Vital Statistics:
Last | Change | |
S&P futures | 4,033 | 31.50 |
Oil (WTI) | 74.07 | 0.87 |
10 year government bond yield | 3.59% | |
30 year fixed rate mortgage | 6.44% |
Stocks are higher this morning as banking fears recede. Bonds and MBS are down.
Mortgage applications rose 2.9% last week as purchases rose 2% and refis rose 5%. “Application activity increased as mortgage rates declined for the third straight week. The 30-year fixed rate declined to 6.45 percent, the lowest level in over a month,” said Joel Kan, MBA’s Vice President and Deputy Chief Economist. “While the 30-year fixed rate remained 1.65 percentage points higher than a year ago, homebuyers responded, leading to a fourth straight increase in purchase applications. Home-price growth has slowed markedly in many parts of the country, which has helped to improve buyers’ purchasing power. Purchase applications remain over 30 percent behind last year’s pace, but recent increases, along with data from other sources showing an uptick in home sales, is a welcome development.”
Consumer confidence improved slightly in March, according to the Conference Board. Surprisingly, the bank failures didn’t have much of an impact and the survey was conducted about 10 days after the failure of Silicon Valley Bank. “While consumers feel a bit more confident about what’s ahead, they are slightly less optimistic about the current landscape. The share of consumers saying jobs are ‘plentiful’ fell, while the share of those saying jobs are ‘not so plentiful’ rose. The latest results also reveal that their expectations of inflation over the next 12 months remains elevated—at 6.3 percent. Overall purchasing plans for appliances continued to soften while automobile purchases saw a slight increase.”
That inflationary expectations number for the next 12 months is not good. We know the Fed pays close attention to inflationary expectations in these consumer confidence surveys because this gets baked into the cake with wage negotiations. The 6.3% number does seem pretty far from the 3.8% number we saw in the University of Michigan survey earlier this month.

The New York Fed puts out its own survey of consumer expectations regarding the real estate market. Needless to say, consumers see mortgage rates rising further, although they see rental inflation falling back. Expectations for rental inflation are still elevated compared to historical numbers, but they are better than last year. As Jerome Powell has said numerous times, one of the legs in our 3-legged inflationary stool is real estate and that component of inflation will return to normal by the summer. For a more granular look at rents by MSA, check this study out by Rent.com.

Rising rates have pushed down people’s plans to move to a series low (which started in 2014). This is case of “hate the house, love the mortgage.” This might be driven by pessimism over mortgage rates. The respondents see mortgage rates pushing 9% in the next 3 years and hitting 8.4% this year.

Filed under: Economy |
Just checked out the WaPo opinion page. Nary a mention of Nashville and the shooter’s identity.
Down the memory hole we go….
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I watched an interview with Trump on YouTube. He would annihilate Biden this time around, just based on cognitive awareness alone.
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Interesting if true:
It’s unfortunate that you have to rely on Twitter to get actual information about a news event since the MSM is only interested in driving a narrative these days.
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I think Reuters framed it as “Former Christian Student shoots up school”
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That’s classic!
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Babylon Bee:
https://babylonbee.com/news/media-calls-for-moment-of-silence-for-shooter-who-was-misgendered
https://babylonbee.com/news/fbi-vows-to-get-to-the-bottom-of-what-christians-did-to-provoke-attack
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I’m not being purposefully contrarian here but I don’t think it’s unfortunate that there are a multitude of sources of information out there versus AP, UPI, Rueters, WaPO and NYT defining news. To me, we are in the best of all possible worlds with multitudes of sources and multitudes of aggregators. That the mainstream news outlets are biased and corrupt is not new insofar as they always have been, we just didn’t have any other sources available to contradict them. There has always been an MSM narrative and it’s always sucked.
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It’s so disappointing to me to see you guys focusing on the fact that the shooter was trans. It’s expected I suppose considering the nature of the national hate on trans folks, but disappointing nevertheless.
BTW, most of the pieces I read accepted and noted his/her identification. They also noted that he/she was under a doctor’s care for some kind of mental/emotional crisis. Isn’t that the case with so many of these shooters regardless of whether or not they might be trans?
Does it really matter though? If so, why does it matter? 96% of the mass killings since 1966 (identified as 4 or more dead victims) have been men, 4 women were involved but not alone………..2 with a man, and 1 trans. So scary that a trans can get their hands on 7 guns right?
Some rep from TN said way too many things about how there’s nothing we can do but when he said this is the price of freedom………….I nearly died.
I have grandchildren not yet in school, and I hate that their parents have to worry about anyone……………man, woman, trans, blowing open a side door with a weapon to kill with the most damage possible.
No one I know wants to take away anyone’s 2nd amendment rights but do any of you believe the founding fathers thought the price of freedom was the death of children?
I’m just venting so no response required even though I asked a few questions. I know the way this will go without even reading your comments.
I guess I’m just hoping there might be some kind of issue that all Americans can come together on………………….Do we really need weapons in the hands of mentally disturbed men/women/trans, especially ones that pulverize all the internal organs of children?
And please don’t try to trap me with abortion/women’s health as a rebuttal. That’s always bullshit when you do it.
