Independent thinking for complex markets and current events
People are liquidating everything non-essential to cover basics. Credit cards get maxed for food then payments get missed. The resale market is flooded with boats, cars, and collectibles as families raise cash fast. This is the kind of pressure that builds into bigger problems when it spreads. People are dumping their toys. byu/Autumn_Ridge ininflation One …
That 0.9% jump in May retail sales grabbed the headlines. But if you zoom out, the picture looks a lot less impressive. Earlier this year, retail sales were crawling along with 0.2% gains or barely moving at all. One stronger month doesn’t erase the fact that a lot of households have been slowing down for …
Dumping Hydrogen Peroxide into the reflecting pool this morning. byu/i_am_rave_mom inmildlyinfuriating 🇺🇸 Underwater camera footage shows the damage inside Trump's renovated Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool up close. A section of paint peeled off the bottom and was removed, less than two weeks after the $14.7 million job was called finished. An eight-figure, no-bid contract,… https://t.co/StXB3XRsUr …
This is reality. Inflation is a real struggle right now. pic.twitter.com/2XrW7guwjE — Abounding Wealth (@AboundWealth) June 13, 2026 It means regular people are buying less stuff once you factor in higher prices. May saw the biggest drop in real (inflation-adjusted) retail spending in years, with 7 declines in the last 9 months. This usually happens …
Savings rate plunged from 5.5% to 2.6% in one year — people straight up draining reserves and maxing credit cards just to keep buying. CNBC and ZeroHedge both flashing the exact same red flag: real incomes decaying fast. Last two months alone saw a full 1% collapse, now kissing all-time lows. This isn’t a strong …
Shrinkflation is the physical act of reducing quantity while keeping the price stable, a tactic widely observed in cereal boxes, detergent bottles, and snack bags where the unit volume is quietly shaved down to avoid triggering consumer sticker shock. Skimpflation is the qualitative act of gutting the product from the inside, often by swapping premium …
The Conference Board’s latest index dropped to 93.1 in May, a clear sign that shoppers are feeling the pinch. Consumers cited soaring prices at the gas pump and grocery checkout as the primary drivers of their sour mood. Mentions of war and geopolitics in the survey hit new highs, signaling deep anxiety over the Middle …
We are back at 2008 levels. Household insolvency is moving faster than at any time since the financial crisis. Credit card highs with no signs of cooling inflation. Energy prices give you a break over the weekend, then boom. Trump headline ruined. https://t.co/5Ti4zNWKoj — Business Nature (@BusinessNMedia) May 26, 2026 U.S. Credit Card Accounts delinquent …
The latest University of Michigan numbers for May came in at 44.8, way below normal levels. People are exhausted by higher gas prices and rising costs for basic stuff, and fears around the Strait of Hormuz are making inflation worries even worse. A lot of Americans just feel like everything keeps getting more expensive while …
WE HAVE NEVER BEEN THIS BROKE… Searches for ‘can’t pay credit card’ smash records… 11% of accounts now seriously delinquent… Savings rate vanishes… 🚨 Americans have never been this broke before. Google searches for “can’t pay credit card” just hit an all time high. At the same time, US consumer confidence has collapsed to one …
🇺🇸 U.S. Consumer sentiment falls to lowest reading on record pic.twitter.com/yHT0zCSdNI — Hedgeye (@Hedgeye) May 8, 2026 Consumer sentiment falls to fresh record low in May as surging gas prices hit outlook Surging gas prices due to the Iran war sent consumer sentiment to a new low in the early part of May, according to …
We know when Walmart or Dollar General are doing well, those are not good signs for the health of the consumer economy, particularly when it’s higher income shoppers suddenly appearing in bigger numbers. But when that hard hit traffic starts spilling over to the local pawn shops, it’s a whole other level. Canaries and coalmines. …
Conference Board: Index inches higher to 92.8 as labor market offsets gas pain… Present Situation Index retreats as consumers feel the Middle East “pincushion”… Inflation expectations surge to 4.7% as war shocks hit the household pocketbook… Economists: “Resilience is thin” as nearly 50% expect higher rates through 2027… US consumer confidence inches higher in April …
American consumers have NEVER been this pessimistic about the economy: The University of Michigan Consumer Sentiment Index fell to 49.8 in April, the lowest reading EVER in over 70 years of polling, with declines occurring across all income levels, ages, and political affiliations. This comes as gasoline prices posted the largest monthly jump in pump …
