Biden’s Thanksgiving Dinner! Turkey Prices UP 235% Under Biden, Gasoline Prices Up 47% (M2 Money Growth Slowed To -3.6% YoY)

Biden’s team is bragging about how “they” are making Thanksgiving more affordable! But remember, every little thing Biden says is gibberish. Or an outright lie. Even other Democrats are taking Sting and The Police’s advice of not standing too close to Biden.

Yes, prices of turkey (that we eat) and gasoline (used to drive to family/friends) have declined a little recently. BUT turkey prices are still up by 235% since Biden was sworn in as President. And gasoline prices are still up 47%. One of Biden’s “economists” came out and said gasoline is now lower than it was in 2020. WRONG! Look at the chart below from The Federal Reserve of St. Louis.

Being politicians, The Biden Administration take credit for RECENTLY declining prices, but failing to mention that declining prices have more to do with declining M2 Money growth (now -3.6% YoY) after the enormous burst in Federal spending with Covid.

With turkey prices up 235% under Biden, I will be eating turkey SPAM tonight. And a small portion at that!

Fiscal Inferno! 40% Of Personal Income Taxes Going Towards Interest On Staggering National Debt (Unfunded Entitlements Now 6.27 Times The Current Debt Level Of $33.75 Trillion)

The US is experiencing a fiscal inferno thanks to out of control Federal spending and debt issurace.

The US government collects about $2.5 trillion per year in personal income taxes. Of that about $1 trillion per year (40%) is being consumed by interest on the national debt. REAL Federal interest payments of the debt is skyrocketing!

Interest on the debt is growing as old cheap debt matures and gets refinanced at the new higher rates. Plus new debt added every year.

Within a few more years, at this pace, 100% of personal income taxes will be going to pay interest on the US national debt.

Yes, US national debt is at $33.75 trillion and growing awfully fast. Of course, that is small potatoes compared to the $211.7 TRILLION in unfunded Federal promises (entitlements). That means that unfunded promises are 6.27 times the current national debt. There isn’t enough taxable income from individuals to pay for the promised entitlements.

NY Senator Chuckles Schumer: “We did it Joe! We broke the back of the US economy!”

Goin’ Down! Fed Reports That Bottom 80% Of US Households Are Poorer Since Covid And Bidenomics (UMich Consumer Expectations Of Inflation Jumps!)

The bottom 80% of Americans are going down under Bidenomics.

A brand new study from the Federal Reserve has discovered that the bottom 80 percent have “lower bank deposits and other liquid assets compared to their status in March 2020”…

As of June, the bottom 80% of households by income, when adjusted for inflation, had lower bank deposits and other liquid assets compared to their status in March 2020. The decline marks a significant shift from the initial phases of the pandemic, where various factors, including government financial support and restricted spending opportunities during lockdowns, led to an accumulation of excess savings.

In other words, the vast majority of all Americans have been getting poorer.

The Federal Reserve, along with Bloomberg calculations, identified a rapid drawdown of these excess savings, particularly stark among the lower-income groups. While all income groups have experienced a decrease in real-term cash balances from the peak in 2021, the disparity is noteworthy. The wealthiest one-fifth of households still have cash savings approximately 8% above their pre-COVID levels. In stark contrast, the poorest two-fifths have witnessed an 8% decrease, and the next 40% — broadly representing the middle class — have seen their cash savings fall below pre-pandemic levels.

Even checkable deposits and currency held by the top 1% (call it the Kerry Class after multi-millionaire and Statist parasite John Kerry, Biden’s climate “envoy”) are soaring while the bottom 50% are seeing only a tepid rise.

Meanwhile, UMich inflation expectations rose even further intra-month, jumping from 4.4% to 4.5% final (for 1Y inflation outlook) and from 3.1 to 3.2% final (for 5-10Y outlook).

Let’s see if Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen tries to explain once again that Americans just don’t understand how great Bidenomics is.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Biden’s Economic Dance Macabre: Mortgage Purchase Demand Down -1% From Previous Week And Down -20% From Previous Year (Worst Home Sales Data Since The 1970s!)

Biden’s economic Dance Macabre! Or Biden’s Mortgage Macabre! Mortgage purchase demand actually fell -1% from the previous week (WoW) and is down -20% from the previous year (YoY).

