News
Home Prices in the Largest European Countries Range from Housing Bubbles to a Market that Fell back to 2010
2+ hour, 25+ min ago (408+ words) In some of the 19 largest countries by GDP in the European Union (EU) and in the European Economic Area (EEA), prices of existing homes of all types have skyrocketed to new highs, led by Hungry (+23. 7% year-over-year), Portugal (+20. 9% year-over-year), and Bulgaria…...
Bank of Japan Accelerated QT Further, Started Selling Equity ETFs & J-REITs, Shed 12. 6% of its Assets since the Peak
1+ day, 4+ hour ago (837+ words) Under its QT program, the Bank of Japan reduced its total assets by another "15. 6 trillion (-$9. 8 billion) in the quarter through March 31, and by "67. 6 trillion (-$42. 3 billion) year-over-year, to "662. 1 trillion ($4. 14 trillion), the lowest level since Q2 2020, according to the BOJ's balance sheet data…...
The Massive Unsustainable Trade Deficit in Goods Has Improved Sharply. Tariffs Are Doing their Job
6+ day, 7+ hour ago (373+ words) The 6-month average trade deficit in goods fell (improved) to $80 billion in February, the least-bad since September 2020, and down by 37% from the 6-month-average peak in March 2025. The tariffs are doing their job! Since a trade deficit is a negative in…...
Retail Sales Plunged in February. But Huge Seasonal Adjustments Caused them to Jump. A Look at Both
1+ week, 5+ hour ago (699+ words) Retail sales soar in December and collapse in January and February, every year to varying extents. Huge seasonal adjustment factors are used to reduce December sales and to increase January and February sales, to roughly level them out. And that…...
USD Share Drops to 31-Year Low as Central Banks Diversify into Other Currencies & Gold
1+ week, 4+ day ago (902+ words) It has been zigzagging down toward the 50% line for years. It does have consequences. And it has been there before. USD-denominated foreign exchange reserves are US securities held by central banks other than the Fed. They include US Treasury securities,…...
Update on the "Lock-in Effect" in the Housing Market: Below-3% & 4% Mortgages Fade Very Slowly
1+ week, 5+ day ago (886+ words) The share of 3% to 3. 99% mortgages (blue) edged down to 30. 9% " the painstakingly slow progression also slowed " down from a share of 40. 6% at the peak in Q1 2022. The share of below-3% mortgages had exploded from early 2020 through Q1 2022 when the Fed's interest rate repression…...
There Goes the Spring Selling Season: Mortgage Rates Jump, Mortgage Applications to Purchase a Home Drop
2+ week, 6+ hour ago (362+ words) The average weekly mortgage rate for conforming 30-year fixed mortgages rose to 6. 43%, the highest since October 2025, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association today. This weekly measure of mortgage rates is once again solidly in the middle of the 6% to 7% range…...
$5+ Diesel Could Unleash Inflationary Mindset the Fed Better Not "Look Through." Inflation Was already Hot before Iran War
2+ week, 1+ day ago (892+ words) The problem is that even before fuel prices began to spike, inflation had already been accelerating and running hot, and the current fuel price spikes will add to them: The average retail price of gasoline, all grades combined, at gas…...
2-Year, 3-Year Treasury Yields Spike, Flip to Rate Hike. Yield Curve Uninverts. Government Sold $606 Billion of Treasury Securities this Week as the Borrowing Must Go On
2+ week, 3+ day ago (928+ words) The bond market, which has become very edgy about inflation and future supply " given the ballooning debt " is now seeing the previously unthinkable: a rate hike possibly late this year or next year. That is what the 1-year Treasury yield,…...
Treasury Yields Spike, 10-Year to 4. 39%, 30-Year to 4. 96%, Mortgage Rates to 6. 5%, as the Bond Market Gets Antsy
2+ week, 5+ day ago (934+ words) Rising yields means bond prices are falling, and hedge funds are taking big losses on complex highly leveraged trades, such as the 2-year-10-year yield spread and swap spreads, according to Bloomberg, and their efforts to unwind those positions are…...