Free Republic

US personal savings are being exhausted as The Fed raises rates to fight inflation. I call this phenomenon “low riding” where consumers are being punished by The Federal Reserve and Biden Administration. Meanwhile, large bank loan volumes are shrinking. With money-market fund assets hitting new highs, and banks’ usage of The Fed’s emergency funds facility at record highs, we wonder how much longer The Fed can keep the dream of rising deposits alive (after last week’s massive NSA inflows). On a seasonally-adjusted basis, The Fed says that total deposits dropped $11BN last week (the first decline in 4 weeks). We...

Hao Ting, who owns a petroleum-equipment business in Beijing, recalls the investment sales pitch from her private banker in Hong Kong at Singapore's DBS Bank: "The world is made for wealthy people. The more wealth you have, the easier it is to make money." Today she's out $10 million and owes the bank another $12 million. Hao and the bank are now suing each other in Hong Kong, with the bank saying it followed "local regulatory guidelines."