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People Freak Out On The Downside Of The Roller Coaster

A report from the Colorado Springs Gazette. “Home sales fell in March on a year-over-year basis, continuing a downward trend that began in the second half of last year, while prices last month dropped for the third time since December, according to Pikes Peak Association of Realtors figures. The area’s median sales price rose by double-digit percentage gains for 24 straight months starting in July 2020 and topped $400,000 in February 2021 for the first time. By July 2022, it reached $495,000. Year-over-year prices were unchanged in January, but fell again by 5.4% in February — the largest percentage drop in 11 years. In March, the median sales price of $450,000 was down 3.2% from the same month last year.”

“Brian Maecker, a real estate agent with Re/Max Advantage in Colorado Springs, said he generally saw 10% price reductions. A home that might have sold for $500,000 before the hike in mortgage rates would sell for $450,000 to $460,000 in the second half of 2022, he said. ‘Obviously we’re down,’ said Mark Reyner, board president of the Housing & Building Association of Colorado Springs and owner of Weatherbee Drywall in the Springs. ‘But at the same time last year, we were cranking at basically, you ask anybody in the building industry, at basically an unsustainable rate.'”

“Sellers also might offer $6,000 to $8,000 worth of closing costs to buyers to help them make a purchase, said Patrick Muldoon, president of Colorado Springs real estate company Muldoon Associates. That kind of concession had disappeared during the years when the housing market was crazy, he and others have said. ‘I think you’re starting to see balance, better balance as far as the offers go,’ Muldoon said. ‘They seem more reasonable and logical to me, where we had a whole (buying) season, a whole two or three seasons, of illogical buyers, very emotional.'”

The Miami Herald. “Existing home sales in South Florida plunged during the first three months of the year. Miami-Dade County recorded 5,607 sales of single-family homes during the first quarter, a 40% drop from 9,391 closings during the same period last year. In Broward, quarterly sales dropped 27%, to 6,517 single-family house purchases from 8,949 a year ago.  ‘At the beginning of 2022, when rates were still low and we were coming out of the pandemic, the market got a little crazy and it overstepped. It became too much of a sellers’ market. We experienced rapid price growth’ said Jason Damm, assistant professor of professional practice in finance at the University of Miami. ‘Now we’re cooling off. The market is healthier than where it was then. We’re going into a post-pandemic normal. It’s stabilizing.'”

The Orange County Register. “March’s statewide median price was $791,490, up 7.6% from February. This price benchmark had fallen eight out of the previous nine months. But it’s no miracle turnabout. March is usually a strong buying month. Prices have averaged 5.7% gains in this month since 1990 – and jumped 10% in March 2022. Consider that March’s price is still off 6.8% in a year, the fifth straight year-over-year decline. And the median is down 12.1% from May 2022’s all-time high of $900,170. The big story remains sales counts. Despite tales of renewed house-hunting vigor in early 2023, closings remain cold since California’s price bubble burst in 2022’s spring. Demand remains historically low. In just 22 months since 1990 – that’s 6% – the California sales pace was slower than this March.”

The Contra Costa Times in California. “The name of Richmond’s Miraflores development translates to ‘Behold the Flowers,’ but it’s the turmoil around this market-rate and affordable housing complex that’s truly a sight to see. Roughly seven years after the project originally promised to build 190 units on 7.3 acres of city-owned land next to Interstate 80, it has completely unraveled, city staff quietly revealed during a community presentation this month. After the developer took out $10 million in loans against the property — without permission from the city — lenders are pursuing foreclosure, the property’s taxes are delinquent, the land has fallen into disrepair and Richmond has declared the developer to be in default.”

“Golden State Regional Center’s owners were indicted in March 2019 for running a fraudulent ‘golden visa’ program, which offered U.S. residency to foreigners who invested at least $500,000 in American businesses that created at least 10 jobs, specifically in low-employment census tracts. The Securities and Exchange Commission accused the business of advising their immigrant clients to invest in the center’s projects — often housing developments — without disclosing their ownership of both entities.”

“While Richmond officials continue to weigh their options on how to move forward, former Mayor Tom Butt called out their work on the project. ‘Hints of trouble began to surface years ago, accelerating in 2022, but staff did not want to let the community know that the project they had anticipated for so many years was headed for the toilet,’ Butt wrote earlier this month. ‘As late as a few weeks ago, the developer appeared at a community event at Miraflores Park and told the community to anticipate a groundbreaking this summer, knowing full well it was a lie.'”

