The Kobeissi Letter Profile picture
Feb 15 14 tweets 6 min read Read on X
This is absolutely insane:

Since DOGE began discussing mass layoffs, the median home price in Washington DC has FALLEN by -$139,000.

In 30 days, nearly 4,000 homes have been listed for sale in and around Washington DC.

What is happening? Let us explain.

(a thread) Image
Here's a chart showing median home price in the Washington, DC area.

In November 2024, the median home in Washington, DC was worth ~$699,000, according to Redfin.

Today, the median home is worth $560,000, marking a -20% drop in ~3 months.

Mass selling is an understatement. Image
There are now nearly 8,000 homes for sale in the Washington, DC metro area.

Nearly HALF of these homes have been listed for sale over the last 30 days.

Since November 2024, nearly 5,000 homes have been listed for sale, well above average.

So, what exactly is happening here? Image
Year-over-year, home listings in the Washington DC metro area are up ~23%.

Parts of Virginia are seeing 60%-70%+ jumps in year-over-year listings.

Keep in mind, this is during the winter months in a housing market that has been historically LOW on supply.

Truly insane. Image
Listings accelerated after DOGE's federal employee buyout offer was announced.

The offer pays employees through September 2025 if they quit, with 5%-10% of employees expected agree.

As of this week, 65,000 federal employees have accepted the buyout offer, per WSJ. Image
Today, Fox News reported that 3,600 probationary Health and Human Services employees were laid off by DOGE.

This is expected to save $600 MILLION in taxpayer dollars annually.

The 65,000 DOGE cuts so far are now saving an estimated ~$38 billion in annual taxpayer dollars. Image
On day 8 of the formation of @DOGE, the below announcement was made.

DOGE is reportedly saving the US Government $1 billion PER DAY.

This means DOGE could reduce US deficit spending by 20% in YEAR 1.

More layoffs are coming as workforce reduction has been a primary DOGE goal. Image
Here's where it gets even more interesting:

There has been a SURGE in new listings in Washington, DC with a listing price of $1,000,000+.

There are now 525 listings of $1+ million and 44 listings worth $5+ million.

This suggests high-profile job exits are rising. Image
Just wait until we see the effects on commercial real estate in Washington, DC.

DOGE announced plans to eliminate up to TWO-THIRDS of US government office buildings, per WSJ.

Not a single major US government agency is currently occupying even 50% of their office space. Image
DOGE has specifically noted that Washington, DC federal government buildings are particularly empty.

On average, they are just 12% occupied.

The Department of Agriculture saw just ~456 of 7,400 employees use their office.

The DC real estate market is just getting started. Image
If you zoom out further, there are ~15 THOUSAND homes for sale around Washington, DC.

In fact, there are so many homes for sale in the downtown area that Zillow is grouping 280 homes together.

This is an unprecedented level of selling in a generally "strong" housing market. Image
Are layoffs and rising inventory in DC a coincidence?

Time will tell. But, we see more layoffs ahead as DOGE looks to cut $4 billion/day.

With US debt up $13 TRILLION since 2020, spending cuts are needed.

Follow us @KobeissiLetter for real time analysis as this develops. Image
DOGE's goal of rapidly reducing the $1.8 trillion US deficit will impact MULTIPLE markets.

The 10-year note yield has fallen ~40 bps from its high and gold is nearing $3000, even as inflation rebounded.

Subscribe below to see how we are trading it:

thekobeissiletter.com/subscribeImage
With mortgage demand at 30-year lows, stocks at all time highs, and DOGE disrupting government spending, tons of change is coming.

As investors, we must evolve with this change.

Be sure to turn on @Kobeissiletter post notifications to receive our real-time analysis.

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More from @KobeissiLetter

Feb 17
You can't make this up:

Social Security may go insolvent by 2034 and Elon Musk just called it "the biggest fraud in history."

According to new DOGE data, ~21 million people aged 100+ in the SSA database are listed as ALIVE in the US.

What is happening here?

(a thread) Image
First, let's just put this in perspective.

Here's a population distribution map of people living in the US, by age.

According to the US Census, in 2020, just 80,000 Americans were aged 85+.

This is just 0.02% of the US population, compared to the ~5% reflected in SS data. Image
Social Security data shows 1,041 people over the age of 220 living in the US with one aged 360+.

As of January 2025, the oldest person in the world is aged 116 living in Brazil.

