Synchrony, Capital One, and Discover – a gauge of how well over-indebted consumers are managing to hang on – have together increased their Q1 provisions for bad loans by 36% year-over-year.
Wolf Street Read on Bad Debt at BI
http://www.businessinsider.com/us-consumer-debt-is-piling-up-2017-5
We have actually been blessed by this decline in interest rates in the United States. In 2000, the total interest cost of servicing the federal debt was $360 billion, based on a blended interest rate on government bonds of 6%. Today, the blended interest rate is 2.1% and the total interest cost is $400 billion, only $40 billion more on a debt burden three times the size of its 2000 level. If interest rates on government securities rise 1%, the cost of debt service would increase almost $200 billion, offsetting most of the budget cuts being proposed by the Trump administration
Byron Wien Full Read Below
http://www.barrons.com/articles/byron-wien-the-scary-signal-of-the-bond-market-1493417352
“A Bronx Tale” is on all week so I can’t help but watch some before bed each night. Who knew Sonny had such great advice for Wall Street?Josh Brown-The Reformed Broker.
The truth is, however, that buybacks may have peaked for the cycle a year or two ago. Which, if you’re blaming monetary policy for their prevalence, would make sense. The Fed’s tapering off of monthly QE began in 2014, and the Fed Funds hikes began in December of 2015. We’ve been in a tightening environment – in both word and deed – for three years now.
Bank of America looks at its corporate clients’ buyback activity and finds quite a drop-off year-to-date:
Buybacks by our corporate clients picked up last week to typical April levels, but year-to-date are tracking their lowest of any comparable period since 2013 and are down nearly 30% YoY—suggesting less of a boost to corporate EPS from buybacks.
“Put him in the bathroom” A Bronx Tale
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