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Demand Has Significantly Slowed Down, And Homes Are Getting Zero Or One Offer

A report from the Keene Sentinel in New Hampshire. “What broker A. Ranger Curran and others agree on is that the pandemic-fueled frenzy — where there were five to 10 offers in a week and buyers were willing to pay sometimes as much as $20,000 to $30,000 or more over asking price to win the bid — is likely over. ‘Those days are gone,’ Curran said. With buyers being less aggressive and offers not as plentiful on a single property, homeowners are also pulling back and do not appear as eager to sell. Cindy Westover of Galloway Real Estate in Walpole said some price reductions are coming, which were not in evidence during the pandemic. ‘I think that is a good thing,’ she said. ‘I think people took some real risks offering $20,000, $30,000 or $40,000 above asking price.'”

The Roanoke Times in Virginia. “‘Where we were seeing multiple offers on essentially every listing, we’re not seeing that as much anymore,’ said Kelly Griffin, president of the New River Valley Association of Realtors. ‘We’re still seeing lots of buyers out there that are in the market or coming into the market, so there’s some properties that are getting that much interest, but we’re just not seeing the level of frenzy that we were seeing during the pandemic, 2021 specifically.'”

My San Antonio in Texas. “Those with vested interests in the Austin housing market have swapped emotional places over the last six months. Sellers and landlords, once jumping for joy at the leverage with which they could insist on all-cash offers right now, and, by the way, waive the appraisal please and I’m not fixing anything, have come back down to Earth.”

“It’s impossible to argue with the numbers. Following a high of $550,000 in May, median home prices in Austin fell to $537,000 the following month, and for the rest of the year, continued to fall. In December, the most recent data available, that number was $525,250. Ashley Jackson, president of the Austin Board of Realtors, calls the current Austin housing market a ‘stabilization,’ rebuking the notion that six months of a downward trend means the housing market is over.”

“During the pandemic, Jackson says, she had buyers who were offering as much as $100,000 over asking prices for homes. ‘We don’t have to do that right now,’ she says.”

The Los Angeles Times in California. “New data reveal that if not a buyer’s market, then the Bay Area is a more buyer-friendly market. Homes are, relatively, cheaper — and a similar pattern may be manifesting in Los Angeles. Now a changing economic climate and disruptions in the tech industry have cooled the housing market; in December, San Francisco’s sale-to-list ratio dropped to 99.8%, indicating that more buyers were beginning to pay below the asking price. In Los Angeles, the sale-to-list ratio peaked at 105% in April. That has fallen to 98.5%. ‘Now the interest rates are high and people can leave the Bay Area for other parts of the country,’ said Daryl Fairweather, chief economist for Redfin. ‘Demand has significantly slowed down, and now homes are getting zero or one offer, and sellers have to accept bids that are less than listing price.'”

Multi-Housing News. “Two of the most significant cities for condominium development, New York City and Miami, are currently experiencing very specific issues. For instance, Florida’s Building Safety Act is changing the parameters of owning, managing and building condominiums in the Sunshine State, while NYC is feeling the pressure from potential customers’ reduced buying power. Listing inventory for condos in the Big Apple has been on a downward trajectory for the past six quarters, while the median sales price declined year-over-year for the first time in five quarters, according to a fourth quarter report by Douglas Elliman. Manhattan’s condo sector has slowed from the last couple of years’ frenzy, Francis Greenburger, CEO of Time Equities Inc., also noticed. It has resulted in a market where there are now more lookers than buyers. ‘We have found that buyers have reduced their buying power by nearly 50 percent—which is a significant decrease,’ Greenburger told Multi-Housing News.”

“Andrew Barrocas, CEO of MNS Real Estate, is also seeing the impact of high interest rates on the condo market, particularly at lower loan amounts. ‘This can be a successful market…When we can show someone that they can get the same apartment that sold last year for $1 million for $900,000, it can offset some of the other challenges in their minds,’ Barrocas said.”

“The Building Safety Act, which requires statewide recertification of condominiums over three stories tall, is pressing Florida condo owners and managers to update their properties. Greg Main-Baillie, executive managing director for the Florida Development Services Group at Colliers, told MHN.: No buyer would want to get near condo buildings tied up in disputes with contractors and unfinished work. We’re anticipating a lot of surprised condo owners looking to sell once they realize the upcoming increase in the cost of ownership,’ Main-Baillie mentioned.”