Mortgage applications increased 3.0 percent from one week earlier, according to data from the Mortgage Bankers Association’s (MBA) Weekly Mortgage Applications Survey for the week ending November 17, 2023.

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 0.1 percent compared with the previous week. The Refinance Index increased 2 percent from the previous week and was 4 percent lower than the same week one year ago. The seasonally adjusted Purchase Index increased 4 percent from one week earlier. The unadjusted Purchase Index decreased 1 percent compared with the previous week and was 20 percent lower than the same week one year ago.

And MBA mortgage refis

Not surprising since most homeowners have locked in low borrowing costs prior to the Biden/Congress Covid spendathon and the inflation that followed.

After all, we are seeing the worst home sales data since the 1970s.

Yes, even KJP is finding it difficult to sell Bidenomics to the public (only talking heads like The View and Morning Joe are still trumpeting the greatness of Bidenomics). And now KJP and the Administration are selling Biden’s age of 81 as a treasure trove of experience. Except that Biden’s record in the Senate is an embarrasment. And Biden keeps shuffling and falling and mumbling through his speeches. Watch Biden’s handlers make sure he doesn’t fall again before the election.

Birds Of War! Global Mortgage Rates Soar, US 30Y Rate UP 156% Under Bidenomics, 10-year Treasury Yield UP 304% (Most US Homeowners Locked Into Low Rates)

The Federal Reserve are unelected birds of war. They manipulate interest rates in an attempt to manipulate economic and social outcomes. Often making everything worse.

Global mortgage rates are soaring, much of due to central bank tightening after the Covid fiasco of 2020 as central banks try to reign in inflation caused by rampant government spending.

Most homeowners are now locked into low borrowing costs, which is hampering home sales.

The US conforming mortgage rate (30Y) is up 156% under Biden while the 10-year Treasury yield is up 304%.

Wake Joe up, before the election. He is off on vacation to Nantucket … again. Likely to help The Federal government execute a Nantucket Sleighride on the economy.

The Federal Reserve Board of Governors.

Happy 81st birthday at the nursing home Joe!!

Biden’s Housing Market! Existing Home Sales Crash To Slowest Since 2010 (-14.6% YoY), Hit Record Low In The West (Simply Unaffordable)

Even Biden’s press secretary Karine Jean Pierre admitted that all the slogans and hype about Bidenomics is a losing message. The economy is terrible for the middle class and low-wage workers. But excellent for the 1% donor and political elite class. But housing is very important to the middle class … and housing is simply unaffordable.

With housing affordability at its lowest since at least the early 1980s, (and homebuilder sentiment slumping as mortgage rates rose), it’s no surprise that analysts expected existing home sales in October to tumble 1.5% MoM.

Sales actually fell 4.1% MoM (far worse than expected and down for the 20th time in the last 23 months) with September’s 2.0% MoM decline revised even lower to -2.2% MoM. That decline left existing home sales down 14.6% YoY.

Source: Bloomberg

The total existing home sales SAAR plunged to 3.79mm – the lowest since the tax credit expired in Aug 2010…

Source: Bloomberg

Sales fell in three of four regions, while they were unchanged in the Midwest. They hit a record low in the West and matched an all-time low in the Northeast

Finally, the percentage of homes that are vacant fell to the lowest level on record in August, and ticked up only slightly in September…

Ever the optimistic,Lawrence Yun, NAR’s chief economist, suggested that:

“Fortunately, mortgage rates have fallen for the third straight week, stirring up buying interest,” adding “though limited now, expect housing inventory to improve after this winter and heading into the spring.”

Good luck with that idea Larry!

Yun added that nearly a third of homes sold above their list price, indicating that multiple offers are still occurring with the median selling price climbed 3.4% from a year earlier to $391,800, the highest for any October in data back to 1999.

Even though the number of homes for sale ticked up from a month earlier to 1.15 million, it’s still the lowest for any October in the series.

Finally, first-time buyers made up a historically low 28% of purchases in October.

After all, the US economy and housing markets are addicted to goverment. (Addicted To Gov!)

Final Countdown? PPI Final Demand Declined To 1.3% In October As Gasoline PPI Plunges -13.5% YoY, Most Since Covid Economic Shutdowns (No Chance Now Of Further Fed Rate Hikes)

Is this the final countdown?

