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We’ve never been richer

But we’re still quite cranky about the economy.

6/7/24 3:16PM

American households have never been wealthier.

The latest quarterly numbers from the Federal Reserve show that the net worth of the U.S. household sector hit a new high of $160.8 trillion in the first quarter, after rising $5.1 trillion during the first three months of the year. Net worth was up 8.8% compared to the first quarter of 2023, handily outpacing 3.5% rise in inflation over that period. Happy days are here again, right?

Not so much. Americans remain quite cranky about the economy, as they have generally been since Covid hit, followed by the post-pandemic inflation.

This might sound paradoxical, but it makes sense because these aggregate statistics are a bit misleading. Basically they obscure the fact that a huge share of this wealth belongs to a relatively small group of the richest households.

Last year, for example, the vast majority (75%) of the increase in US household wealth — created by the strong stock market and a return to rising home prices — went to the richest 10% of U.S. households. (The Fed’s distributional numbers on household wealth aren’t yet out for the first quarter.)

Of course, this is kind of always how it works. Since the richest households own an overwhelming share of stock holdings, they benefit the most when the market moves up. They also tend to own homes, unlike less affluent Americans, meaning they benefit from rising real estate values. Of course, they also stand to lose the most if those prices fall.

So, don’t expect parades in the streets based on the fact that we’re hitting never before seen levels of wealth.

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Nate Becker & Matt Phillips3h

Oil drops, yields fall, and stocks rise on reports the US has sent Iran a plan to end war

Oil, stock, and bond markets flipped as investors continued to digest the latest reports on a potential wind-down of the war in Iran, with The New York Times reporting that the US has sent Iran a 15-point plan to end the conflict.

Crude oil futures dropped sharply, from around $92 a barrel to about $88.50. Yields on two-year and 10-year Treasurys dropped, and the SPDR S&P 500 ETF shot up after-hours.

From the Times:

“The United States has sent Iran a 15-point plan to end the war in the Middle East, according to two officials briefed on the diplomacy, reflecting the Trump administration’s eagerness to find an offramp from the conflict as it grapples with its economic fallout.

It was unclear how widely the plan, delivered by way of Pakistan, had been shared among Iranian officials and whether Iran was likely to accept it as a basis for negotiations. Nor was it clear whether Israel, which has been bombing Iran together with the United States, was on board with the proposal.

But the delivery of the plan showed that the administration was ramping up efforts to conclude a war, now in its fourth week, that has drawn in several other countries.”

Some individual shares had outsized reactions to the news in the postmarket session. Gold miners Freeport-McMoRan and Newmont, which have been battered since the war started, rose. Ammonia maker CF Industries — which had risen on expectations of rising prices for fertilizer products linked to the closure of the Strait of Hormuz — fell.

US natural gas producers such as APA Corporation, EOG Resources, Devon Energy, and Diamondback Energy also declined after-hours.

The Times report also said that “for now, there is no indication that the war will let up imminently.”

United States Said to Have Sent Iran a Plan to End the Middle East War

Crude oil futures dropped sharply, from around $92 a barrel to about $88.50. Yields on two-year and 10-year Treasurys dropped, and the SPDR S&P 500 ETF shot up after-hours.

From the Times:

“The United States has sent Iran a 15-point plan to end the war in the Middle East, according to two officials briefed on the diplomacy, reflecting the Trump administration’s eagerness to find an offramp from the conflict as it grapples with its economic fallout.

It was unclear how widely the plan, delivered by way of Pakistan, had been shared among Iranian officials and whether Iran was likely to accept it as a basis for negotiations. Nor was it clear whether Israel, which has been bombing Iran together with the United States, was on board with the proposal.

But the delivery of the plan showed that the administration was ramping up efforts to conclude a war, now in its fourth week, that has drawn in several other countries.”

US natural gas producers such as APA Corporation, EOG Resources, Devon Energy, and Diamondback Energy also declined after-hours.

The Times report also said that “for now, there is no indication that the war will let up imminently.”

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Stocks close lower after fluctuating as traders digest war updates

Stocks pared steeper losses on hopes of US-Iran talks, but were unable to maintain gains on reports that the US is deploying 3,000 troops to the Middle East.

Matt Phillips5h

Amid Mideast conflict, investors cling to faith in the AI build-out

Data center build-out stocks showed impressive resilience to the slump that hit big indexes Tuesday.

In fact, construction companies, server system makers, fiber-optic technology stocks, and memory makers — all cornerstones of the AI trade — were having a pretty good day, suggesting the market sees the wave of AI construction continuing, war or no war.

Optical stocks seen as crucial to efficiently transmitting the flood of information AI data centers both produce and depend on were surging. Corning, Lumentum, Coherent, and Ciena Corp. ramped.

Server rack makers HP Enterprise and Dell jumped. Construction and engineering companies like Sterling Infrastructure, MasTec, and Comfort Systems USA, which have benefited from the growth in building data centers, posted solid gains.

Hard disk drive makers Seagate Technology Holdings and Western Digital were also positive, though other memory plays such as Sandisk and Micron were in the red.

It was an impressive display of positivity on a day when the S&P 500 (SPDR S&P 500 ETF) and the Nasdaq 100 (Invesco QQQ Trust) were both fluttering between positive and negative territory for completely understandable reasons.

After all, the 82nd Airborne is heading to the Middle East, suggesting the US is considering sending troops into Iran. US crude oil is back above $90 a barrel and climbing, as the Strait of Hormuz remains essentially shut.

Additionally, the problems in the private credit market continue, with major fund managers preventing investors from withdrawing all the money they would like to. We even had a weak auction for US two-year Treasury notes — investors seemed to think the offered yield might not be sufficient to offset inflation risks stirred up by the war — that sent short-term interest rates up sharply.

But apparently it will take more than all that for investors to worry that the AI build-out may be halted, delayed, or even just trimmed back.

Nate Becker9h

Stocks get a bump on CNN report that Iran is willing to listen to proposals to end war

Stocks got a small bump midday Tuesday as CNN reported on what appeared to be a softening in Iran’s position toward ending the war in the Middle East.

The S&P 500 briefly turned green following the report, before paring some of those gains in the afternoon.

From the CNN report:

“An Iranian source told CNN on Tuesday that there had been ‘outreach’ between the United States and Tehran and that Iran is willing to listen to ‘sustainable’ proposals to end the war.

‘There has been outreach between the United States and Iran, initiated by Washington, in recent days, but nothing that has reached the level of full-on negotiations,’ the source said. ‘Messages have been received through various intermediaries to scope out whether an agreement to end the war can be reached.’”

Markets had zoomed Monday as President Trump said there had been discussions between the two nations, but they gave back some of their gains after Iran starkly denied the claim. Markets seemed to read this new reporting as a softening of Iran’s position.

Iranian source says there has been US "outreach" and Tehran "willing to listen"

“An Iranian source told CNN on Tuesday that there had been ‘outreach’ between the United States and Tehran and that Iran is willing to listen to ‘sustainable’ proposals to end the war.

‘There has been outreach between the United States and Iran, initiated by Washington, in recent days, but nothing that has reached the level of full-on negotiations,’ the source said. ‘Messages have been received through various intermediaries to scope out whether an agreement to end the war can be reached.’”

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