Free Republic

Making ends meet is a concern for one-third of U.S. consumers, even those making $100,000 or more a year, according to a survey by the Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia. This is up from 28.7% a year ago. Among those able to pay their bills in full, more than a quarter worry they will be able to continue to cover their bills in the next six months, up from one-fifth a year ago. Thirty percent of those making $150,000 or more are concerned about their finances in the next six months.

In this corner, we have Fed Chair Powell, Treasury Secretary Yellen, President Biden and Cheerleader Brainard all cheering and singing “Everything Is Beautiful!”. In the other corner, we have … investors who are are betting that The Fed will be cutting the target rate from 5.50% to 4% by December 2024, a cut of almost 150 basis points in one year. Why? First, the US economy is softening. Second, The Fed will want Biden (or whoever Democrats prop up in his place) re-elected as President. While Wednesday’s FOMC statement had barely any changes in it, with the notable addition of...

It is a day of rememberance for the tragedy of the 9/11 terrorist attacks in New York City, while Biden embarrasses himself in Vietnam in a rambling speech which his aides cut off mid-sentence. Oh and he used his “lying dog-faced pony soldier” line again about global warning, ignoring the massive growth in coal useage in nearby China. Is this Bozo Joe? But back in the USA (while Biden does his humiliate the US tour of Vietnam, India, etc, and ignores the tragedy of the 9/11 attacks), we see mortgage rates still up above 7% as the US Treasrury 10Y-2Y...

Thanks to Bidenomics, code for massive Federal spending on green energy initiatives and payoffs fo large donors, we have agonizing inflation and consumers are borrowing more and more to cope with inflation. And with the increased use of debt comes …. drumroll … delinquenices! Let’s start with mortgage loans, the overall delinquency rate is 63bps, near record lows, likely due to the huge home appreciation of the last few years which padded the equity cushion for most homeowners. Even the youngest cohort (18-29 years old) has a delinquency rate only 30bps higher than the aggregate. Unlike the 2007-2011 period, the...