From Market Watch. “They were like haute couture for the real-estate world. Investors in a new model of mortgage bonds created over the past decade to finance trophy commercial real estate and star property owners are about to find out what higher mortgage rates mean as a mountain of debt comes due.More than $45 billion of loans on some of the nation’s most recognizable office buildings, hotel chains and other commercial properties are set to mature through 2024, debt that was tucked away into bond deals known as single-asset, single-borrower (SASB) securities, according to a tally by DBRS Morningstar.”

“Now, owners of many of these office towers, hotels and multifamily developments soon face big, balloon payments to satisfy their debts in cities and towns across the nation. Weekly office occupancy rates for the New York and San Francisco metro areas were still pegged below 50% in early February, according to Kastle System’s 10-city national average. ‘Right now, rates probably are in the high 5s to mid 6% range,’ said Anuj Gupta. chief executive officer of A10 Capital and a veteran commercial real estate lender. ‘I do think the real-estate market has already capitulated to a new reality,’ he said.”

The Calgary Herald. “The Prairies’ resale real estate markets are leading Canada’s housing market, a new study shows. TD Economics published a recent report noting that Alberta, Saskatchewan and Manitoba resale real estate markets are outperforming the overall Canadian market, but they have still faced challenges. It points to the average price dropping from peaks achieved in spring 2022 by about six per cent for these markets compared with the national average of roughly a 20 per cent decline. TD also pointed to stronger — though still declining — sales in these regions with activity down 20 per cent in Saskatchewan and Manitoba from the peak of early spring 2022. That compares with the national average of about 40 per cent decrease. Alberta also saw sales fall 40 per cent from the peak.”

The Malta Independent. “While developers and estate agents insist that there is no risk of the property bubble bursting, economists have expressed a different view, saying that the situation should be keenly monitored because the chance of this happening is well and truly there. Daniel Gravino, economist with the University of Malta’ states that property prices have been increasing these past years, averaging 10% per annum between 2016 and 2019. As a consequence, many people, especially first-time buyers, are being priced out of the market. Whereas in 2013 an average-sized apartment would sell for nine times the average annual salary, today that figure stands at 12 times the average salary. Orthodox thinking states that this increase cannot continue indefinitely meaning that prices may well decrease at some point, said Gravino. We need to ascertain and monitor the causes for the initial increase in prices to determine whether a bubble can, in fact, burst.”

News.com.au in Australia. “House prices in Sydney fell in January by 1.2 per cent with the average sale now below the $1 million mark for the first time in two years. Overall, house prices in Sydney are down by 13.8 per cent year-on-year and nationally by 7.2 per cent. Following the RBA’s rate hike, research from comparison website Canstar found that for the average Australian on a $500,000 mortgage, their monthly repayments would jump by $969 per month or $11,628 per year if banks passed on the rate. For homeowners stuck with a $1 million home loan, they’ll be shelling out an extra $1939 a month, which is $23,268 over the next 12 months.”

“In speaking of the rates decision, RBA governor Philip Lowe said bluntly in a statement along with the announcement: ‘Global inflation remains very high.’ Mr Lowe hinted that this wouldn’t be the last rate rise of the year. ‘The Board is seeking to return inflation to the two to three per cent range while keeping the economy on an even keel, but the path to achieving a soft landing remains a narrow one.'”  

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This Post Has 91 Comments

      1. Yusuke Narita, an assistant professor of economics, has also suggested that euthanasia could be made compulsory.

        I guess the jab doesn’t kill fast enough nor in the numbers they want.

        It sure is telling how leftists are now perfectly comfortable saying things like this.

  2. ‘Demand has significantly slowed down, and now homes are getting zero or one offer, and sellers have to accept bids that are less than listing price’

    Wa happened to the spring red hotness Daryl? The souper bowl?

    How did you lose yer shack mate?

    It was the soft landing.

    1. “How did you go bankrupt?”
      Two ways. Gradually, then suddenly.”

      ― Ernest Hemingway, The Sun Also Rises

  3. ‘More than $45 billion of loans on some of the nation’s most recognizable office buildings, hotel chains and other commercial properties are set to mature through 2024, debt that was tucked away into bond deals known as single-asset, single-borrower (SASB) securities”

    AKA all eggs in one basket securities. Sound lending!