From CNBC. “If there wasn’t enough banking jargon to blind you, it’s time to learn a new piece of it: Welcome to the industry’s era of the ‘criticized loan.’ It’s a loan that’s not gone bust, or even missed a payment. But in a time when Wall Street is vibrating to any sign of recession risk, especially from banks, it’s gaining new currency. Criticized loans are those that show preliminary signs of higher risk, such as a developer who’s making payments but is otherwise having financial trouble, or an office building that recently lost a big tenant and needs to replace it.”

“And they’re rising, which sets off the kind of bells that have sent bank stocks down roughly 20% since early March, even as earnings from the sector are coming in healthier than expected. Banks are being asked more about criticized loans partly because other credit quality metrics look so good, despite the failures of Silicon Valley Bank and Signature Bank last month, according to David George, a banking analyst with Robert W. Baird & Co. Watching these loans is a way to gain at least limited insight into a real estate downturn many analysts expect to get worse before it gets better.”

“Not all banks disclose criticized loan growth in earnings reports, and the definition of a criticized asset is more fluid than classifications of whether a loan has missed payments or is otherwise ‘non-performing,’ meaning it has missed payments or violated some other term of the loan deal. A bank’s quarter-end list of criticized assets is developed by a bank itself, under the supervision of bank examiners, according to David Fanger, senior vice president at the bond-rating agency Moody’s Investor Service.”

The Wall Street Journal. “First Republic Bank is scheduled to report first-quarter earnings Monday. The results will give investors insight into the extent of the damage after sharp deposit outflows at the troubled bank. First Republic has been at the center of a crisis of confidence in midsize and smaller U.S. banks spurred by the collapse of several banks in March. Concerns have mounted about other lenders that could face a liquidity crunch similar to the ones that ultimately took down Silicon Valley Bank and Signature Bank. First Republic, one of the larger lenders to be swept up in the contagion worries, had to be rescued by JPMorgan Chase & Co. and other big banks last month. The San Francisco bank’s stock has lost nearly 90% of its value since it closed at $115 on March 8.”

“Zions Chief Executive Harris Simmons said deposits at the Salt Lake City-based bank have stabilized and at the end of the first quarter were 18% above the levels they were at before the coronavirus pandemic, which flooded banks with more than they could put to work. ‘People freak out on the downside of the roller coaster, not on the way up,’ Mr. Simmons said. ‘But if you put everything in context, you end up back where you started.'”

The Globe and Mail in Canada. “2425 Taylor Crescent, Kelowna, B.C. Asking price: $1.3-million (Sept. 2022). Previous asking prices: $1.499 million (July 15, 2022); $1.399-million (July 31, 2022). Selling price: $1.195 million (Jan. 19, 2023). The house was first listed on July 15 for $1.499-million but didn’t get any offers. The sellers, a professional couple who wanted to purchase another house nearby, reduced the price to $1.399-million after two weeks, but still didn’t get offers. ‘We had missed the market when this hit,’ listing agent Richard Deacon says. “The market had turned by then. We were in the dog days of summer and we had a strategy in place that if we didn’t get immediate action we would reduce it, which we did.'”

“By the end of summer, they’d reduced it again to $1.3-million. After taking it off the market on Jan. 5 they got a flurry of requests for showings. Ten days later, they got an offer, from a young couple. The deal completed April 20. ‘The activity has picked up since this first went on the market. The doldrums of the last few months seem to be over,’ Mr. Deacon says. ‘Listings still haven’t skyrocketed, but I’m seeing more showings and getting more calls, more interest. Not necessarily seeing more offers,’ he adds. ‘But this early activity might resemble sales activity in the next two months. It hasn’t got me excited, but there’s a glimmer of hope.'”

The Telegraph. “Holiday landlords are having their properties repossessed for the first time in years as they come under strain from high interest rates, the chief executive of one of Britain’s largest letting companies has warned. Graham Donoghue, the chief executive of Sykes Holiday Cottages, said owners were having their properties taken over by banks after rising rates left them with crushing monthly repayments. Mr Donoghue, who oversees a portfolio of 22,000 properties across the country, told The Telegraph: ‘They can no longer afford to meet their banks’ demand and they’re being repossessed.’ This happened to ‘handfuls’ of properties last month ‘but that’s not something that in the six years that I’ve been here that has ever made its way to a trading meeting before,’ he said.”

