Executive Summary Fitch, one of the three largest credit rating agencies, recently downgraded the U.S. debt rating from AAA to AA+ because the debt-to-GDP ratio is projected to reach over 118% by 2025. This ratio of debt is way out of line of a AAA rating, which [...]
Executive Summary Since the Federal Reserve Bank raised the Federal Funds Rate to 5.25%, the 30-year fixed mortgage rate has jumped to 7.46% (see second graph) – over double the pre-pandemic rate. At the same time, home prices have only dropped between .9%-2.3% (3rd graph) according to [...]
Executive Summary Most U.S. businesses use debt to maintain operations. The first graph shows how banks are tightening lending standards compared to the concurrent rise in prime interest rates on loans moving from 3.25% to 8.5%. Revolving debt outstanding is around $1 trillion. These loans normally contain [...]
Executive Summary John Hussman, Ph.D., economist, market analyst and fund manager, provides some of the best market analyses in the industry. He is renowned for using actual historical occurrences in assessing the validity of valuation methodologies and identifying market syndromes. He gained recognition by accurately predicting the [...]
Executive Summary The Fed is now implementing Quantitative Tightening (QT), thereby reducing the size of their balance sheet. They are also increasing interest rates, which will reduce liquidity through a drop in loan demand. Loan demand will be hurt both by higher interest rates as well as [...]
Executive Summary When short-term interest rates are higher than long-term interest rates, the curve is considered inverted. Typically, this occurs just prior to or during recessions. In the first graph below, one can see the curve has not been this inverted in 40 years. Additionally, leading economic [...]
Executive Summary When short-term interest rates are higher than long-term interest rates, the curve is considered inverted. Typically, this occurs just prior to or during recessions. In the first graph below, one can see the curve has not been this inverted in 40 years. Additionally, leading economic [...]
Executive Summary Over the past decade, the Fed’s monetary policy was seen as the most important determinant for the direction of the stock market. The Fed has maintained tightening policies for over a year, reducing the size of their balance sheet and raising interest rates. A couple [...]
Executive Summary Last Friday the Bureau of Labor Statistics reported 339,000 new jobs were created in May, and the unemployment rate increased from 3.4% to 3.7%. The jobs number is derived from the Establishment Survey, while the unemployment number is from the Household Survey. Of note is [...]
Executive Summary Recent market movements attributable to “AI” (artificial intelligence) are reminiscent of the 1990’s “.com” era. Recently, Nvidia, a graphics processor manufacturer, reported a fiscal first quarter earnings drop of 20% (year-over-year) with revenue down 13%. Yet the stock soared (see first chart below) because of [...]