  4. Housing? Yes, housing, because property taxes. Who represents the 11th district in the California State Senate?

    https://sd11.senate.ca.gov/

    His name is Scott Wiener, and he has sponsored and supported some rather interesting bills over the course of his political career.

    1. “His name is Scott Wiener…”

      Wow, that guy looks ripped! Is he going to assume Bruce Willis’ role in the Die Hard series?

      1. From his bio:

        “Before his election to the Board of Supervisors, Senator Wiener spent fifteen years practicing law: as a Deputy City Attorney in the San Francisco City Attorney’s Office, in private practice at Heller Ehrman White & McAuliffe, and as a law clerk for Justice Alan Handler on the New Jersey Supreme Court. Senator Wiener co-chaired the Alice B. Toklas LGBTQ Democratic Club, BALIF (the Bay Area’s LGBTQ bar association), and the San Francisco LGBTQ Community Center, and served on the national board of directors of the Human Rights Campaign, the nation’s largest LGBTQ civil rights organization.”

        C’mon, it’s Frisco.

  5. Ashley Jackson, president of the Austin Board of Realtors, calls the current Austin housing market a ‘stabilization,’ rebuking the notion that six months of a downward trend means the housing market is over.”

    You keep using that word “stabilization.” I don’t think that word means what you think it means.

  6. 𝗦𝗰𝗼𝘁𝘁𝘀𝗱𝗮𝗹𝗲, 𝗔𝗭 𝗛𝗼𝘂𝘀𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗣𝗿𝗶𝗰𝗲𝘀 𝗖𝗿𝗮𝘁𝗲𝗿 𝟮𝟬% 𝗬𝗢𝗬 𝗔𝘀 𝗦𝘂𝗯𝗽𝗿𝗶𝗺𝗲 𝗠𝗼𝗿𝘁𝗴𝗮𝗴𝗲 𝗜𝗺𝗽𝗹𝗼𝘀𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗕𝗹𝗮𝗻𝗸𝗲𝘁𝘀 𝗣𝗵𝗼𝗲𝗻𝗶𝘅 𝗔𝗿𝗲𝗮

    https://www.movoto.com/scottsdale-az/market-trends/

    𝐴𝑠 𝑜𝑛𝑒 𝑃ℎ𝑜𝑒𝑛𝑖𝑥 𝑏𝑟𝑜𝑘𝑒𝑟 𝑒𝑥𝑝𝑙𝑎𝑖𝑛𝑒𝑑, “𝑇ℎ𝑒 𝑛𝑜𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛 𝑡ℎ𝑎𝑡 𝑃ℎ𝑜𝑒𝑛𝑖𝑥 𝑖𝑠 𝑎 𝑑𝑒𝑠𝑡𝑖𝑛𝑎𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛 𝑖𝑠 𝑎 𝑙𝑖𝑒. 𝐴 𝑏𝑖𝑔 𝑓𝑎𝑡 𝑙𝑖𝑒.”

        1. The graph says “Index 2010=100.” So the Y axis is prices compared to 2010 prices. For example: German residential prices doubled (200) between 2010 and summer 2020.

  10. A reader sent these in:

    Recent real estate drop is not even close to correct the imbalance between rents and current mortgage rates. (FT)

    https://twitter.com/MichaelAArouet/status/1624339979773042688

    Mortgage volumes in Europe collapsed 👇 Not unusual in the denial phase of bubble burst when property sellers are still naively asking 2021 prices, but buyers cannot finance them anymore given significantly higher rates. Chart

    https://twitter.com/MichaelAArouet/status/1623975443236900864

    And now we have a degree of confirmation. The number of properties being withdrawn from auction is surging.
    Quote Tweet
    Financial Review
    More vendors withdrew their property from sale after the RBA’s latest rate increase but the owner of a Crows Nest home got $500,000 over reserve in a positive sign for the future.

    https://twitter.com/AvidCommentator/status/1624641790610644992

    When U.S housing price falls moderated in summer of 2008, it led some to conclude the downturn would soon be over. It wasn’t, it was seasonality and there was still large price falls ahead. The Las Vegas market is probably the best example of this.

    https://twitter.com/AvidCommentator/status/1624633515559260160

    If you ignore all history you too can believe in a soft landing.