The Phnom Pen Post in Cambodia. “Kampot provincial police arrested Chea Saron, who holds the honorific title Oknha, and his eight accomplices for alleged fraud perpetrated on over 2,000 families, bilking them out of nearly $40 million total through ‘scam’ real estate projects. The arrest came right after Saron and his accomplices were invited by provincial governor Mao Thonin to a public meeting with 2,461 families in Chhouk district on April 22, as part of a conflict resolution mechanism outside of the courts system.”

“Saron’s arrest, police said, may indicate that evidence has emerged that he never intended to fulfil his end of the bargain with the victims when he took their money or that he engaged in deceptive practices in order to convince them to buy in. ‘I call on our people who have been cheated to stay calm and not panic. Please trust the provincial governor and legal enforcement entities, prosecutor and provincial court president to find justice for you over this ‘investment’ that has earned you nothing but tears,’ the provincial police said in an April 23 social media post.”

“Kampot residents who had invested in Saron’s real estate projects – in some cases taking out bank loans in order to do so – requested that the provincial administration intervene in the matter when the promised construction never began. During the April 22 public forum, an elderly woman said that she and other members of her family had been cheated by the company and had sold land they owned to make the investment. ‘I would like to get my money back. I have nothing to eat now. Please take pity on me,’ she said.”

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This Post Has 70 Comments

  1. It’s not every day we get a new word for crater.

    How did you lose yer shack mate?

    The bank criticized my loan.

    ‘Hints of trouble began to surface years ago, accelerating in 2022, but staff did not want to let the community know that the project they had anticipated for so many years was headed for the toilet…As late as a few weeks ago, the developer appeared at a community event at Miraflores Park and told the community to anticipate a groundbreaking this summer, knowing full well it was a lie’

    Right to yer face Tom. Has there ever been a successful visa fraud deal?

  2. “In just 22 months since 1990 – that’s 6% – the California sales pace was slower than this March.”

    If you have to look back to 1990 to compare March’s sales number, you know it’s low. Hey Relitters®, I bet March’s sales number is higher than every month from 1937!! Tell your clients to act today!

  3. “Home sales fell in March on a year-over-year basis, continuing a downward trend that began in the second half of last year, while prices last month dropped for the third time since December, according to Pikes Peak Association of Realtors figures.

    Shacks here are overvalued by a factor of at least 50%. Asking prices are unsustainable & delusional given median incomes, yet fools are still rushing in.

  4. Miami-Dade County recorded 5,607 sales of single-family homes during the first quarter, a 40% drop from 9,391 closings during the same period last year.

    Is that a lot?

  5. ‘But this early activity might resemble sales activity in the next two months. It hasn’t got me excited, but there’s a glimmer of hope.’”

    Hope was the last & most dangerous thing in Pandora’s box, Mr. Deacon.

  6. Mr Donoghue, who oversees a portfolio of 22,000 properties across the country, told The Telegraph: ‘They can no longer afford to meet their banks’ demand and they’re being repossessed.’

    Die, speculator scum.

      1. “That’s one fugly building…“

        …hideous fershure.

        I was trying to find who the architect was. Built in the 60’s

    2. “unattractive building”

      The moment I read that, I guessed that it would be Brutalist architecture. Yup. For some reason, 1960s-era local municipalities in the US, Canada, and UK eschewed the usual Greek Revival public buildings in favor of the new modern Brutalist style. Nothing says “Here is the government and we’re here to help,” like a hulking storm-cloud gray near-windowless concrete PRISON right out of “1984.” Just google-image search for it and feast your eyes on more examples of paragons of comfortable commercial shelter.

      Ugh. They can’t rip these things down soon enough.

  8. Our house in CS sold in 1 day, all cash, over asking. It’s not the norm, and our house was pristine with a clear view of Pikes Peak and the front range, breath taking 🙂

    1. To bad they are taking out Tucker because he was one of the few voices that was attacking the false constructs and fake narratives of fake news.

        1. “I guarantee Brandon and his thugs did it. It’s about crushing all dissenters”

          If it wasn’t part of the settlement with Dominion Voting Systems.

          2. If it wasn’t part of the settlement with Dominion Voting Systems.

            That was my first thought. Don’t know where Carlson will go, but whatever he does, I doubt he will be able to replace the lost income from Fox. I’m sure he’s unwelcome at youtube. I suppose he could go tuckercarlson dot com, but will anyone with deep pockets buy advertising?

