Those pesky ole energy prices can certainly get in the way of central bank plans to bring inflation down. Per the FT, they haven’t figured out a plan on how to respond to potential further jumps in energy prices if Middle East tensions escalate further.
Fannie Mae’s survey flagged that 85% of respondents believe now is a bad time to purchase a house, per Yahoo Finance. But, if you’re looking for positive signs, the ave 30-yr mortgage rate declined last week by -25 bps to 7.61%, down the most in >1yr, which spurred the biggest advance in home purchase applications since early Jun.
Per Bloomberg, US consumer credit card data shows that folks keep spending on their cards despite falling behind on payments.
Apple says it will delay the development of the 2024 iPhone, iPad, and Mac software updates to fix bugs, per Bloomberg.
US automakers are slowing investments in EV factories because of slower demand than expected, per the NY Times.
UBS launched its first AT1 bonds since it gobbled up Credit Suisse and wiped out $17bn of the bonds, per the FT.
In Germany, a leaked paper outlined the intention of the Chancellor’s party to issue a temporary “crisis levy” on rich Germans, as well as spur investment, and change the borrowing limit. Not surprisingly, polling numbers are down for the party, per Bloomberg.
Xi is meeting US biz leaders for dinner in SF. Maybe Xi is trying to claw back some of the $1.6 billion withdrawn from China-focused mutual and ETFs so far this year, per a WSJ estimate. Per Reuters, global asset managers realize there are long-term investment opportunities in China—they’re just not showing it with their cash quite yet. They see China’s oil demand down with refiners’ margins shrinking, crude stockpiles higher, etc. Those are not signs of a bottom yet.
