What I'm Reading Bottoms Up: Despite all the talk about burnout and reevaluating priorities, the soaring quits rate has little to do with white-collar jobs. It's more about lower-income people getting the chance to move up. Bloomberg Desperate Times: Federal lawmakers are pushing California Governor Gavin Newsome to declare a...
November 17th – Space Available
What I'm Reading Risk On: The board of CalPERS, the nation's largest pension fund, voted Monday to use 5% leverage and alternative assets to meet its investment-return target, even after lowering that target just a few months ago. The trustees also voted to increase riskier alternative investments, raising private-equity holdings...
November 16th – Dead End
What I'm Reading Dead End: Just a few days after St. Paul, Minnesota voters approved the nation's strictest rent control measures, developers and their lenders are halting projects due to the economic impact. Now politicians - many of whom supported the measure - are backtracking furiously as they realize that...
November 9th – Outside Set
What I'm Reading Outside Set: With travel restrictions set to be lifted on 33 countries, brokers in cities popular with wealthy foreign investors are reporting a substantial uptick in requests for showings. This is looking like a big shot in the arm for the luxury segment in coastal gateway cities....
November 4th – Sitting Ducks
What I'm Reading Sitting Ducks: Idle cargo containers piling up in ports and storage yards have created a target-rich environment for thieves, resulting in yet another supply chain headache. Cargo theft has increased 42% YoY in California during the 3rd quarter. CargoNet Out of Their Hands: The inflationary episode of...
November 1st – Disconnect
What I'm Reading Disconnect: COVID-19 has broken the longstanding connection between wage growth and employment levels. Typically, the rise in wages currently seen would have us at near full employment but that has not yet happened. Full Stack Economics Dispersed: Co-working companies are making big bets on the suburbs, including...
October 25th – Standoff
What I'm Reading Standoff: Stimulus programs over the past two administrations, coupled with enhanced unemployment and rising asset values have left American balance sheets in better shape than ever. They have also given workers the flexibility to hold out en masse for higher wages, contributing to today's labor shortage. (h/t...
September 24th – Trade Off
What I'm Reading Trade Off: In an effort to hedge against further rising costs, 3rd party logistics companies are expanding their domestic warehouse space to reduce the frequency of long distance shipping. This, in turn is driving demand for warehouse space higher. According to CBRE’s Supply Chain Advisory, transportation costs...
September 15th – Goldmine
Traveling for a conference this week and a little short on time so we will just be focusing on some interesting home equity charts today from Black Knight’s latest Mortgage Monitor Report. Chart of the Day US homeowners are sitting on a goldmine when it comes to tappable home equity...
September 10th – Putting This to Bed
What I'm Reading Putting This to Bed: In total, 1 million forbearance plans will expire between now and the end of 2021. There is a vocal contingent that has been predicting a wave of foreclosures for months. However, I am virtually certain that this won't happen as almost all of...