Keep acting like the consumer is still strong and spending like nothing’s changed… and yeah, it’s going to look fine until it suddenly isn’t. Inflation still hot and people already stretched, that’s the kind of setup where things can roll over, but timing is always the tricky part. U.S. inflation picture is the worst in …
S&P 500: Top Ten Companies are 40% of Market Cap and 32% of Earnings h/t RobertBartus
Consumer Sentiment Plunges to Lowest Level in 50+ Years byu/meifx inStockMarket Consumer sentiment plunged to 47.6 which was is all time low. Inflation expectations came in at 4.8% which is a point higher than March. Sentiment was down 10% from March. I can’t wait to see the April economic numbers. If I had to guess …
via notayesmanseconomics Over the past 24 hours the European Central Bank has received a couple of pieces of rather unwelcome data.We can start with what is its modus operandi. Euro area annual inflation is expected to be 2.5% in March 2026, up from 1.9% in February according to a flash estimate from Eurostat, the statistical office of the European …
Brits must brace for energy RATIONING as Middle East chaos causes shortages, ex-No10 expert warns https://t.co/wcNsfx6Ee3 — Daily Mail (@DailyMail) March 16, 2026 Brits were today warned they must brace for energy rationing as the Middle East crisis continues. Former No10 energy expert Nick Butler said the effective closure of the Strait of Hormuz by …
Nearly half of Americans in a new WalletHub survey said their household can’t manage more debt, while more than one-third said they expect to have higher balances by the end of 2026. Fifty-three percent of households said the struggle the most with credit card debt, followed by mortgages at 20% and student loans with 11%. …
This is insane The US economy is now reliant on older Americans more than ever before pic.twitter.com/PE0U2wf7sI — Cheddar Flow (@CheddarFlow) February 20, 2026 US Consumer Sentiment collapses to levels not seen since the Great Financial Crisis pic.twitter.com/kMt4jDRY50 — Darth Powell (@VladTheInflator) February 20, 2026 Sam Altman just admitted AI will make most humans economically …
Is it just me, or does it feel like everything is just about to spiral out of control with this AI-memory-boom-chatbot-slop-crisis thing? We already know that memory prices have gone bananas and that the crisis is complicating the production of all kinds of computing-adjacent devices. Now the CEO of memory specialist Phison is reported to …
Source: https://wccftech.com/western-digital-has-no-more-hdd-capacity-left-out/ HDD capacity from one of the world’s largest manufacturers has started to run dry, according to Western Digital’s CEO, as major LTAs have been signed out. Western Digital’s Consumer Share Drops to 5%, as Enterprise Demand Gobbles Up the Supply Well, the ongoing AI supercycle has disrupted supply chains, and we have talked about …
Mag 7 cutting buybacks and borrowing while private credit guys talk about heavy drawdowns and yields keep grinding higher is not “AI strength,” it’s stress showing through the paint. Money isn’t cheap anymore, lenders are pulling back, and somehow people still act like companies can burn billions a quarter forever. Then you look at the …
Deli-style Margherita pizza sold across 10 states have been recalled after federal officials warned it may contain metal fragments. What To Know WinCo Foods deli pizza was recalled across 10 states after it was found that the product may contain metal fragments, according to a U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) enforcement report entry for …
That’s because real life inflation isn’t 3%. It’s more like 8-12%. We can’t afford a government that’s 40% of GDP. If this continues, the middle class will be wiped out and a civil war won’t be far behind. https://t.co/G8mPgaMkOl — Porter Stansberry (@porterstansb) January 29, 2026 BREAKING: December PPI inflation comes in at 3.0%, above …
US consumer savings are falling at an alarming pace: The US personal savings rate fell -0.2 percentage points in November 2025, to 3.5%, the lowest since October 2022. Excluding the March-October 2022 period, this is the lowest level since the 2008 Financial Crisis. This… pic.twitter.com/iru70ge4tp — The Kobeissi Letter (@KobeissiLetter) January 28, 2026 “Outside of …
ADP National Employment Report And What the Headline Misses About Today’s Labor Market ADP says private employers added 41,000 jobs in December, framing it as a rebound. But when you slow down and look at where those jobs came from, the picture changes. Nearly all of the net… pic.twitter.com/D1zs99G6CR — EndGame Macro (@onechancefreedm) January 27, …