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I guess I’m just hoping there might be some kind of issue that all Americans can come together on
Just curious what historically have been issues that all Americans have agreed on? I don’t need 100% agreement, just, say, 75%. I’d say declaring war on Japan after Pearl Harbor.
Regarding the tranny killer, I assume anyone shooting up a school is a nut, regardless of their gender claim. Finally, parents and grandparents who spend time worrying about their kids getting killed by a school shooter should spend some time studying statistics and probabilities. They should also not let their kids ride in motor vehicles as that’s the leading cause of death for children.
Finally, you were the first person to mention the shooter was a tranny.
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McWing:
Finally, parents and grandparents who spend time worrying about their kids getting killed by a school shooter should spend some time studying statistics and probabilities.
Hear, hear!
Finally, you were the first person to mention the shooter was a tranny.
To be fair, I think I was.
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A few things:
A. The left rejoices when they get to pin a mass shooting on right wing men, I thought they might enjoy having the favor returned.
B. The “national hate” on trans folks is 100% bullshit. No demo is more worshipped in culture than trans people. The LGBTQ community gets a month of genuflection, they get a flag, they get to force everyone to change their language to suit them, and they get offended when you don’t kiss their asses hard enough.
c: I absolutely believe the left wants to take away our second amendment rights. I believe they are envious of China’s regime of social control and the only thing standing in the way of that is firearms. So I won’t give an Angstrom to the fucking left on this issue. No way, no how.
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Brent:
The “national hate” on trans folks is 100% bullshit.
Absolutely correct. It is amazing how often progressives imagine the world to be the exact inverse of what it actually is.
I absolutely believe the left wants to take away our second amendment rights.
Agreed. As I said here many years ago on this topic, there are two kinds of gun control advocates: those who want to eliminate the second amendment but lie about it, and those who will eventually want to eliminate it once they realize that any gun control short of eliminating it won’t change much of anything.
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Flathead was talking about how much he admires China in how they are able to get things done with no pushback. Those pesky rights which make the government have to take into account some other interests aside from their own.
The left is totalitarian, and the only thing standing in their way is an armed citizenry.
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Pretty much. Well, that and control of resources, which is why they’ve been on their long march through both public and private institutions, and the corporations. It used to be a monopoly on resources helped the non-radical-left restrain the radical left.
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“The “national hate” on trans folks is 100% bullshit.
Absolutely correct. It is amazing how often progressives imagine the world to be the exact inverse of what it actually is.”
I do not know and have never met anyone who cares about someone being trans. And very few that I think might have would, and most of them I met in the 1980s.
I have met and I know several guys who might crack wise about them, at least to others. Might as well ask the sun not to shine.
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I have met and I know several guys who might crack wise about them, at least to others. Might as well ask the sun not to shine
I resemble this remark.
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“It’s so disappointing to me to see you guys focusing on the fact that the shooter was trans.”
It’s mostly a criticism of how the media frames these things depending on how the perpetrator and victims fit into their preexisting narratives.
Victim(s) is a member of a protected class and/or shooter is not – Blame the shooter and go into depth about what may have caused this (i.e. “hate crime”, “rhetoric from the right”, etc.)
Victim(s) is not a member of a protected class and/or shooter is – Blame guns and decry the “exploitation” of the event by the right.
Case in point:
“Nashville shooting exploited by right to escalate anti-trans rhetoric
By Fenit Nirappil
March 30, 2023 at 6:00 a.m. EDT”
https://www.washingtonpost.com/health/2023/03/30/nashville-shooting-transgender-shooter/
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“No one I know wants to take away anyone’s 2nd amendment rights but do any of you believe the founding fathers thought the price of freedom was the death of children?”
Gun rights have been more expansive in the past, and there were fewer shootings. Something else has changed.
Also, if you aren’t willing to take away 2nd amendment rights, how do you expect to ban guns?
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“Also, if you aren’t willing to take away 2nd amendment rights, how do you expect to ban guns?”
I think most on the left would be willing to take away the 2nd amendment, and just don’t see it as possible, or the best approach, right now.
For many, it’s a way to gain support, get attention, get donations, etc. Actually doing anything is not a goal.
Ultimately, drug overdose seems to be a much bigger cause of death for young adults, and this shooter (like many others) was experiencing suicidal ideation. Which, as I frequently mention, SRRIs can cause, and ultimately I expect they can also tip people who would never otherwise become a mass shooter to do just that. Anything that creates suicidal ideation as a side-effect can create homicidal ideation.
A wholesale ban might minimize the death toll to some marginal extent, if it could be executed (which I don’t think it can), but even if it were to happen, not addressing root causes would still end with multiple murders. People can build bombs out of universally available items.
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Anything that creates suicidal ideation as a side-effect can create homicidal ideation.
Anxiety and depressive disorders can cause suicidal ideation, you may be putting the cart before the horse. When someone finally seeks treatment for these issues they’re often at their most vulnerable, or lowest, and SSRI’s can be somewhat energizing as you titrate up, giving initially providing someone with the energy to carry out the act they’ve been thinking of prior to the mood elevating effects.
