Jim Bianco Profile picture
Nov 25, 2021 7 tweets 3 min read Read on X
1/7

A thread about the latest with COVID.

Europe' case counts hit a new all-time, as did Germany.

Lockdowns, restrictions, and protests (sometimes violent) are everywhere in Europe.
2/7

The world hit a new 10 week high yesterday, and cases are going vertical (orange) line.
3/7

And the US is now moving up, no mistake about it (orange line in the last few weeks).

And, as we have noted before, whenever cases spike in one area, they eventually spike in other area.
4/7

Europe is spiking now even though they have higher vaccine rates than the US
5/7

Michigan has the highest case count in the US.

In fact it is making a new all-time high in cases per 100,000.
6/7

Why bring up Michigan?

Because in 1-hour the Detroit Lions play the Chicago Bears in front of 65,000 maskless screaming fans in DOME STADIUM (read: indoor) Ford Field in Detroit.

Remember a year ago, when case counts were LOWER, they had to play this game with no fans.
7/7

Oh ... and in 48 hours #6 Michigan plays #2 Ohio State in "The Big House" in Ann Arbor. So another 110,000+ maskless fans screaming in the state with the highest case count in the country, and higher than last year's lockdowns.

Are we still following the science???

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More from @biancoresearch

Nov 27
1/7

This analysis concludes by saying "something is seriously wrong with the housing market."

Not based on this chart.

tl:dr - New home sizes are falling to account for this spread falling below zero. Adjust for that, and there is nothing to see here.

Short 🧵
2/7

Same chart with prices in the top panel.

It is correct that the new home premium (green) above existing home prices (blue) has collapsed from 38% in 2013 to below zero today (the lowest in 54 years).

Why?

See new home prices (orange), they stalled. Image
3/7

Here is the average home price (orange) and the home's size (blue). The reason prices are falling is that builders are constructing smaller homes.

But as the bottom panel shows (green), the price per square foot is as high as ever.

No bear market, just smaller homes. Image
Read 8 tweets
Nov 25
1/8

Following @deanbaker and @ezraklein ...

Homeowners will not tolerate a "fix" that will lower prices. So, nothing will get done about affordability.
=
What is housing?

* Affordable shelter?
* Piggy bank that funds retirement?

Both cannot be true at the same time.
2/8

For the 50 years following WWII (box), home price gains kept pace with inflation ("real" prices), making housing affordable.

Starting in the late 90s, housing went into wild boom-bust cycles.

This is when housing started to be viewed as a piggy bank to fund retirement. Image
3/8

400 years of real (inflation-adjusted) home prices in Amsterdam show that housing has remained affordable for centuries.

This view began to break down in the late 1990s, as housing became the piggy bank for retirement. Image
Read 8 tweets
Nov 16
1/4

I assume Marks is referring to the 1-year forward P/E ratio for the S&P 500, the standard Wall Street valuation metric (which is closer to 25 now, but was 23 a few weeks ago).

Here is a long-term proxy for that ... the Shiller Cyclically Adjusted Price/Earnings (CAPE) ratio back to 1881. It is a 10-year average of P/E/ ratios.

At 40, it is one of the highest readings ever, even higher than 1929.Image
2/4

What does it mean that valuations are this high?

The scatter graph below goes back to 1881.

It shows the NEXT (future) 1-year REAL (after inflation) return of the stock market on the y-axis.

The CAPE on the x-axis.

The red box is the returns when the CAPE is above 34. It's a mixed bag of positive and negative returns.
Restated, valuation is NOT a good timing tool.Image
3/4

But if the y-axis is extended to the NEXT (future) 5-year REAL (after inflation) return, then THERE IS NO EXAMPLE, OVER THE LAST 150 YEARS, OF THE STOCK MARKET BEATING INFLATION OVER THE NEXT 5-YEARS WHEN THE CAPE IS ABOVE 34.

Restated, valuation is an expectation tool. Unless one makes the case that corporate earnings are going to have their most significant surge in history, the stock market is destined to disappoint over the next several years.Image
Read 4 tweets
Nov 7
1/6

The preliminary November University of Michigan Consumer Sentiment Survey was released this morning (blue). The "current conditions" measure of this survey set a new ALL-TIME LOW.

Before 2020 (COVID), the stock market (red) was the primary driver of the public's economic outlook. These two series moved up and down together. Since COVID, this relationship has completely disconnected.

This leads to some uncomfortable explanations.

Half of the country owns no assets and lives paycheck to paycheck. Have they now moved to being angry at a booming stock market that worsens inequality? Is this why socialists are getting elected? Do they want their agenda to knock the market down? Is a bear market now the goal, not the concern?Image
2/6

Why the anger?

Since the COVID recession ended in April 2020, cumulative price increases (orange) have outpaced cumulative wage increases (blue).

This devastates the bottom 50% of wage earners (and especially the bottom 30%) who own no assets and live paycheck-to-paycheck. They are having to do with less.Image
3/6

For comparison, the opposite happened in the 2010s. The cumulative gain in wages (blue) beat the cumulative rise in prices (orange).

In this scenario, the bottom 50% of wage earners were able to make ends meet and maybe get a little ahead, as their paychecks bought a bit more each year.Image
Read 6 tweets
Nov 2
1/13

🧵on the stresses in the funding markets, why they are happening, and what it means. Be sure to see the last two posts (12 and 13).

Funding rates are rising relative to the Federal Reserve's administered rates (bottom panel arrow).

This signals stress in funding markets. Image
2/13

Another signal of stress is that the Fed's Standing Repo Facility (SRF) is getting used regularly, a new record on Friday.

If money is too expensive, banks can borrow from the Fed at 4.00%.

Note that only 40 banks are counterparties, no broker/dealers, no hedge funds. LimitedImage
3/13

The Fed sees the stress and is ending Quantitative Tightening (QT) on Dec 1.

This will end Fed balance sheet shrinkage and slow the decline in bank reserves, now at a 5-year low.

Lower bank reserves mean banks have less ability to supply funding to the markets. Image
Read 13 tweets
Oct 28
1/5

JP Morgan has identified 41 AI-related stocks, 8% of the S&P 500. These stocks now account for 47% of the Index's market capitalization, a new record.

The other 459 stocks, 92% of the S&P 500, are 53% of the Index's market capitalization. Image
2/5

The list of the AI-related stocks Image
3/5

ChatGPT was released on November 29, 2022.

Since this date, these 41 stocks have accounted for 74% of the S&P 500's total increase (blue). The other 25% came from the remaining 459 stocks (orange). Image
Read 5 tweets

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