    https://twitter.com/NorthmanTrader/status/1624336914617712640

    I was talking to a mate in Melbourne recently who was looking to buy a second property. In order to use the equity in their home, they got their primary residence revalued. The banks assessed value had dropped 20% since the last equity withdrawal about a year ago.

    https://twitter.com/AvidCommentator/status/1623954707797671936

    What went wrong ??? 🧐

    https://twitter.com/WallStreetSilv/status/1624725002024091648

    Justin Trudeau has threatened Provincial Premiers to Cut Off Healthcare Funding Unless They Agree to Digital Health ID and far more tracking in your personal life.⚠️

    https://twitter.com/WallStreetSilv/status/1624755205987528704

    With that said, make no mistake, our politicians will take us to war or commit unfathomable acts of atrocity to preserve their power, cover up their crimes and protect themselves from accountability. Stay focused. Use discernment. Be wary of all narratives parroted by the media.

    https://twitter.com/Rothbard1776/status/1624609357693427712

    In 2007, #Airbnb founder Brian Chesky turned his Bay Area apartment into an Airbnb bc HE COULDN’T AFFORD RENT. 15 years later, has he ironically extrapolated his past personal problem to the entire US? Will our kids have to Airbnb a Master closet to strangers to afford rent?

    https://twitter.com/texasrunnerDFW/status/1624800375264931841

    The average price of a used Tesla is now $20k lower than the peak last July. 22-month low.

    https://twitter.com/charliebilello/status/1624806270866710529

    A $400k mortgage at 2.75% is $1.6k/mo. A $400k mortgage at 6.25% is $2.4k/mo. A 50% increase in housing costs for the same house. Something is coming.

    https://twitter.com/FilledWithMoney/status/1624789740540112903

    The housing market has never frozen this rapidly.
    Not even leading to 2007-2008. Blackstone, KKR & Co are limiting redemptions from their funds in an attempt to slow the bleeding. Unless mortgage rates come down quick, it’s not looking particularly good for house prices.

    https://twitter.com/MacroAlf/status/1624836986367270916

    1. “Justin Trudeau has threatened Provincial Premiers to Cut Off Healthcare Funding Unless They Agree to Digital Health ID and far more tracking in your personal life.”

      Globalists want this in the United States too.

      1. “Next on Dems’ hit list: The suburbs

        The Biden administration announced Jan. 19 that it will require all towns across the U.S. to submit “Equity Plans” showing how they will make it possible for low-income people to live there by providing affordable housing, transportation and other resources…

        …But Hochul’s biggest proposal, the Housing Compact, is another misguided attack on local control and single-family zoning. It will compel each town and village in the New York metro area to increase its housing stock to meet a uniform, state-imposed target and rezone for high-density housing – apartment buildings – within a half-mile of every MTA train stop.”

        https://www.foxnews.com/opinion/next-dems-hit-list-suburbs

        1. The Biden administration announced Jan. 19 that it will require all towns across the U.S. to submit “Equity Plans”

          Don’t most communities already have an affordable housing committee with some kind of plan that is destined for failure? My little burg does. A few bureaucrats have meetings with charts and they make “recommendations”, which amount to little more than giving Habitat a grant which is used to help fund building 2-3 houses per year, which are then delivered with much fanfare to a local low income family.

      2. actually, i think, in the US the priority is CBDC (central bank digital currency). Many ‘leaders’ have been giving speeches saying that we need to go in that direction.

        1. I am curious, how will people be able to pay illegals for mowing their lawns? Or can anyone sign up for a CBDC account? Won’t SSN’s be required to make sure everybody has only one account?

        1. CBDC complete control over what you can buy . If you’re fat ( they will have your medical records ) you cant buy donuts . If you’re a bad citizen you wont be able to buy anything , maybe cabbage ? maybe not.

    2. The average price of a used Tesla is now $20k lower than the peak last July. 22-month low.

      It has quite simply done a round trip back to 2021 prices, and should go all the way back to 2019 to get to fair value. The same for all used cars, as they are in a grotesque bubble.

    1. Yahoo Finance
      Current stock market rally ‘likely to mark the high point’ for 2023: JPMorgan
      Brian Sozzi
      Mon, February 13, 2023 at 3:20 AM PST·3 min read

      JPMorgan says investors shouldn’t get too comfortable with the stock market’s impressive start to 2023.

