Ouch! There’s more to the credit crunch than interest rates as auto loan availability sinks

Ouch! There’s more to the credit crunch than interest rates as auto loan availability sinks

Access to auto credit declined in January as credit tightened across all channels and across most lender types compared to December, according to the Dealertrack Credit Availability Index. Investors who pay so much attention to interest rates to predict the trend in consumer spending need to spend more time on the other parts of the current credit crunch, the ability of loans. Consumers who can’t borrow can’t spend no matter how many times the Federal Reserve cuts interest rates.

Economy looks good, economists say, but real estate credit market is scary bad

Economy looks good, economists say, but real estate credit market is scary bad

This probably isn’t a part of the credit market you watch–even if you watch the credit market. But 8.6% of commercial real estate loans bundled into collateralized loan obligations (CLOs) were classed as distressed in January, according to a report by analytics firm CRED iQ, Bloomberg reported Friday. That’s a 480% increase in distressed loans in CLOs since February 2023. The culprit, again, is real estate loans that have gone bad.

Economy looks good, economists say, but real estate credit market is scary bad

More evidence of a credit crunch–bank lending drops

Lending by U.S. banks contracted by the most on record in the last two weeks of March, according to the Federal Reserve’s latest H.8 report. Commercial bank lending dropped nearly $105 billion in the two weeks that ended March 29, the most in Federal Reserve data back to 1973. A more than $45 billion decrease in the latest week was primarily due to a drop in loans by small banks. But big banks weren’t immune. The Fed’s report showed that lending decreased $23.5 billion at the 25 largest domestically chartered banks in the latest two weeks, and plunged $73.6 billion at smaller commercial banks over the same period.

Please watch my new YouTube video: Looking for a wider credit crunch

Please watch my new YouTube video: Looking for a wider credit crunch

My one-hundredth-and-thirty-sixth YouTube video “Looking for a wider credit crunch” went up today. I think last week’s video worrying about a credit crunch in the consumer economy was a bit too optimistic. I’m now seeing signs in the market of a wider credit crunch. In this video, I look at the junk bond market and its reflection in Bausch (BHC) as a test case as well as the trend in profits for the S&P 500. And another default in China’s property development sector as well as the possibility that the default by Sri Lanka is just the first sign of emerging market distress

Please watch my new YouTube video: “My fear is a credit crunch”

Please watch my new YouTube video: “My fear is a credit crunch”

My one-hundredth-and-thirty-third YouTube video “My fear is a credit crunch” went up today. My fear is a credit crunch. I’m not as concerned with the Fed raising rates, or a recession–those are sort of run of the usual events. But a credit crunch would be a different thing–think Global Financial Crisis. I think signs are pointing to a credit crunch on consumers, which threatens to make any coming recession much worse. In this video, I lay it out. Take a look, and be careful out there.

Out of mind, the credit crunch keeps boiling

Out of mind, the credit crunch keeps boiling

Right now we’re getting disturbing signs from the debt markets for mortgage-backed securities. Again. The delinquency rate for mortgage securities backed by retail real estate was 14.3% in October, up from 4.6% in October 2019. Delinquencies for mortgage securities backed by lodging properties were 19.4%, up from 1.5% in October 2019.

Another sign of a credit problems? American Express adds $320 million to provisions for bad credit card debt in first quarter

The consumer credit crunch rolls on

Capital One Financial (COF), the third-largest U.S. credit card lender, is cutting borrowing limits on it credit cards. The company has said it's no big deal, telling Bloomberg that “Capital One periodically reviews accounts based on a variety of factors and may make...