The Biden administration is at once demanding that U.S. oil producers pump more in order to lower prices at the pump, while at the same time the administration is blasting U.S. refiners and producers for “gouging” and looking at punishing them with a “windfall tax”.
The U.S. gross national debt has now reached $30.4 trillion, following a massive $7.0 trillion spike since the coronavirus pandemic took hold in March 2020. Every one of these debt securities had to be purchased and held by an entity such as a bank, a pension fund, a foreign government, or even an individual investor. So, who exactly is holding $30.4 trillion of Treasury securities?
Usually it’s a newsworthy event when the price of a well-known tech company falls by more than 10% in a week’s time. However, in the last few weeks almost every single day has seen multiple major technology bellwethers taking double-digit losses. So, how bad can this get?
On Thursday the NASDAQ Composite Index fell 5%, its biggest one-day decline since 2020. However, looking beneath the surface reveals problems in the tech-heavy index that have existed for quite some time. Out of the 192 large stocks in Technology and Communication Services, over 160 are down this year.
April was a difficult month for the markets everywhere. In the U.S., the Dow Jones Industrial Average finished the month down -4.9%, while the Nasdaq plunged -13.3%--its biggest monthly decline since October 2008.
It’s been a challenging 2022 so far in the markets. In our latest situation report we outline what we’re watching and cases to be made for this bull market to continue, and cases to be made that we could be shifting to a bear market.