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Largest mass school killing was in 1927 with a bomb.
https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/1927-bombing-remains-americas-deadliest-school-massacre-180963355/
Sadly, here is one from Thailand where 24 kids were killed with a knife.
https://www.reuters.com/world/asia-pacific/least-20-people-killed-mass-shooting-thailand-police-2022-10-06/
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They should also not let their kids ride in motor vehicles as that’s the leading cause of death for children.
Well, there is some debate about that depending on your source of information. There is info that death by guns is the #1 but what if it’s #2 and we can fix it!
Interesting we added so many safety precautions in cars for children but we’re not willing to add gun regulation to the mix.
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I will accept nothing less than confiscation of cars.
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Not funny McWing
You guys just make me sad TBH
I don’t know why I bother here
Congrats Scott for mentioning first that the shooter was a trans……………..so impressive and you win
Children are dying and whatever the odds are that it won’t happen to one of your grandkids……………what if it does? And is there a reason that these guns need to be in the hands of regular citizens……………..crazy or not?
I knew you’d all be very cavalier so I don’t know why I bother. I need to take my opinions and thoughts somewhere where someone cares!
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lms:
Congrats Scott for mentioning first that the shooter was a trans……………..so impressive and you win
Take a breath and rethink this. You are embarrassing yourself.
And is there a reason that these guns need to be in the hands of regular citizens
Yes…as insurance against the kind of government tyranny that progressives want to impose.
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“Congrats Scott for mentioning first that the shooter was a trans……………..so impressive and you win”
I’m sorry I wasn’t here to mention it first, then I would have won.
It seems to be relevant to the story, at least to the degree whether or not the shooter was white, Christian, or a known Trump supporter, as I have no doubt would be inserted into every headline, had the shooter been one of those. The thought it that their religion or political affiliation or pernicious whiteness speaks to motive, to the “why” of the senseless tragedy.
I think the same is true here, and frankly so do many on the far left, who insist the shooting was because Christians are bigots. Not that they deserved to be randomly murdered, this point view insists, but . . .
Lots of folks on the left are highly occupied by the shooter being a transman.
Which is great for the big Pharma industry because no one is interested in whether he was gobbling SSRIs to combat depression or not.
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Yes…as insurance against the kind of government tyranny that progressives want to impose.
Yep. The way the left runs culture with an iron fist is a perfect template of how they run things without opposition or Constitutional guardrails.. They make the mullahs in Iran jealous.
Anyone think there would be less kids killed if the left imposed their utopia? I have 100 million bodies over the 20th century that say no.
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“Anyone think there would be less kids killed if the left imposed their utopia? I have 100 million bodies over the 20th century that say no.”
No. The problem tends to be those that helped Stalin in his rise to power, or Mao to his, believed there would be a very different end. When you have an irrational belief that a political movement is purely for the good, or the inevitability of Utopia, you’ll always end up with millions dead.
Yet clearly the idea is appealing or it wouldn’t happen. So it’s always going to be a battle.
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The root idea is the belief that man can and should be perfected.
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lms:
According to this list, throughout all of American history there have been a total of 31 instances of school killings that resulted in 4 or more deaths. Of those 31, more than a third, 12, have happened since 2010. Do you think the rise in the frequency of these instances is a result of “assault-type” guns suddenly becoming much more readily available than previously, or perhaps is there something else going on?
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Columbine occurred during the so called assault weapons ban.
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McWing:
Columbine occurred during the so called assault weapons ban.
Yep….and the 10th most deadly attack on a school occurred in 1764, long before “assault weapons” even existed.
The problem is not “assault weapons”, and the solution is not the banning of such weapons. And even if it were, there are other values that must also be considered.
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lms:
I knew you’d all be very cavalier
Cavalier does not mean “won’t agree with me”, which I suspect is what really bothers you.
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“And is there a reason that these guns need to be in the hands of regular citizens……………..crazy or not?”
After the riots in 2020, people are even less willing to be disarmed especially with the whole “Defund the Police” movement going on at the same time.
That’s what’s driven the recent spike in guns sales, especially to women and minorities.
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Something isn’t adding up in the statistics about deaths.
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“Interesting we added so many safety precautions in cars for children but we’re not willing to add gun regulation to the mix.”
We have added gun regulation to the mix. There are lots of gun regulations. In some states, there’s a ton of gun regulation. Including bans. Schools and colleges are all gun free zones. There’s no shortage of regulations, and the next ones we get (and we will get them, don’t worry) are unlikely to help.
Gun regulation is a way for politicians to pretend they are doing something while doing nothing, and that is their main function.
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The gun isn’t defective. It’s working as intended. That’s why “safety” is the wrong paradigm. This isn’t a consumer product defect issue.
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It’s like suing a car company because someone used their car to purposefully plow into a crowd to kill people.
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I honestly didn’t know what a racist hellscape California is. I’m ashamed to have been born there.
https://12ft.io/proxy?q=https%3A%2F%2Fapnews.com%2Farticle%2Fcalifornia-black-reparations-racism-e7377631044ef6325b042ea56456d81b
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