by Eric Dubin and Dave Kranzler via Investment Research Dynamics
Every month Government, corporate and household debt hits a new all-time high. The entire financial system is heading down an unsustainable path of debt issuance. The delinquency rate for auto and credit card debt is already at levels last seen in late 2008. The only reason the banks are not on the ropes – yet – is because they are still sitting on most of the liquidity the Fed injected into the banking system from 2009 to 2015.
This “slush fund for a rainy day” has been declining. As this money flows into the economic system, it’s starting to ignite inflation. Even the monthly Government-generated CPI and PPI reports, which are highly manipulated to minimize the true inflation rate, are starting to show rising inflation. Of course, with wage growth stagnant, the average household disposable income level is dwindling rapidly, which is why the personal savings rate is at a historically low level and revolving credit use is at an all-time.
Consumer sentiment has been trending lower off a recent peak. While the media puppets explain that trade war headlines are weighting consumers expectation, in truth consumer sentiment is falling because the average household is suffocating from the crushing weight of debt and a diminished ability to service that debt because real disposable income is declining. In most areas, home prices are falling. In fact, the home buying sentiment component of the U of Michigan sentiment survey is at its lowest level since 2008.
In this episode of WTF Just Happened?, we discuss these issues plus whether or not gold is forming a tradable bottom here (WTF Just Happened is a produced in association with Wall St. For Main Street – Eric Dubin may be reached at Facebook.com/EricDubin):
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