          3. “It was a warning to the corporate presstitutes not to stray from the government narrative”

            Good call.

            Upset viewers can always boycott Fox News.

    3. Fox News Media and Tucker Carlson have agreed to part ways

      More likely they made him an offer he couldn’t refuse. Resign quietly, don’t appear in other media and here is a ton of money.

      But yeah, Brandon and Company want him gone.

    4. Evidently Bongino is gone too. I’m kinda glad for it. Let Fox show its true colors, and let ALL of the MSM go into the toilet once and for all.

      I think YouTube will be next. But doesn’t Twitter allow some videos too? Help us, Elon Musk! You’re our only hope!

      1. ” …boycott Fox News.”
        Fox news lost a billion on the stock exchange today, with more to come no doubt.
        Just turn off Mainstream Media fake news. You don’t gain from being defrauded, gaslighted, fear mongered, brainwashed, demoralized, poisoned by fake vaccines, unequal justice, no free speech , called racist, invaded, accosted by thugs and trans,and deprived of food and energy by fake Climate Change. .
        A alternative state of being must be created, because what the fraudsters of New World Order offer is tyranny, enslavement , deprivation and genocide.

        1. I think Fox will lose even more market value when the next batch of ratings numbers come in.

          As for me, I never watched cable news. I do read the FN website because they are the only news site that can maintain a functioning comment section.

      2. You’re our only hope!

        If that CCP-controlled billionaire transhumanist technocrat is our only hope, pass the cyanide.

          1. Well, that sounded harsh. I mean, I have more faith in Elon. Yup, he’s probably interested in China as a market, but his Twitter might be the only refuge of free-ish speech left.

          2. interested in China

            The CCP fronted the money for the Shanghai factory and can take it at any time for any reason. Anyone anti-CCP isn’t allowed on Twitter.

    1. Retail
      Bed Bath & Beyond vows it can pull off a sale – here’s what that means for shareholders
      Published Mon, Apr 24 2023 11:56 AM EDT
      Updated Mon, Apr 24 2023 4:46 PM EDT
      Gabrielle Fonrouge

      Key Points
      – Bed Bath & Beyond declared bankruptcy but is hoping it can find a buyer willing to keep operations running in some fashion.

      – “Bed Bath & Beyond has pulled off long shot transactions several times in the last six months, so nobody should think Bed Bath & Beyond will not be able to do so again,” an executive said in filings.

      – The home goods retailer was a meme stock, and its many retail investors are expected to be “wiped out,” one expert told CNBC.
      …

    2. I was watching a documentary about the Dubai airport. There are duty free jewelry shops, and a manager said that she has regular customers who buy $50K or more of gold jewelry while waiting for their connecting flight.

      1. What was interesting is that most of the staff who operate the airport are not from Dubai. Lots of Indians, Pakistanis, Brits, Australians, etc. American staff are conspicuous by their absence.

      2. We’ll teach them a lesson when we’re all driving EV’s and not buying oil…oh wait.

  12. ‘They seem more reasonable and logical to me, where we had a whole (buying) season, a whole two or three seasons, of illogical buyers, very emotional’

    It’s a good thing the lending was rock solid that whole time Pat.

    1. “Sellers also might offer $6,000 to $8,000 worth of closing costs to buyers to help them make a purchase, said Patrick Muldoon, president of Colorado Springs real estate company Muldoon Associates. That kind of concession had disappeared during the years when the housing market was crazy”

      But it hasn’t disappeared at the car dealership where Patty Muldoon must have learned how to inflate the price of a trade in to make Mr. and Mrs. Howmuchamonth think they were getting a deal on that new overpriced Honda CR-V.

  13. Car update: We’re test-driving a Ford Maverick tomorrow. The dealer wants, and is getting, 50% over MSRP. We’re definitely not paying that and may order a 2024 for delivery later in the year.

    1. “We’re test-driving a Ford Maverick tomorrow”

      Please let me know what you thought about the test drive.

      1. Test drove 5 trucks today. In order of preference:

        1. GMC Canyon Elevation
        2. Toyota Tacoma
        3. Ford Maverick XLT 2.5L Hybrid Engine
        4. Ford Maverick XLT 2.0L EcoBoost Engine
        5. Ford Ranger ???

