Just days after Germany reported the highest inflation in generation (with February headline CPI soaring at a 7.6% annual pace and blowing away all expectations), giving locals a distinctly unpleasant deja vu feeling even before the  Russian invasion of Ukraine broke what few supply chains remained and sent prices even higher into the stratosphere…

[Continue Reading]

More Data: 

The global share of US-dollar-denominated foreign exchange reserves fell by 40 basis points from Q3 to 58.8% in Q4, setting a new 26-year low

When the dollar’s share of global reserve currencies drops, the share of other currencies increases, and the dollar becomes less dominant, as other central banks are gradually diversifying away from US dollar holdings (year-end data):

De-dollarization over the years …

Waiting for Russia to make countries pay for nickel in rubles … Nickel is having major supply issues now.

Rents spiked by 11% or more in all of the largest 14 metros, at the top: Miami (+32%, red line), Phoenix (+25%, blue line), and Atlanta (+20%, brown line). The smallest spike of the largest 14 metros was in Detroit (+11%).

For just the third time in recorded history, farmers will be planting more soybeans than corn as they grapple with the rising cost of fertilizer — a cost that will almost certainly be passed on to consumers.

Sri Lanka’s fiat currency has collapsed, now food shortages are ramping up. Power outages.

”A single Tesla battery weighing 1,000 pounds requires extracting and processing some 500,000 pounds of materials. At this rate, over the next thirty years we will need to mine more mineral ores than humans have extracted over the last 70,000 years.

Some have asked how much fuel this loader burns per hour. The Cat 994 has a 3516 engine, 16 cylinder, The tankage is approx. 1000 gals and it burns about 150 gallons per hour or 1800 gals. per 12 hour shift.”

Russia’s state-controlled energy giant Gazprom said that it’s quitting its business in Germany. No more natural gas for the German economy. Better turn those nuclear power plants back on.
https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/gazprom-to-move-out-of-germany-x7r65vt2s

The Roundtable Insight – Zoltan Pozsar & Yra Harris on the Economy, Fin Markets & Bretton Woods III