      “Big picture, we believe that the equity rally that started last October, and that we hoped would be driven by peaking bond yields/CPI, China reopening, and the fall in European gas prices, is unlikely to get the fundamental confirmation for the next leg higher as the year progresses,” closely-watched JP Morgan strategist Mislav Matejka wrote in a note on Monday. “Once the positioning recovers, Q1 is in our view likely to mark the high point of the market.”

      Matejka recommends investors slash their exposure to stocks — which he says sport “questionably” high valuations — and eye more defense areas of the market. The strategist struck a notable cautious tone on tech stocks amid their big rally out of the gate this year.
      …
      https://finance.yahoo.com/news/current-stock-market-rally-likely-to-mark-the-high-point-for-2023-jpmorgan-112023535.html

    2. The Financial Times
      Live news: Top Fed official adds to chorus warning of more US rate rises to come on twitter
      2 hours ago
      Bowman joins Fed chorus warning interest rate increases will not end soon
      James Politi in Washington

      A senior Federal Reserve official said she expected “ongoing increases” in US interest rates would be needed to stamp out inflation, adding to the chorus of US central bankers warning that tight monetary policy would not end anytime soon.

      “We are still far from achieving price stability, and I expect that it will be necessary to further tighten monetary policy to bring inflation down toward our goal,” Michelle Bowman told a gathering of community bankers in Florida on Monday. Rates would need to stay at a restrictive level “for some time to restore price stability.”

      “Doing so will likely lead to subdued growth in economic activity and some softening in labour market conditions,” though the risks of persistent inflation outweigh the risks of monetary tightening, she said.
      …

    3. The Wall Street Journal
      Markets
      Investors Are Exiting U.S. Stock Funds During 2023 Rally
      Bond and international equity funds, individual stocks get renewed interest
      Investors have been pulling money out of U.S. equity mutual funds and exchange-traded funds.
      Photo: John Taggart/Bloomberg News
      By Hannah Miao
      Updated Feb. 12, 2023 9:14 am ET
      U.S. stocks have bounced back to start the year, but investors are fleeing funds tracking them.

      Investors have pulled a net $31 billion from U.S. equity mutual funds and exchange-traded funds in the past six weeks, according to Refinitiv Lipper data through Wednesday. That marks the longest streak of weekly net outflows since last summer and the most money pulled in aggregate from domestic equity funds to start a year since 2016.
      …

    1. “The next town over, the release instantly killed everyone’s chickens. This stuff is catnip for human cancer.

      “My video camera footage shows my chickens were perfectly fine before they started this burn, and as soon as they started the burn, my chickens slowed down and they died,””

      Add another to the long list of Superfund sites. But hey, don’t be cooking on gas stoves or letting cows fart or burp anymore.

      1. I grew up in Northeast Ohio, drinking well water, not city water. Three families I knew lost their mothers to cancer in their 50s.

        Never mind all that, because balloons, because Souper Bowl, et cetera…

    2. Norfolk Southern had successfully lobbied for the repeal of rules requiring electronically controlled pneumatic brakes on trains carrying hazardous materials, which would have reduced the severity of the incident.

      1. Trains derail, it happens, the chemicals were contained in the railcars, as designed.

        THE GOVERNMENT lit it on fire. On purpose.

        Fault goes to the government (again).

        1. lit it on fire. On purpose.

          Long time Chemical Engineer here. Fire is what you do when flammable toxic gasses are leaking. It is the least worst option. Otherwise there will be an epic explosion and probably massive poisoning (death) as the heavier than air gas fans out and drifts downwind.

          BTW, if there were no leaks, there would have been nothing to set on fire. Just FYI.

    3. Environmental activist Erin Brockovich said in an interview with News Nation that community members should document what is happening to their own health and take video of any wildlife or fish dying. A federal lawsuit filed Thursday by two Pennsylvania residents calls for Norfolk Southern to pay for medical screenings and related care for anyone living within a 30-mile radius of the derailment to determine who was affected by toxic substances released afterward.

      The idea that the toxicity and its associated effects is limited to a 30 mile radius is laughable. These chemicals will be raining down on soil hundreds of miles away, and will be found for decades through soil samples.

