The Kobeissi Letter - Financial Events in 2023 So Far:
1. Mortgage rates pass 2008 highs at 7.2% 2. Credit card debt set to hit $1 trillion for first time ever 3. Regional bank crisis leads to 2nd and 3rd largest bank collapses in history 4. Fed raises interest rates to highest level since 2001 5. Debt ceiling crisis nearly leads to US default 6. US sees most bankruptcies since 2020 lockdown 7. Interest expense on US debt set to cross $1 trillion annually 8. Fitch downgrades US credit rating for first time since 2011 Yet, the S&P 500 is up an incredible 700 points this year. Is this the most resilient stock market in history? Source: The Kobeissi Letter
Consumer price inflation is creeping higher again on a month-over-month basis, driven in part by higher gas prices, according to the Cleveland Fed's forecast
Source: Lisa Abramowicz
Given the expensive level of stocks valuations (especially tech), there is little room left for bad news
Valuation ratios are bad timing tools but help assessing the downside potential. Source: Charlie Bilello
Crude Oil had its 6th consecutive green week, the longest weekly winning streak since February 2022
Source: Barchart
Goal Setting!
Source: European Leadership
In the end, cashflow is all what matters
Source: Compounding Quality, Chris Quinn
Fed QT accelerates. Fed balance sheet shrank $91bn in July, -$759bn from peak, biggest drop ever to $8.2tn, lowest level since July 2021
Fed has now shed 22.3% of the Treasury securities it bought during pandemic QE. Fed's total assets now equal to 30.6% of US's GDP vs ECB's 53%, BoJ's 130%. Source: HolgerZ, wolfstreet.com
The Citi US Economic Surprise Index is at the highest levels since early 2021
That being said, there has been some divergence recently between "hard" and "soft" data. Indeed, 'Hope' has been in charge of macro data recently with 'soft' survey data surging back in its mean-reverting manner as 'hard' real data has been fading (led down by industrial, personal finance, and housing data)... Source: Bloomberg, www.zerohedge.com
