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

Mar 27
This is absolutely insane:

The US just posted a 2-month goods trade deficit of $301 BILLION as companies attempt to front-run tariffs.

We have rarely ever seen a 2-month trade deficit even HALF as large, a CLEAR sign of panic.

What is happening here?

(a thread) Image
To put this into perspective:

Trump Trade War 1.0 saw its worst monthly trade deficit of ~$120 billion.

February's trade deficit just came in at $147.9 billion, which was $12.4 billion ABOVE expectations.

January's trade deficit was revised up to a massive $153.3 billion. Image
This trade deficit surge has been highly linked to industrial supplies.

As shown below, imports of oil, LNG, gold, and steel have gone exponential.

Producers are bracing for what appears to be a very long trade war.

Producers are clearly panicking right now. Image
Read 12 tweets
Mar 27
Auto tariffs are HERE:

President Trump's "Liberation Day" will now include 25% tariffs on cars not made in the US.

This is set to add up to +$12,500 to the price of the average new car SOLD, but not MADE, in the US.

So, why are US automakers crashing?

(a thread) Image
Let's begin with some KEY details.

These tariffs will impact both cars and car PARTS that are imported into the US.

This means that simply assembling your car in the US is NOT enough.

The parts must also be produced in the US to be considered fully "tariff free." Image
This explains a lot of confusion around Tesla, $TSLA, which ASSEMBLES 100% of its cars in the US.

However, as Elon Musk clarified below, many of the parts in Tesla vehicles are NOT made in the US.

In fact, 60-75% of Tesla parts are currently sourced from the US and Canada. Image
Read 12 tweets
Mar 26
The trade war is back:

Markets are expecting Trump's April 2nd reciprocal tariffs day to be the "end of uncertainty."

But, we believe it will be the exact OPPOSITE, which is why tech stocks are down over -$400 billion this week.

Here's what's coming next.

(a thread) Image
For the last week or so, markets have been pricing-out tariff uncertainty.

As outlined below, the lack of new tariff headlines led into the WSJ report on potential tariff "leeway" on March 24th.

Then, everything changed today.

The market received another reality check. Image
This all changed when Bloomberg posted the article below this morning.

Bloomberg reported that President Trump is preparing to roll out auto tariffs as soon as Wednesday (today).

Previously, Trump had granted a 1-month delay on tariffs to automakers in the United States. Image
Read 13 tweets
Mar 24
Are hedge funds fading this rally?

Hedge fund exposure to Magnificent 7 stocks is down 8 percentage points, a LARGER drop than the 2022 bear market.

As a result, the Magnificent 7 has erased -$3 TRILLION in market cap.

What is institutional capital telling us?

(a thread) Image
Hedge funds’ net exposure to Magnificent 7 stocks has dropped ~8 percentage points since mid-2024, to 13%, the lowest in 2 years.

This is a larger drop than during the 2022 bear market when net exposure fell 5 percentage points, to ~8%.

Tech is still WELL off the highs. Image
Take a look at this same chart in the months BEFORE the recent correction began.

Hedge funds dumped Magnificent 7 stocks at their fastest pace since the 2022 bear market.

Now, even as the S&P 500 rebounds off of its low, funds continue to sell large cap technology stocks. Image
Read 11 tweets
Mar 22
What is happening in Canada?

Canada's Small Business Confidence Index has COLLAPSED nearly -60% in a matter of months.

In fact, even the LOWS of the 2008 Financial Crisis saw sentiment 10 points HIGHER than it is now.

Is Canada entering a recession?

(a thread) Image
Small business confidence is now falling FASTER than it did during the March 2020 lockdowns.

Heading into 2025, we had seen small business confidence decline slightly.

However, since the trade war began with the US, sentiment has fallen to 25.

This is the lowest on record. Image
Take a look at consumer sentiment in Canada.

We are now officially seeing new ALL-TIME lows in Canadian consumer confidence.

While the US has also seen a similar trend, confidence in the US is more than 3x as high as it was in 2008.

Confidence is ~15 points below 2008 lows. Image
Read 14 tweets
Mar 21
Get ready for a wild day:

A massive $4.7 TRILLION worth of options are expiring today, based on notional value.

This includes a whopping $2.8 trillion of S&P 500 options and $645 billion of single stock options.

What does it mean? Let us explain.

(a thread) Image
Total notional value refers to the to the combined value of all underlying assets that a set of options contracts controls.

Some estimates put it as high as $4.7 TRILLION today.

This is the biggest OpEx since December 20, when $6.6 trillion of options expired, as seen below. Image
Here's a breakdown of the distribution in strike price for the S&P 500 options.

This represents $2.8 trillion of options with a spot value of 5675.

The sheer volume of these options is expected to cause significant volatility in the index over the course of today's session. Image
Read 11 tweets

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