US Producer Price Index (PPI) Final Demand plunged the most since the COVID lockdowns. After four months of re-acceleration, US producer prices tumbled in October – down 0.5% MoM, the biggest drop since April 2020. This dragged Final Demand PPI YoY down to 1.3%. Primary drivers? Rapidly declining gasoline prices (-6.5% in October).

The other driver? M2 Money growth. Notice that PPI Final Demand is slowing as M2 Money growth goes negative.

Gasoline PPI plunged -13.5% YoY in October. No it wasn’t Biden opening up America to energy indepence. More like the impact of M2 Money growth being negative.

But never fear! The Federal Reserve is expected to stop raising rates and, in fact, start cutting rates in 2024 as the economy is sagging fast.

Don’t worry. Sleepy, stumbling Joe Biden is meeting with China’s Xi.

Treas Sec Janet “Magic Mushroom” Yellen meeting with China’s Xi and Biden’s likely replacement Oily Gavin “Gruesome” Newsom.

Bidenomics Breakfast! Orange Juice Prices UP 47% Under Biden (Even Though Food CPI Has Slowed To 3.69% YoY)

Even eating breakfast under Bidenomics is more expensive. Particularly if you like orange juice like I do. To save money, I am probably going to have to switch to nasty-tasting Tang.

Food CPI is up 3.69% year-over-year. The rate of growth in food prices is slowing. But do I trust BLS data on CPI? Of course not.

Orange juice prices are up 47% under Biden.

And we see that REAL GDP is growing at a slower rate than nominal GDP.

Tang is the taste I hate and I can get Vitamin C from a multi vitamin. But I just don’t like having government policies (or follycies) dictate my food consumption. Or auto choice (I refused to buy an electric car or pickup truck).

Speaking of Bidenomics, here is an interesting Zero Hedge story on “The Biden-Du Pont Nexus: From A Prestigious Golf Club To A Controversial Child Rape Plea Deal.” What is it with Delaware elites having sex with their children?? And why is NY AG Letitia James prosecuting Donald Trump when there has been no crime while she let’s Epstein’s clients who flew to have sex with minors (used to be illegal) off the hook?

But I feel good! After my breakfast of … Scotch Broth. OJ is just too expensive.

Back In Red? Bank Credit Growth Negative For 15th Straight Week, Savings Growth (As % Of Gross National Income) Negative For Last Two Quarters As Bitcoin Soars (Biden Wants 4 More Years To “Finish The Job”!)

To paraphrase AC/DC, the US consumer is “back in red.”

On a amusing or sad note, Biden campaign communications director Michael Tyler’s message to Americans who are worse off economically under Biden: “That’s precisely why we need another four years to finish the job.” OMG! What does “finish the job” mean?? I am afraid to ask.

Where we currently sit is … bank credit growth is in the red (15th straight week of negative growth) and net savings as a percentage of gross national income has seen negative growth YoY for 2 consequtive quarters.

September marked the largest consumer credit drop since May 2020, signaling a significant recession warning.

And with Bidenflation (or Yellenflation) and The Fed’s counterattack, we are seeing bank stocks losing relative to the tech sector.

Proshares Bitcoin (BITO)’s assets have nearly doubled in the past 30 days.

Yes, the Three Stooges (Biden, Yellen, Powell) have put the US on a highway to hell!

Here is a video of Biden, Yellen and Powell trying to spend trillions and NOT cause sustainable inflation.

Well, hell’s bells. The US is starting to resemble Venezuela and Argentina.

Bidenomics Is No Good! 30Y Mortgage Rate Declines -36 Basis Points Since 10/19/23, But Still Up 169% Under Bidenomics (Home Prices UP 33% Under Biden, Making Homeownership MORE Expensive)

Under Bidenomics, the song “Silver Threads And Golden Needles” should be renamed “Counterfit Silver Threads And Fool’s Golden Needles.” Or simply, Bidenomics is no good.

Conforming mortgage rates have actually dropped -34 basis points since hitting a local high of 7.81% on October 19, 2023. Unfortunately, mortgage rates are still up 169% under Biden and his signature Bidenomics. Even worse, home prices are up 33% under Bidenomics making housing even more unaffordable.

While real weekly earnings growth finally turned positive in 2023, growth is already slowing again as The Fed’s balance sheet slowly declines.

But its so easy for the government to spend money they don’t have, we will likely see inflation not cooling down much.