Biden Economy update August 10.2023

[Luvnit2]

Credit card debt has reached a new high at over 1 trillion dollars, a new high. Credit card interest rates have risen. Mortgage, Car, and personal loans are also way up. Gasoline prices are rising again due to the Biden policy going after fossil fuels by shutting down Keystone Pipeline and regulations.

The latest polls show 64% of Americans think Biden is doing a bad job on the economy. The middle class is getting killed. The Yellow Trucking company went bankrupt costing 30,000 truckers their job. The Bus EV company Harris and Biden invested over 1 billion tax payer dollars and it has gone bankrupt in less than 18 months

https://www.electrive.com/2022/03/08/us-government-invests-in-electric-bus-fleets/

The U.S. government is awarding nearly $1.5 billion in grants in 2022 to modernize bus fleets and facilities across the country. Of the money allocated, $1.1 billion will go to the Low or No Emission (Low-No) program this year alone.

The people are speaking in polls, Biden policies stink and sadly I don't see the light at the end of the tunnel for the lower and middle classes. Biden want to forgive student loans, yet those who are suffering the most never got a college education and are getting swallowed up in debt.

The migrant crisis is killing city budgets. Even liberal mayors and governors know Biden's open border policy is causing hardships for the lower and middle class like NYC and Mass. NYC is turning soccer/football fields for the migrants. The children born in the US are being thrown to the back of the bus for migrants. Parents have to be furious.

[StoneTheCrow]

Dude didn’t you know Biden and every other official twitter account of the current admin tweets the word “Bidenomics” 14 times a day? That’s enough for me.

[NATI BENGALS]

I’m having a hard time blaming Biden for every idiot who walked out of a car dealership with a payment over $1000. Which is up to something like 16% of consumers.

I actually like the idea of personal responsibility. And it seems to me a lot of Americans still have poor financial practices.

I remember hearing years ago a staggering number of people didn’t have enough savings to cover something like a $600 emergency. That isn’t anything new.

Now you have record credit card debt and people pulling money out of their 401k’s. More bad financial decisions.

But they will have Taco Bell door dashed to them and tip 10$

[*pally*]

I use a credit card for everything. I do it for the rewards. Now I pay off that bill every single month but for reporting purposes I carry debt. I’m not alone in this. In the increasingly cashless and checkless society people are using credit cards. Many like me it off every month

[Luvnit2]

(08-11-2023, 01:31 AM)pally Wrote: I use a credit card for everything.  I do it for the rewards.  Now I pay off that bill every single month but for reporting purposes I carry debt.  I’m not alone in this.  In the increasingly cashless and checkless society people are using credit cards.  Many like me it off every month

Debt is not recorded unless the credit card is not paid off in full. I do the same as you do, but we both have zero debt as we pay it off in full. nice try though.

[*pally*]

(08-11-2023, 09:14 AM)Luvnit2 Wrote: Debt is not recorded unless the credit card is not paid off in full. I do the same as you do, but we both have zero debt as we pay it off in full. nice try though.

The question asked of banks issuing credit cards is how much is owed not does the customer pay it off every month.  There is always a balance on the card.  It counts as revolving debt

[*Nately120*]

(08-10-2023, 11:56 PM)NATI BENGALS Wrote: I’m having a hard time blaming Biden for every idiot who walked out of a car dealership with a payment over $1000. Which is up to something like 16% of consumers.

My 07 Saturn finally petered out and I had to replace it, so I paid cash for a reasonably new car.  I did that with Biden in office making me poor...I'm like, a financial wizard.  Maybe I should be president. 

[StoneTheCrow]

(08-11-2023, 01:24 PM)Nately120 Wrote: My 07 Saturn finally petered out and I had to replace it, so I paid cash for a reasonably new car.  I did that with Biden in office making me poor...I'm like, a financial wizard.  Maybe I should be president. 

+ $4.99 for your brand new Coexist sticker?

[*Nately120*]

(08-11-2023, 01:28 PM)StoneTheCrow Wrote: + $4.99 for your brand new Coexist sticker?

I don't put any stickers on my car, and I don't put any signs or flags up.  

[StoneTheCrow]

(08-11-2023, 01:32 PM)Nately120 Wrote: I don't put any stickers on my car, and I don't put any signs or flags up.  

Good man.

[HarleyDog]

(08-11-2023, 01:31 AM)pally Wrote: I use a credit card for everything.  I do it for the rewards.  Now I pay off that bill every single month but for reporting purposes I carry debt.  I’m not alone in this.  In the increasingly cashless and checkless society people are using credit cards.  Many like me it off every month

I think I'm misreading your post. You pay off your bill every month but carry debt? So, are you carrying a small balance on your card? I too pay off my cards every month and have thankfully been fortunate to do so. But if I'm right in what your saying, what would be the benefit of keeping a balance? I understand on a loan or something, but a card?