        The Ranger felt like a boat on choppy water. The Maverick’s interior was cheap and given the $15K (50%!) markup made the GMC a much better deal. Getting a 2024 Maverick at MSRP could take a year. The GMC we could drive off the lot. Toyota is redoing the Tacoma next year. The Honda Ridgeline’s bed was too shallow so we didn’t bother taking it out. I’m balancing how much we’d really use a truck against the lousy gas mileage. A VW GTI would be more my speed and cost less than all of these trucks!

        2. “A VW GTI would be more my speed and cost less than all of these trucks!”

          Good call.

          Thanks for the shopping follow-up!

          1. Hubby doesn’t want to pay over MSRP. He’s leaning towards a Mazda 3 now. I miss my Audi A3. The DSG transmission was sweet! The VW Golf GTI is probably the closest thing to it. After 3 years, an electric car will most likely be in order. Hopefully, VW works out their cooling system by then and decides to sell the ID.3 in the US.

    2. The dealer wants, and is getting, 50% over MSRP

      I looked up the Maverick and the Hyundai Santa Cruz on cars dot com. Good Gravy, not too long ago you could buy a real truck for that kind of money

    3. “We’re test-driving a Ford Maverick tomorrow.”

      I’d buy a Honda Ridgeline, which is a proven light-duty platform, e.g., 3.5L V6 engine, 9-spd automatic (not a CVT), AWD with independent suspension at all four corners (smooth riding), Honda resale value, etc., and they’re similarly priced. I’d choose leather seating as they’re easier to clean, and they add to resale value.

      1. “Ford Maverick specs:
        Curb Weight: 3,600-lbs
        2.0L HP: 250 @ 5,500 rpm
        Torque: 277 lb-ft @ 3,000 rpm
        The EcoBoost 2.0L is a turbocharged four-cylinder engine.”

        The Honda 3.5-liter V6 will outlast Ford’s 2.0-liter, IMHO.

      2. Leasing for 3 years for tax reasons. Not off-roading or towing. Local errands, Home Depot, garden centers and 🤞 moving.

        1. Well, if you’re leasing it then you’ll be giving it back before it begins to fall apart. This is my biggest beef with new cars: tiny engines with turbos, unproven CVTs and gadgets galore. And don’t get me started on the stop/start feature. You’re not going to get 200K miles out of them, you’ll be lucky to reach 100K miles before they turn into money pits.

          1. And don’t get me started on the stop/start feature.

            I’m curious about this — how does the on/off on an ICE differ than what one gets with a hybrid where the gas engine does not always run? It seems like Toyota Hybrids are extremely reliable over time and miles.

          2. how does the on/off on an ICE differ than what one gets with a hybrid

            On a hybrid the engine stops when the batteries are fully charged and isn’t restarted until they drop below a certain level of charge.

            With an ICE if you’re stuck in traffic every time you come to a halt the engine shuts down and oil drains out of the engine back into the oil pan. Then, when you step on the gas to go again, the engine is restarted. Starting an engine is perhaps the most traumatic event for an ICE, as the oil will have drained out of the engine and friction is at its maximum. So, in a freeway traffic jam your engine could be started over a hundred times. I do not envision such an engine lasting very long. Some cars allow you to disable the feature, some don’t.

          3. @In Colorado: Thanks for the thorough explanation. That sounds like a nightmare on the engine! I’ll be cautious to avoid that next time I buy a car.

            I have a Subaru with a CVT. I’m worried about it long-term.

        1. “…and has bad gas mileage.”

          Yes, the Honda is larger, so it pushes more air, so lower aggregate fuel mileage.

          However, both weigh about the same. Accelerating that mass from zero to 45-mph requires roughly the same amount of energy regardless of source, i.e., physics.

          That said, these 2.0-liter turbo engines are really fun to drive, and if you don’t keep your foot out of it you’ll be lucky to get 16-mpg…maybe less!

    1. Perhaps he found another blog where he is allowed to goad people into attacking leftist flunkies while they walk their dogs.

    1. The Wall Street Journal
      Individual Investors Are Still Hungry for Stocks—While Shunning Risk
      The net $77.7 billion in equities and ETFs purchased by individuals in the first quarter is near a record
      Illustration by Alexandra Citrin-Safadi
      By Jack Pitcher
      April 23, 2023 5:30 am ET

      Individual investors scooped up shares of single stocks and exchange-traded funds at a near-record clip in the first quarter. They appear to have learned some lessons in risk taking as well.

