5-Chart Friday (4/23/21)

By Charlie Bilello

23 Apr 2021


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5 charts from the past week that tell an interesting story in markets and investing…

1) Housing Boom 2.0

The US Housing Boom continues with New Home Sales surging to their highest levels since 2006…

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The median price of existing homes in the US is up over 17% in the last year, the highest rate of increase ever.

Over the last 10 years, median home prices in the US have more than doubled, from $159,800 in March 2011 to $329,100 today…

2) No Signs of Inflation?

While the US Federal Reserve continues to maintain that there are no signs of inflation, evidence to the contrary continue to build…

This week prices of Corn, Wheat, and Soybeans surged to their highest levels in more than 7 years…

At the same time, used car prices are going through the roof, up over 50% in the last year…

Meanwhile, over at the Fed, balance sheet assets continue to surge, hitting a record high of $7.8 trillion this week and 36% of GDP. Their stated goal: higher inflation, which they can’t seem to find signs of anywhere.

3) Dogecoin Dreams

The speculative fever in crypto is reaching new heights, driven in large part by the FOMO-inducing stories of newly minted millionaires.

The money quote from the article: “My plan is, once I hit $10 million, then I’ll take out 10%,” he says. In his opinion, “this stuff is going to continue to grow.”

As Mike Tyson once said, “everyone has a plan until they get punched in the mouth.” The correction in Dogecoin over the last week: -65%.

4) V-Shaped Recovery in Earnings

Driven by a surge in consumer spending, US corporate earnings are on pace to hit a new high in Q1, surpassing the prior high reached in the 3rd quarter of 2018. This is an incredible feat given where things stood just one year ago.

Note: Combination of Actual and Estimated Earnings for Q1 2021

5) The Road to Herd Immunity

4 out of every 10 Americans (132 million people) have now been vaccinated with at least 1 dose of a covid-19 vaccine.

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We’re getting closer to herd immunity in the US every single day. What will that look like by the end of June? What Israel looks like today, with covid-19 cases/deaths down over 90% and life getting back to normal…


And that’s it for this week. Thanks for reading.

Have a great weekend everyone!

-Charlie

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