[*Nately120*]

(08-11-2023, 01:37 PM)StoneTheCrow Wrote: Good man.

I DO wear band T shirts and hope someone challenges me to name a song by said band so I can gleefully ask if they want to talk about the obscure solo album by the drummer, or something.

[*pally*]

(08-10-2023, 11:56 PM)NATI BENGALS Wrote: I’m having a hard time blaming Biden for every idiot who walked out of a car dealership with a payment over $1000. Which is up to something like 16% of consumers.

I actually like the idea of personal responsibility. And it seems to me a lot of Americans still have poor financial practices.

I remember hearing years ago a staggering number of people didn’t have enough savings to cover something like a $600 emergency. That isn’t anything new.

Now you have record credit card debt and people pulling money out of their 401k’s. More bad financial decisions.

But they will have Taco Bell door dashed to them and tip 10$

Well, I don't know if I would call myself an idiot for my almost $1000 car payment. I replaced my 2004 Toyota with a 2023 Honda hybrid.  I bought a new car because I expect to own this car for another 2 decades.  The payment is high because I took the shortest payoff term due to the best interest rate.  It will likely be paid off within a year when I have to move investment cash around.  This deal made financial sense for me.  And with the hybrid, right now I am filling up my car once a month

[StoneTheCrow]

(08-11-2023, 01:47 PM)Nately120 Wrote: I DO wear band T shirts and hope someone challenges me to name a song by said band so I can gleefully ask if they want to talk about the obscure solo album by the drummer, or something.

Not to get too far off the rails but anytime I see some Zoomer chick wearing a Pantera shirt I’m half tempted to ask them to name one, but instead I just keep it moving. Live and let live, etc.

[basballguy]

https://www.cnn.com/2023/08/15/investing/michael-burry-stock-market-crash/index.html

Quote:New York

CNN
 — 
Michael Burry, the “Big Short” investor who became famous for correctly predicting the epic collapse of the housing market in 2008, has bet more than $1.6 billion on a Wall Street crash.

Burry is making his bearish bets against the S&P 500 and Nasdaq 100, according to Security Exchange Commission filings released Monday. Burry’s fund, Scion Asset Management, bought $866 million in put options (that’s the right to sell an asset at a particular price) against a fund that tracks the S&P 500 and $739 million in put options against a fund that tracks the Nasdaq 100.

Burry is using more than 90% of his portfolio to bet on a market downturn, according to the filings.

But Burry appears to have been wavering between bullish and bearish on his stock picks this year. In January, he tweeted a cryptic message to his 1.4 million followers. “Sell,” he wrote. But by the end of March, he backtracked. “I was wrong to say sell.” he wrote.

The S&P 500 and Nasdaq 100 have both notched big gains so far this year. They’re up nearly 16% and 38%, respectively.

In the mid-2000s, Burry was famous for placing a wager against the housing market and profited handsomely from the subprime lending crisis and the collapse of numerous major financial entities in 2008. The event was chronicled by Michael Lewis in his bestseller “The Big Short: Inside the Doomsday Machine” and later adapted into a film where Burry was played by Christian Bale.

Getting out of regional banks and China

Burry’s fund is also getting out of its shares in a number of regional banks – it sold its 150,000 shares of First Republic Bank (FRC) as well as holdings in Huntington Bank PacWest (PACW) and Western Alliance (WAL). It’s unclear whether these sales took place before or after JPMorgan Chase took over First Republic Bank (FRC) in May.

Burry also reversed course on Chinese stocks – selling his shares of JD.com (JD) and Alibaba (BABA) in the second quarter of the year.

A little long

There are some names that Burry and his team at Scion are betting on.

About 6% of the company’s stock portfolio is long and in the second quarter of the year he increased his exposure to the travel and healthcare industry – purchasing shares of Expedia Group (EXPE), MGM Resorts (MGM), CVS (CVS) and Cigna (CI).

Burry also purchased $4.7 million shares worth of CNN parent company Warner Bros. Discovery (WBD) and $3.3 million in online second hand retailer, The RealReal (TRR).

But in financial circles, Michael Burry’s bearish predictions often garner more attention than his optimistic bets.

While one big payoff doesn’t guarantee future returns, Burry does have a strong investment record. Traders following the investments disclosed by Scion’s over the last 3 years (between May of 2020 and May 2023) would have made annualized returns of 56% according to an analysis by Sure Dividend. Over the same period, the S&P 500 had annualized returns of about 12%.

[NATI BENGALS]

(08-15-2023, 03:09 PM)basballguy Wrote: https://www.cnn.com/2023/08/15/investing/michael-burry-stock-market-crash/index.html

https://www.cnbc.com/2023/08/15/fitch-warns-it-may-be-forced-to-downgrade-dozens-of-banks.html

A downgrade on dozens of our largest banks would probably hit the market pretty hard.

