My favorite chart there is the one for consumer loans, 70% are tightening and the graph shows a very steep increase. Just a year ago they were loosening...
Bob_in_MA, I also think the consumer tightening is significant. This is probably in response to the recession and rising defaults on all kinds of consumer loans.
No Home ATM. No easy consumer loans. What's a consumer to do?
I guess the amazing thing, looking at the Fed's consumer lending numbers for last month, is the willingness of people to take on debt at a time that, at best, can be characterized as uncertain.
It's my feeling that the US is made up of grasshoppers and ants, spenders and savers. The savers mask the severity of the problem when numbers are aggregated., eg., average household has a $7,500 of credit card debt. But when you leave off the people that either have no credit cards or pay them off every month, the average debtor household has more like $12-13,000.
When Greenspan used to say that the average household had a pretty good balance sheet, he was assuming the savers were willing to share with the debtors.
Hi CR, your agent here again. I've been thinking about the marketability of your graphs lately. I'm thinking we need to add a little pop to the titles. While "Investment in Non-Residential Structures, Fed Loan Demand, Fed Tighter Lending Standards (inverted)" is descriptive, I think we should go with something a little catchier (but still upmarket). Something that can capture both the USA Today and WSJ demographics without putting off the regulars. How about "Suspense in Blue"?
My favorite chart there is the one for consumer loans, 70% are tightening and the graph shows a very steep increase. Just a year ago they were loosening...
CR, thanks for the graph showing the correlation to CRE investment. There's a trend that seems to be a sure thing at this point.
Bob_in_MA, I also think the consumer tightening is significant. This is probably in response to the recession and rising defaults on all kinds of consumer loans.
No Home ATM. No easy consumer loans. What's a consumer to do?
Best Wishes.
No Home ATM. No easy consumer loans. What's a consumer to do?
Save?
Oh, wait. That's right. Consumers aren't allowed to have that sort of self-determination in this country.
They don't know any better that it's not good for the economy if they save.
I guess the amazing thing, looking at the Fed's consumer lending numbers for last month, is the willingness of people to take on debt at a time that, at best, can be characterized as uncertain.
It's my feeling that the US is made up of grasshoppers and ants, spenders and savers. The savers mask the severity of the problem when numbers are aggregated., eg., average household has a $7,500 of credit card debt. But when you leave off the people that either have no credit cards or pay them off every month, the average debtor household has more like $12-13,000.
When Greenspan used to say that the average household had a pretty good balance sheet, he was assuming the savers were willing to share with the debtors.
Yes and we can thank the ludicrous bank sweeps "feature" for continuing to mask the problems.
Ciao
MS
Whoa, the 2008 recession bar is thicker than the other two, are you trying to say something CR?
Thanks, is it possible to print the FED rat in the graph?
Hi CR, your agent here again. I've been thinking about the marketability of your graphs lately. I'm thinking we need to add a little pop to the titles. While "Investment in Non-Residential Structures, Fed Loan Demand, Fed Tighter Lending Standards (inverted)" is descriptive, I think we should go with something a little catchier (but still upmarket). Something that can capture both the USA Today and WSJ demographics without putting off the regulars. How about "Suspense in Blue"?
Looks to me like the start of that last blue bar has crept a couple of months earlier than it had been.
Is that a scoop? Can we expect even more downward GDP revisions than what we've seen thus far?