  16. They just said on TV that toilet paper prices to rise because they closed down a big lumber mill because of lack of new house demand.
    They are now being public about wanting older people to die. Its seems like the first target for death was the older people with the Covid fake response.
    So how do you like the Globalists now? How do you like giving up your pursuit of life and happiness , so the psycho 1% can kill most of us and enslave the rest. .
    Unbelievable, get the robes..

    1. They just said on TV

      First mistake.

      A paper mill does not use lumber. It uses unmilled logs. You’re not going to die with a dirty butt because house construction slows.

      2. 🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣

        Some of this is beyond priceless. If retwits were to be given a grain of credibility, they’d have everyone believing every last construction dollar on the planet went to housing.

    2. “get the robes”

      I think you meant get the ropes.

      There will be plenty of rope, it’s gonna take miles of rope to hang every unelected globalist bureaucrat who ever participated in covid tyranny.

      Journalists, other Blue Checkmarks, there will be plenty of rope for you too…

      1. Right I mean get the ropes.
        Im upset today because my friend I talk about sometimes went into emergency hosp last night cause his legs gave out on him and he can’t walk. This is on top of every other thing he has been getting lately. So, its not looking to good .

  20. Bought a new iPhone 14 pro (6.1″) and MagSafe case rather than chocolates for my better half. Funny, all the genuine Apple™ stuff says, *Climate Pledge Friendly. Is that to assuage my consumer guilt?

    1. Funny, all the genuine Apple™ stuff says, *Climate Pledge Friendly. Is that to assuage my consumer guilt?

      No, it’s virtue-signaling bullsh!t by woke corporations who talk the talk but don’t walk the walk.

      1. “No, it’s virtue-signaling bullsh!t”

        Worse, you are also paying for it. Without the virtue signalling Iphone could be little cheaper.

    1. A monument to hedonism…on steroids. Imagine suffering through a skull-splitting alcohol hangover in that place?

  22. After watching the dirty birds get soundly beaten and sent home crying, seeing falling housing prices posted all over twitter and the mega feast I had yesterday, I slept like a baby last night.

  23. “Dear Quentin,

    I’ve reached the point in my life where I want to settle down, but I recently had a disagreement with a friend about my priorities, and I would appreciate your perspective. I’m 46, a college-educated singleton, and earn $210,000, not including my annual bonus. I have paid off my student loans and own my home. It’s worth about $700,000 and there’s about $400,000 left on the mortgage. Here’s my issue: I want to meet someone rich. Is that so wrong?

    My friend expressed dismay when I told her that, but I see wealth as a sign that someone is ambitious and aims high. I’m sick of dating losers. The last person I dated had been living in the same rent-controlled apartment for nearly 20 years. It’s the size of my dining room. I know living in a rent-controlled apartment is something that is sought after in a city like Los Angeles and its environs. Maybe that was good when he was 20. But he’s now nearly 50.”

    https://www.marketwatch.com/story/i-want-to-meet-someone-rich-is-that-so-wrong-im-46-earn-210-000-own-a-700-000-home-im-tired-of-dating-losers-11671690192

    You’re 46. No “rich” man under age 60 wants to date you. And the “rich” men your age are going to date age 35 or younger.

    “They’re not sending their best”

  24. ‘Demand has significantly slowed down, and now homes are getting zero or one offer, and sellers have to accept bids that are less than listing price.’

    It’s a so-called buyers’ market, although buyers should remain wary of the risk of catching themselves a falling knife. We’re in the early innings of the ballgame. In similar historic episodes (1990-1996, 2007-2012, etc.), home prices continued falling for over half a decade before the capitulation stage cleaned out the last of the falling knife inventory.

    1. before the capitulation stage cleaned out the last of the falling knife inventory.

      That never happened. The game was called on account of flooding.

    1. The Financial Times
      Stablecoins
      US regulator orders halt to minting Binance-branded stablecoin
      NY Department of Financial Services acts over BUSD issuer Paxos as authorities scrutinise crypto market practices
      The Binance logo and representation of cryptocurrencies are seen on keyboard
      Although a BUSD token refers to a Binance US dollar, and is traded at 1:1 with the US currency, it is not issued or redeemed by Binance
      Scott Chipolina in London 9 hours ago

      US financial regulators have shut down further issuance of BUSD, the Binance-branded stablecoin, as a clampdown on the crypto sector gathers momentum.

