Charts of the Week
U.S. Wealth & Debt Distribution
April 18, 2025
A comparison of the assets and liabilities of the wealthiest Americans versus the rest of the country
A comparison of the assets and liabilities of the wealthiest Americans versus the rest of the country
We believe Trump's approval rating is the second most important factor, after the bond market, in changing his economic agenda. Currently, an approval rating of 46% is not low enough to prompt a change.
Crypto fell alongside most risk assets since the beginning of the month, but Bitcoin continues to account for a larger portion of the universe.
How big are the Fed's holdings of bonds, notes, bills, TIPS, MBS, agencies, and FRNs in relation the outstanding market?
A long-term look at gold
Some interesting charts from our recent posts
Today's topics include what's going on with yields?, Japan trade deal could be the first domino, when will tariffs begin to hurt the economy?, Powell's rock & hard place scenario getting tighter, Fedspeak, Fed independence, hard data vs. soft data, the low volatility period has ended, an isolation strategy, deciphering what foreigners are doing in the treasury market, and investment grade issuance has been slow in 2025
Today's topics include retail traders continue buying the dip, Japan is first in line, drawing comparisons between Liberation Day & the 1971 end of Bretton Woods, foreign currency performance versus the dollar, developing a plan to hike taxes for $1m+ earners, China's Q1 growth strong given stimulus, Is the end goal turning all eyes to China?, where is the Fed's "sacrifice ratio?", and war on rare earths
For years, markets assumed the Fed would "react" to signs of weakening growth by aggressively cutting rates—the Fed Put. However, fear of tariff-driven inflation is preventing the Fed from acting on weakening growth.
Q1 2025 earnings season began last week. Growth is expected to be well below recent quarters. Both guidance and analyst revisions indicate a souring earnings outlook.