5-Chart Friday (9/17/21)

By Charlie Bilello

17 Sep 2021


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

1) Inflation Everywhere You Look

The transitory inflation we were promised seems to be sticking around for a while…

Consumer prices in the US rose 5.3% over the last year, the 3rd straight reading above 5%.

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Import (+9.0% YoY) and Export (+16.8% YoY) prices remain well above historical averages.

The CRB Commodity Index hit a 6-year high this week and is up 122% from its low in 2020.

The price of Uranium is skyrocketing (7-year high), leading to a 140% gain over the last year in the Uranium ETF ($URA).

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The Iron and Steel component of the US Producer Price Index is up 119% over the last year. This is the largest year-over-year increase we’ve ever seen. U.S. Steel announced that they will be building a new $3 billion mill, with the CEO saying “steel prices seem to be sustainable.”

2) SPAC Boom to Bust

Remember the SPAC boom, where new issuance averaged over $1 billion per day, celebrities were jumping aboard as promotors, and share prices only went up?

That was only six months ago but the world has changed.

New issuance has grinded to a halt…

Source

… and instead of trading at huge premiums, most SPACs are now trading below their trust values.

Source

3) Housing Boom 2.0

The median price of a new home in the US is now 5.8x higher than the median household income. That’s a new record.

Hold off on buying and rent instead? That’s becoming more costly as well, with U.S. rents already up 14% this year (through August).

Meanwhile, the Fed continues to buy $40 billion a month in mortgage bonds to stimulate the housing market and drive prices even higher. You can’t make this stuff up.

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4) Dashing Past Uber

DoorDash ($DASH) hit a new closing high this week and its market cap is now higher than Uber ($UBER).

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5) Don’t Go Chasing Memes

Remember when silver became a meme?

Well, it peaked that very day back in February, and has since declined 26% to a new 52-week low.

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

Have a great weekend everyone!

-Charlie

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