      Paxos, the stablecoin company behind issuance of the token, said on Monday it would end its relationship with the Binance exchange over BUSD, which is used to help traders move more quickly in and out of the crypto market.

      The halt to minting BUSD from February 21 was called by the sector’s regulator, the New York Department of Financial Services, and comes as US authorities step up their scrutiny of crypto market practices.
      …

    2. Bloomberg
      Crypto
      US Crackdown Seeks to Push Crypto Back to the Fringes of Finance
      – Major firms now face challenges securing bank relationships
      – Industry reeling after watchdogs’ public and private actions
      SEC Chair Gensler on Kraken Settlement, Crypto Oversight
      By Yueqi Yang,
      Katanga Johnson and
      Austin Weinstein
      February 13, 2023 at 12:31 PM PST
      Updated on
      February 13, 2023 at 3:14 PM PST

      Crypto’s free pass is getting yanked as the most powerful US financial regulators rapidly close key doors to the country’s banking system.

      The increasingly aggressive posture, which has taken shape through public and private actions in the weeks since the collapse of crypto exchange FTX, could push the industry to the fringes of finance. It means new ventures may be smothered before they get off the ground, and banks and digital-asset companies are likely to scrap existing ones and upend business models.
      …
      https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2023-02-13/us-crackdown-seeks-to-push-crypto-back-to-the-fringe-of-finance#xj4y7vzkg

    3. The Motley Fool
      Why Coinbase, Silvergate, and Lido DAO Are All Down on Monday
      By Travis Hoium – Feb 13, 2023 at 2:47PM

      Key Points
      – Regulators are now going after a stablecoin, which is a big expansion of the war on crypto.
      – Now staking services and stablecoin companies and banks are in danger.

      The SEC’s war on crypto is expanding.
      What happened

      Shares of crypto companies dropped on Monday as the U.S. government continues to crack down on major parts of the industry.

      Shares of Coinabse Global (COIN -1.21%) fell as much as 6% in early trading, Silvergate Capital (SI -1.93%) dropped 6.5%, and Lido DAO (LDO -4.43%) was down 11.3% in the last 24 hours. They were down 1.5%, 5%, and 11.3% respectively at 12:30 p.m. ET.
      …
      https://www.fool.com/investing/2023/02/13/why-coinbase-silvergate-and-lido-dao-are-all-down/

    4. Ana Paula Pereira
      Feb 12, 2023
      Crypto bank Silvergate ranks as the second- most-shorted stock on Wall Street
      Over 72% of Silvergate Capital Corp stock was shorted as of Jan. 31, according to the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority.

      Crypto bank Silvergate Capital Corp. is the second-most-shorted stock in the United States, with over 72.5% of its shares shorted, according to the latest Short Interest Reporting from Feb. 9.

      The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) collects and publishes twice a month short interest positions of all equity securities. A short position means investors and traders believe the price of a security, such as a stock, will decrease in value. A short seller profits from the price decline of a security.

      At the time of writing, Silvergate stock (SI) was down over 87% in the past twelve months. The bearish sentiment on Silvergate stems from its recent earnings report and legal battles the company faces over its relationship with bankrupt firms FTX and Alameda Research.

      On Jan. 17, the bank announced a $1 billion net loss attributable to common shareholders in the fourth quarter of 2022. According to a report from the United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), Silvergate saw significant outflows of deposits during the period, which forced the company to seek wholesale funding and sell debt securities to maintain liquidity.
      …
      https://cointelegraph.com/news/crypto-bank-silvergate-ranks-as-the-second-most-shorted-stock-on-wall-street

    1. Is Bed Bath & Beyond’s Hail Mary Play Enough to Turn Things Around?
      By Reuben Gregg Brewer – Feb 12, 2023 at 11:21AM

      Key Points
      – Bed Bath & Beyond has provided a “going concern” notice, warning investors that it may go bankrupt.
      – The specialty retailer has just inked a deal to sell convertible preferred stock that will help to alleviate near-term debt problems.
      – The long-term headwinds facing the company remain a massive problem.
      – 10 stocks we like better than Bed Bath & Beyond

      Bed Bath & Beyond is hoping that massively diluting shareholders will allow it to remain a going concern. That’s a pretty big bet.