      Individuals bought a net $77.7 billion in equities and ETFs on U.S. exchanges in the first three months of the year, according to Vanda Research data, which excludes contributions to 401(k)s and other retirement accounts. That sum trails only the first quarters of 2021 and 2022, when they bought about $80 billion.
      …

  16. “First Republic has been at the center of a crisis of confidence in midsize and smaller U.S. banks spurred by the collapse of several banks in March.”

    Cockroach Theory suggests there are lots more banks with similar issues which we have yet to hear about.

    “Concerns have mounted about other lenders that could face a liquidity crunch similar to the ones that ultimately took down Silicon Valley Bank and Signature Bank.”

    An underwater balance sheet is not a good look for a bank.

    1. Yahoo
      Fortune
      Morgan Stanley analysts think commercial real estate is heading for something ‘worse than in the Great Financial Crisis’—here’s what Goldman Sachs and UBS have to say
      Alena Botros
      Mon, April 24, 2023 at 5:32 AM PDT·6 min read
      In this article:

      Following the failures of both Silicon Valley Bank and Signature Bank, all eyes have been on commercial real estate (CRE), with some sounding the alarm, claiming it’s the next shoe to drop. As Fortune has previously reported, commercial real estate lending standards were already tightening up over the past year as the Federal Reserve flipped into inflation-fighting mode. The ongoing bank troubles, however, will only exacerbate that tightening.
      …
      https://finance.yahoo.com/news/morgan-stanley-analysts-think-commercial-123220700.html

    2. Banks
      Standard Chartered CEO warns of risks in the banking sector that haven’t ‘come home to roost’
      Published Tue, Apr 25 2023 2:00 AM EDT
      Karen Gilchrist

      Key Points

      – Standard Chartered’s chief executive warned Monday that the banking sector may face fresh issues.

      – Bill Winters said there could be other issues that “come home to roost in some form of a crisis” as imbalances in some banks are exposed by inflation and higher interest rates.

      – “I think we can put the crisis behind us. I don’t think we can put the issue behind us,” Winters told CNBC’s Joumanna Bercetche.
      …
      https://www.cnbc.com/2023/04/25/risks-in-banking-sector-havent-come-home-to-roost-stanchart-ceo.html

  17. The Financial Times
    US Treasury bonds
    US savers snap up government debt in search for yield
    Retail investors purchase record amounts of Treasury bills at auction while bank deposits drop to near two-year low
    US Treasury building in Washington, DC
    Individuals buying Treasury bills through accounts on the Treasury department’s TreasuryDirect site purchased $48.4bn of the debt auctioned by the US government in March
    Kate Duguid in New York yesterday

    Retail investors are snapping up new US Treasury bills at a record pace, as they broaden their search for higher-yielding alternatives to bank accounts with rock-bottom interest rates.

    Individuals buying Treasury bills through accounts on the Treasury department’s TreasuryDirect site purchased $48.4bn of the debt auctioned by the US government in March, official data shows, with demand continuing apace in early April.

    Meanwhile, executives at brokerages say retail investors have also stepped up buying of Treasury bills in the secondary market, particularly since a number of regional bank failures in March prompted savers to look again at where they were stashing their money.

    Treasury bills are short-term bonds that mature anywhere from a few days to a year after they are issued, and they can offer yields as high as 5 per cent now that the Federal Reserve has raised US interest rates to fight inflation.

    “Retail demand for T-bills has been strong since the beginning of the year due to the attractive yields versus bank deposits,” said Kathy Jones, chief fixed-income strategist at the Schwab Center for Financial Research, part of the brokerage Charles Schwab.

    “The bank failures seem to have accelerated the trend as more investors began to focus on short-term rates,” she added.

    Big US banks such as JPMorgan Chase, Bank of America, and Wells Fargo are still by and large paying customers near-zero returns on their deposits, even though the Fed has pushed official interest rates to a range of 4.75 per cent to 5 per cent.
    …
    “We’ve been in a golden age for borrowers for years, at the expense of savers,” said Bill O’Donnell, an interest rates strategist at Citi. “It now feels like the tables have turned. It’s now the golden age for savers, at long last.”
    …

  18. Dumb question of the day: What is the difference between cryptocurrency and counterfeit currency?

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