While this data is clearly WRONG, it only emphasizes the inefficiencies in the SSA organization. Image
Read 10 tweets
Feb 17
This keeps getting worse:

Hayden Davis, an insider behind the memecoin endorsed by Javier Milei, $LIBRA, said they made "more or less $110 MILLION."

Some insiders were reimbursed $5+ million while retail saw -$4.4 BILLION of market cap erased.

What is happening here?

(a thread)Image
An exclusive interview with Hayden Davis, the lead insider behind $LIBRA, was just released by Coffeezilla.

As seen in the clip below, Hayden says he now has:

1. More or less $100 million cash
2. $11 million in tokens
3. $13 million in fees

Total cash is ~$113 MILLION.
But, it gets even worse.

Hayden admits that he was a part of the launch of Melania Trump's memecoin.

After the launch of $LIRBA, wallet P5tb4 sent $2.4M of profits to 0xcEA, a $MELANIA insider's wallet, per @Bubblemaps.

The same insiders cashed-in MILLIONS on $MELANIA. Image
Read 13 tweets
Feb 16
WOW. Washington DC's economy looks like 2008:

Unemployment filings in Washington DC just SURGED +36% in one week to 3 TIMES the 2024 average.

Over the last 6 weeks, unemployment filings are up +55%, now ABOVE 2008 levels.

How bad will it get? Let us explain.

(a thread) Image
Since January 20th, over 4,000 federal employees have filed first time unemployment claims in Washington DC.

Furthermore, the year-to-date total has hit nearly 7,000.

That's a whopping +55% increase over the previous 6 week period.

Last week alone, claims surged +36%. Image
To put this into perspective, here's a chart showing Washington DC's jobless claims back to 2008.

Weekly jobless claims are now at 1,780, or nearly 15% HIGHER than the peak seen after the 2008 Financial Crisis.

Washington DC is entering a recession as layoffs begin. Image
Read 12 tweets
Feb 15
Javier Milei just DESTROYED the memecoin market:

Hours ago, Argentinian President Milei launched a memecoin, $LIBRA, for "the growth of their economy."

Within 5 hours, over -$4.4 BILLION of market cap was erased.

Is this the biggest rug pull in history?

(a thread) Image
It all began with this post at 5:01 PM ET from Javier Milei.

As seen during President Trump's memecoin launch, the first hour was full of speculation:

Was this a hack or a real launch?

It turned out to be real as multiple other Argentinian politicians posted the news. Image
Right off the bat, something seemed off about this project.

The website says the purpose of this launch is "to boost the Argentine economy by funding small projects."

The icing on the cake?

The website literally links to a Google Form to "apply for funding." Strange. Image
Image
Read 12 tweets
Feb 13
Is this the worst "Fed pivot" in history?

Since the Fed "pivoted," CPI has RISEN to a 7-month high and PPI just hit its highest since Feb 2023.

In fact, rates paid by Americans are UP +100 bps since cuts began.

How HOT is inflation right now? Let us explain.

(a thread) Image
Let us first begin with this chart.

Throughout 2024, we posted this chart as inflation progressed.

With the bottom in CPI inflation and now the rise back to +3.0%, the path looks concerningly similar to the 1970s.

Are we setting up for a 1970s style rebound in inflation? Image
Today, data showed US PPI inflation unexpected SURGED to +3.5%, its highest since February 2023.

But, it gets even worse.

Core PPI inflation came in at 3.6% and December Core PPI was revised HIGHER, from 3.5% to 3.7%.

Not only is current data rising, but so is past data. Image
Read 12 tweets
Feb 12
The Fed's worst nightmare just got worse:

CPI inflation just officially JUMPED +0.5% in one month, the largest increase since August 2023.

Core CPI inflation was expected to fall to 3.1%, but instead ROSE to 3.3%.

What's does this mean? Let us explain.

(a thread) Image
This was the hottest inflation report we have had since 2023.

Headline CPI inflation was expected to remain flat, at 2.9%, while Core CPI inflation was expected to fall to 3.1%.

Instead, inflation posted a large jump and hit 6+ month highs.

This has HUGE implications. Image
And, it gets even worse.

Headline CPI rose by +0.5% Month-over-Month, above expectations of +0.3%.

This marks the first +0.5% increase since August 2023.

Not even the early-2024 rebound in inflation saw CPI jump by this much on one month. Image
Read 11 tweets

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