      Bed Bath & Beyond (BBBY -13.19%) has issued a “going concern” notice. That’s basically a warning that a company has to disclose when it is teetering on the brink of bankruptcy. Things have gotten desperate at this point and survival is the goal, not stockholder returns. So the company’s recent convertible preferred stock issuance is something of a “Hail Mary” pass to buy more time, but it really doesn’t solve the company’s problems.

      Not so great for shareholders

      If Bed Bath & Beyond goes bankrupt, shareholders will likely be left with nothing. So the company doing everything it can to stay afloat is probably the right move for management to make. But investors need to understand just what has happened with the recent convertible preferred stock sale.
      …
      https://www.fool.com/investing/2023/02/12/is-bed-bath-beyonds-hail-mary-play-enough-to-turn/

  27. As Wall Street gears up for key inflation data, Wells Fargo Securities’ Michael Schumacher believes one thing is clear: “The Fed is not your friend.”

    He warns Federal Reserve chair Jerome Powell will likely hold interest rates higher for longer, and it could leave investors on the wrong side of the trade.

    “You think about the history over the last 15 years. Whenever there was weakness, the Fed rides to the rescue. Not this time. The Fed cares about inflation, and that’s just about it,” the firm’s head of macro strategy told CNBC’s “Fast Money” on Monday. “So, the idea of lots of easing — forget it.”
    …
    https://www.msn.com/en-us/money/markets/fed-is-not-your-friend-wells-fargo-delivers-warning-ahead-of-key-inflation-report/ar-AA17roXy

      1. Yahoo
        Fortune
        Signs of life in the U.S. housing market could ‘make our jobs harder’, says Fed’s Neel Kashkari
        Lance Lambert
        Wed, February 8, 2023 at 9:10 AM PST·3 min read

        It’s clear that the free fall in U.S. home sales—which went into a sharp contraction after the Federal Reserve’s inflation fight saw mortgage rates spike from 3% to over 7% in 2022—is behind us.

        On Wednesday, we learned that the seasonally adjusted Mortgage Purchase Application Index ticked up 3.1% last week to 190. On one hand, the index remains far below the 282 reading it had during the same week in 2022. On the other hand, the index has clearly stabilized in recent weeks after bottoming at a 159 reading during the first week of January.

        While realtors and builders alike are cheering this news, improved housing data is getting a lukewarm reception from the Fed.
        …
        https://www.yahoo.com/now/signs-life-u-housing-market-171046746.html

        1. 1-190/282 = 33% lower than last year’s level.

          But not to worry, as the experts offer their assurances that the market has stabalized.

  28. Does the thought of Tesla’s Full Self-Driving technology gaining full authorization for use on America’s roadways terrify you?

    1. Markets

      Super Bowl ad slams Tesla’s ‘Full Self-Driving’ tech
      By Ramishah Maruf, CNN
      Updated 1:16 PM EST, Sun February 12, 2023
      Video: Tesla car in autonomous mode causes pileup in San Francisco
      01:18 – Source: CNN

      New York CNN —

      Electric carmaker Tesla will face a hit on Super Bowl Sunday, when an ad will play showing the alleged dangers of its Full Self-Driving technology.
      The Autopilot features demonstrated in a Tesla Model S during a Tesla event in Palo Alto, California October 14, 2015.

      Tesla confirms DOJ has requested documents on Autopilot, ‘Full Self-Driving’

      The commercial, which will be aired in Washington, DC, Austin, Tallahassee, Albany, Atlanta and Sacramento does not paint Tesla in the best light. The ad is part of a multimillion dollar advertising campaign by The Dawn Project. Its founder, Dan O’Dowd, is a California tech CEO who has dedicated millions of his own money (and a failed US Senate race) to the cause.

      The ad cost $598,000, a Dawn Project spokesperson told CNN.

      It shows a Tesla Model 3, which allegedly has the Full Self-Driving mode turned on, running over a child-sized dummy on a school crosswalk, and then a fake baby in a stroller, in a series of tests by the Dawn Project. In the ad, the car swerves into oncoming traffic, zooms past stopped school buses, and cruises through “do not enter” signs.

      “Tesla’s Full Self-Driving is endangering the public,” the ad said. “With deceptive marketing and woefully inept engineering.”
      …
      https://www.cnn.com/2023/02/12/business/super-bowl-ad-tesla-full-self-driving/index.html

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