a staggering $510 billion.

You may remember that the Biden administration expected a significant deficit reduction from its tax increases and the expected benefits of its Inflation Reduction Act.

What Americans got was a massive deficit and persistent inflation.

According to Moody’s chief economist, Mark Zandi, the entire disinflation process seen in the past years comes from exogenous factors such as “fading fallout from the global pandemic on global supply chains and labor markets, and the Russian War in Ukraine and the impact on oil, food, and other commodity prices.” The complete disinflation trend follows the slump in money supply (M2), but the Consumer Price Index (CPI) should have fallen faster if deficit spending, which means more consumption of newly created currency, would have been under control. December was disappointing and higher than it should have been.

The United States annual CPI (+3.4%) came above estimates, proving that the recent bounce in money supply and rising deficit spending continue to erode the purchasing power of the currency and that the base effect generated too much optimism in the past two prints. Most prices rose in December, and only four items fell. In fact, despite a large decline in energy prices, annual services (+5.3%), shelter (+6.2%), and transportation services (+9.7%) continue to show the extent of the inflation problem.

The massive deficit means more taxes, more inflation, and lower growth in the future.

The Congressional Budget Office (CBO) expects an unsustainable path that still leaves a 5.0% deficit by 2027, growing every year to reach a massive 10.0% of GDP in 2053 due to a much faster growth in spending than in revenues. The enormous increase in debt will also lead to extremely poor growth, with real GDP rising much slower throughout the 2023–2053 period than it has, on average, “over the past 30 years.”

Deficits are not a tool for growth; they are tools for stagnation.

Deficits mean that the currency’s purchasing power will continue to vanish with money printing and that the real disposable income of Americans will be demolished with a combination of higher taxes and a weaker real value of their wages and deposit savings.

We must remember that, in Biden’s administration’s own estimates, the accumulated deficit will reach $14 trillion in the period to 2032.

Yes, the US has $34 trillion in national debt and $212 trillion in promises made to keep the 99% quiet while the 1% gut the economy for their own wealth. Think Biden, Clintons, and various Congress Critters who suddenly become millionaires.

The Debt Star was born under Obama and weaponized under Biden/Pelosi/Schumer.

Yes, national debt rose under Trump too. Bear in mind that spending originates in The House and Trump was saddled with warhawks like RINO Paul Ryan and insider trading expert and warhawk Nancy Pelosi.

US Mortgage Rates Rise Slightly (+8% YoY) As M2 Money Growth Dies (-3% YoY) In Plain Sight (M2 Money Growth Has Been Negative For All Of 2023)

We are closing out the first week of the New Year and 30-year conforming mortgage rates are up slighlty.

Mortgage rate GROWTH is now at 8% year-over-year (YoY). While M2 Money growth has died and is down -3% YoY.

Bank credit growth has been negative since July 2023 and M2 Money growth has been negative for the entirity of 2023.

Mortgage rates should decline in 2024 as The Fed cuts rates to prop up Vacation Joe.

Here is a video of The Federal Reserve managing interest and mortgage rates.

Biden’s Fiscal Inferno! Biggest Peactime, Non-crisis Budget Deficit In US History! (December Deficit Equals $129.4 Billion, UP 50% From December 2022)

Yes, it’s Biden’s fiscal inferno! And getting worse as the Presidential election approaches!

Remember when I showed that the “stealth” secret sauce behind Bidenomics was nothing more than a massive, multi-trillion debt-fueled spending spree, which led to the biggest peactime, non-crisis budget deficit in US history, with the total deficit for fiscal 2023 ending just over $2 trillion, or double the prior year, something which BofA’s Michael Hartnett called the “era of fiscal excess”?

Well, we have news for you: if 2023 was bad, 2024 – an election year of course – is shaping up to be far worse.

Moments ago the US Treasury reported the budget deficit picture for December and it will come as no surprise to anyone that the US has continued to spend like a drunken sailor, or rather, even more. As shown in the chart below, in the month of December, the US collected $429 billion through various taxes, while total outlays hit $559 billion…

… resulting in a December deficit of $129.4 billion.This may not sound like a lot, but December is actually one of those months when the US deficit is relatively tame, or used to be.

As shown in the next chart, traditionally the December deficit was barely in the $10-20BN range… until 2020 when it exploded to an all time high of $140BN. And while it dropped sharply in 2021, it rebounded dramatically in 2022, and rose to just shy of the December crisis high last month!

Here is some more context: tax receipts of $429.3BN in December were down 5.6% from the $454.9BN in December 2022 and down a whopping 11.8% from December 2021. On an LTM basis, US total tax receipts were $4.521TN, or down 7.2% YoY. This is now the 9th consecutive YoY decline in LTM tax receipts, something that historically has only taken place when the US was in a recession. As an aside, the “smart economists” were certain that the collapse in tax receipts would reverse after November when the postponed California taxes would be collected. Well, November has come and gone and the big picture is just as ugly.

Looking at outlays, unlike tax receipts, there is danger of a decline… ever; and indeed in December the US spent a total of $559 billion, up 3.5% from the $540BN spent a year ago, and up even more from the $508BN in 2021. On a 6 month moving average basis, we are rapidly approaching the exponential phase even when accounting for the spending burst in 2020 and 2021.

Putting it all together, we get the scariest chart of all: the YTD budget deficit three months into fiscal 2024 is already $509 billion, which would be the biggest deficit in US history after one quarter with the exception of the covid outlier year of 2021 when the US injected multiple trillions in stimmies.

As for the final, and most shocking, data point, the December budget deficit of $129.4 billion was more than $40BN higher than the $87.5BN median estimate, and was more than 50% higher compared to the $85BN December deficit in fiscal 2022.

Needless to say, this is completely unsustainable and assures fiscal collapse for the US, not if, but when. Then again, we already knew this thanks to the CBO which was kind enough to chart the endgame:

What is funniest about all this is that the US is on an accelerating path to ruin less than one year after the imposter in the White House published this laughable propaganda.