The Fed balance sheet is shrinking again
Over the last 4 weeks, the Fed’s balance sheet has reversed 36% of the post-SVB liquidity injections ($392 billion) with a total decline of $141 Billion. Source: Charlie Bilello
US Housing Starts were were down 17% over the last year, the 11th consecutive YoY decline
US Housing Starts were were down 17% over the last year, the 11th consecutive YoY decline (longest down streak since 2009). Tends to be a leading indicator for the economy, recessionary signals continue to build. Source: Charlie Bilello
Apple ($AAPL) is in a league of its own
With a market cap of $2.6 Trillion, Apple is $500 Billion bigger than Microsoft. It's bigger than the GDP of - South Korea, Canada, Russia, Brazil and Italy. $AAPL is up +305% over the last 5 years. Source: Oktay Kavrak, Leveraged Shares
UK Food Inflation continuing to make cycle highs of up +19.6%
UK Inflation surprises to the upside at +10.1% YoY. The surge in UK Food Inflation has been contributing to it.
Inflation remains hot in the UK, lifting prospects for interest-rate hikes
Britain’s inflation rate remained stubbornly high at 10.1% in March. The pace was driven by the strongest increase in food prices in more than four decades. Economists had expected a slowdown to 9.8%. Traders ramped up bets on further rate increases from the BOE as the double-digit reading provided a wake-up call for investors who thought the tightening cycle was close to over. Source: Bloomberg
Tesla net income and earnings drop more than 20% from last year
Tesla’s Q1 2023 revenues and profits came in very close to expectations, based on a survey of analysts from Refinitiv. Tesla specified in a shareholder deck that “underutilization of new factories” stressed margins, along with higher raw material, commodity, logistics and warranty costs, and lower revenue from environmental credits, all contributing to the drop in earnings from last year. Shares in electric vehicle maker Tesla dropped more than 4% after the company reported first-quarter earnings after the bell. Here are the results. $TSLA Tesla Q1 FY23: • Revenue +24% Y/Y to $23.3B ($60M miss). • Gross margin 19% (-10pp Y/Y). • Operating margin 11% (-8pp Y/Y). • Capex +17% Y/Y to $2.1B. • Free cash flow -80% Y/Y to $0.4B. • Non-GAAP EPS $0.85 (in-line). • Deliveries +36% Y/Y to 422,875. Source: App Economy Insights, CNBC
The US debt hole grows bigger. Higher interest rates do not help
The problem with deficits is that they add up. Each annual deficit adds to the total National Debt. This debt hole grows bigger because of annual interest expense on all this debt. Not a problem when interest rates are ~0%. Big problem when they're 5% per year (now). Source: Jesse Myers Croesus_BTC
Concentration Alert! A handful of tech stocks are responsible for a large portion of stock market returns lately
Mega-cap tech stocks like Apple, Microsoft, Amazon, and Alphabet are driving the rally, so far in 2023. Source: Genuine Impact