[Luvnit2]

https://www.foxnews.com/opinion/kamala-harris-slip-up-reveals-how-bidenomics-hurting-american-families

One more fact based account of why Joe Biden's policy has killed the economy. F.Y.I., the 16.9 inflation is since Biden took office. Gas prices rises impact inflation over many categories. Biden's energy policy has killed inflation.

Kamala was not accurate in her comments on the economy, but she admits the Biden economy is not working.
Kamala Harris slip-up reveals how Bidenomics hurting American families
American families are in deep trouble, and it’s worse than any Bidenomics spin can conceal
In the midst of President Biden’s campaign to sell "Bidenomics" to American voters, Vice President Kamala Harris made a curious admission. Speaking about the costs of getting an abortion (so not Bidenomics), she stated that "[m]ost Americans are a $400 unexpected expense away from bankruptcy."

Of course, as with most dramatic White House economic claims, it wasn’t exactly true. But you have to give her credit for raising a counter-narrative the Biden administration is otherwise choosing to ignore.

The fact is that American families are in trouble, deep trouble, and it’s far more significant than any Bidenomics spin can conceal.
It also raises a very disconcerting question: Is this the new Bidenomics normal? Let’s look at the data.

The Lending Club’s Paycheck-to-Paycheck Report for June confirms the Morning Consult survey. It found that a majority of Americans (54%) were living paycheck to paycheck. That includes 53% of consumers who earn $50,000 to $100,000 per year. So, this problem extends well beyond lower-income families, although it certainly hits you harder the less you have.
But what about personal savings? American received a lot of cash from the government during the pandemic. In fact, when Biden took office, Americans had $2.3 trillion in personal savings. That number shot up to $5.7 trillion following Biden’s March 2021 ironically named "American Rescue Plan."

But by June of this year, a mere 27 months later, personal saving had dropped by nearly $5 trillion to a much diminished $862 billion.

Again, it isn’t just lower-income Americans who have watched their savings diminish. According to a Bloomberg analysis, the average middle-class household has lost over $33,000 in real wealth in just the past year.
The situation is so bad that Americans are even draining their 401(k) plans to cover expenses. According to Bank of America’s analysis of its clients’ employee benefits programs (with a total of over 4 million plan participants), 36% more people drained their retirement accounts to make ends meets in the second quarter of 2023 as compared to the same period last year.

So, where did all that money go? Well, you may have noticed that Bidenomics-induced inflation has driven the cost of living up – a lot. Let’s look at it in dollar terms, which is how most Americans experience inflation.

The Bureau of Labor Statistic publishes the Consumer Price Index (CPI) each month, a common measure of inflation. CPI takes a basket of commonly purchased goods and services and prices them on a monthly basis. In January 2021, when Biden took office, that basket cost about $261.50. In July of this year, the same basket cost $305.70. That’s a huge 16.9% increase in only two and a half years. It’s also larger than the CPI increase for any full four-year presidential term since the 1980s, and Bidenomics has 16 months to go.
So, with savings increasingly depleted and wages failing to keep up with increased living expenses, many Americans are resorting to their credit cards in an effort to make ends meet. According to the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, in the second quarter of this year, credit card debt rose to $1 trillion – the highest number ever.
And that amount of credit card debt is a huge problem with 51% of Americans unable to pay off their entire balance each month – so they let it revolve to the next month at an average budget killing interest rate of nearly 15%, according to JD Powers’ recent Annual Credit Card Satisfaction Survey. Perhaps more disconcerting, Wallet Hub reports that the current average credit card interest rate is slightly over 22%. Either rate would be devastating for already stretched family budgets.

[Luvnit2]

Black voters leaving Biden and Democratic party
https://www.foxnews.com/opinion/many-black-americans-dont-like-bidenomics-heres-biden-white-house-worried
Bidenomics and inflation has been costly to Black Americans and 35% of them disapprove

A Washington Post/Ipsos poll this spring revealed that only 17% of Blacks would be enthusiastic about President Joe Biden’s re-election. It’s the economy stupid.

Many forget that the famous "March on Washington" was primarily about the need for more jobs in the Black community. Sixty years later, the problem persists.
Blacks, perhaps more so than any group core to Biden’s re-election, are dissatisfied with the nation’s economy. Nevertheless, Biden has spent the last few months on an economic victory tour, touting the success of ‘Bidenomics.’ But despite his claims of record unemployment, increased wages and falling inflation, a critical number of Black Americans are unconvinced, as is the rest of the nation.

If Democrats lose the black voting base by 3 to 5%, they are in deep trouble in 2024.