In Germany, labor productivity has stagnated—or even declined—since 2020.
Meanwhile, US companies have embraced AI's benefits and recently achieved significant productivity gains. Notably, productivity trends in Germany and the US have been diverging since 1999. This divergence may also be linked to the introduction of the euro. Since the euro became undervalued for Germany—at least from 2004 onward—German companies may have felt less pressure to improve productivity. Source: HolgerZ, Bloomberg
BREAKING: The US budget deficit hit a massive $711 BILLION for the first 3 months of Fiscal Year 2025.
This is ~$200 billion, or 39%, higher than in the same period last year. The deficit reached $2.0 TRILLION for the full calendar year 2024, up $248 billion YoY. Also, deficit spending rose from 6.4% to 6.9% GDP in 2024. Such a high percentage has never been seen outside of wars or major economic crises. Source: The Kobeissi Letter
Donald Trump's new SEC to begin overhauling the agency's crypto policies "as early as next week" 👀
Source: Reuters
And the Winner is…
Source: Michael A. Arouet
Mortgage demand is collapsing:
US mortgage applications for single-family homes fell 3.7% last week, marking their 4th consecutive weekly decline. As a result, the mortgage demand index has fallen to the lowest since February 2024 and its 3rd lowest level in nearly 30 years. The index has now fallen a whopping -63% over the last 4 years. This comes as home financing costs have rapidly surged while prices remain at all-time highs. Since mid-September, 30-year fixed mortgage rates have risen ~110 basis points and are back above 7%. Mortgage demand is at 1990s levels. Source: The Kobeissi Letter, MBA Purchase index
US Small-Business Optimism Hits Highest Since 2018 Post Election
- Bloomberg thru Christophe Barraud on X
Good news are coming... while US Q4 earnings season is off to a strong start thanks to banks beating estimates, US inflation numbers came in somewhat cooler than expected:
Core CPI slows to 3.2% in December from 3.3% in November. Analysts had expected the rate to remain unchanged at 3.3%. Overall CPI is unchanged at 2.9% as forecasted. Headline CPI inflation is up for 3 straight months, but core inflation is falling again. It seems enough to please investors: S&P 500 futures are surging over +85 points - the equivalent of a $750B market cap gain - as 10y US bond yields are tumbling by 10 basis points. The dollar is easing, gold is shining and cryptos is surging with bitcoin back to $99K. Alles gut... Source: Bloomberg
The first quarter of FY 2025 produced a deficit of $710.9 Billion.
That’s $200B more than the first quarter of fiscal 2024, or a 39% increase YoY. The US is now running a ~$3 TRILLION annual deficit...
