Free Republic

Bidenomics has taken the US economy to the underworld. Where households have to run up credit cards to ridiculous levels to cope with inflation under Bidenomics. Under Bidenomics, food prices are up 20.4%, home prices are up 33.5% and regular gasoline prices are up 28.2%. Whip out those credit cards!!!!! According to the latest monthly consumer credit report from the Fed, in November, consumer credit exploded higher by $24.75BN, blowing away expectations of a “modest” $9BN increase after the surprisingly subdued $5.8BN (upward revised from $.5.1BN) in October and the $4.3BN average of the past 6 months. This was the...

A little over a week ago, when looking at the latest consumer credit data from the Federal Reserve, we were shocked to learn that in March, credit card debt soared by a record $52.4 billion, the biggest monthly increase on record and more than double the expected change. Summarizing our views on this historic surge in credit-fueled purchases, we said that “while this unprecedented rush to buy everything on credit at a time when there were no notable Hallmark holidays should not come as much of a surprise, after all we have repeatedly shown that for the middle class any...

Another month, another confirmation that when it comes to the US consumer, it is all about student debt (and to a lesser extent, car loans). Moments ago the Fed reported that consumer credit number for March: at $17.5 billion, it not only blew out the expectation of a $15.5 billion increase (although when one adds last month's $3.5 billion downward revision to $13.0 billion the two month total actually missed), but was the highest monthly increase since February 2013. That's the good news.  The bad news was once again in the composition: of this $17.5 billion $16.4 billion was...

The Federal Reserve announced today that consumer credit rose $14.2 billion in October. The Federal government (aka, student loans) accounted for $6.9 billion of the increase. Quite an increase since January 2009! Overall, here is the revolving credit versus the non-revolving credit growth. Non revolving credit (auto loans and student loans) has boomed when revolving credit is relatively flat. Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays … with your auto and student loans! Remember, you start paying soon graduates!!

Consumer credit fell in July for the first time in nearly a year as Americans reduced credit card debt, a worrisome sign for an economy that has struggled to create jobs. Consumer credit shrank by $3.28 billion in July, the Federal Reserve said on Monday. That was well below the $9.1 billion advance Wall Street economists had forecast in a Reuters poll. ... "(The data) looks consistent with the lackluster gains in consumer spending reported elsewhere," JPMorgan economist David Silver said in a note to clients. ... Consumer credit flows -- a relatively new data series that the Fed says...

Highlights: Consumer credit grew to $15.5 billion, to an annual rate of $2.45 trillion in June. Biggest jump in consumer credit since August 2007. Revolving credit (e.g. credit cards) grew 7.9%, or $5.21 billion. Nonrevolving credit (e.g. auto & student loans) grew 7.6%, or $10.32 billion.

Consumer Credit Plunges $17.5 Billion On Consensus Of -$5 Billion, Largest Drop On Record Submitted by Tyler Durden on 01/08/2010 15:15 -0500 US consumers have said "enough" - in November consumer borrowing plunged by seasonally adjusted $17.5 billion, the largest drop in history, on a -$5 billion consensus... and the market doesn't move one bit. Quants 1: Efficient markets 0. In November total credit dropped at a whopping 8.5% annualized rate, and while auto-related nonrevolving loans dropped a mere -2.9%, revolving credit plunged a stunning 18.5% annualized. This is a full blown consumer borrowing revolt. Here is the month over...

A mistake on your credit report can cost you literally thousands of dollars, especially in this economy. So what can you expect from a big credit bureau if you ask them to investigate and correct the error? The answer, for many consumers: About 50 cents worth of effort, conducted by offshore workers at third-party firms. That’s just one of the findings from SmartMoney’s investigation into why credit-report errors continue to pop up so frequently—and why consumers often have so much trouble getting them fixed. To follow what one consumer advocate calls an “electronic hot potato,” SmartMoney pieced together a depiction...

On the front page of Sunday’s Times, Gretchen Morgenson described Diane McLeod’s spiral into indebtedness, and now a debate has erupted over who is to blame. Some people emphasize the predatory lenders who seduced her with too-good-to-be-true credit lines and incomprehensible mortgage offers. Here was a single mother made vulnerable by health problems and divorce. Working two jobs and stressed, she found herself barraged by credit card companies offering easy access to money. Mortgage lenders offered her credit on the basis of the supposedly rising value of her house. These lenders had little interest in whether she could pay off...

WASHINGTON (MarketWatch) -- U.S. consumer credit rose in April at an annual rate of 0.7%, or $1.3 billion, the Federal Reserve said Tuesday. The increase was much less than expected. Economists surveyed by MarketWatch were expecting consumer credit to rise by $7.4 billion. Credit card debt decreased 0.6% in April, the second straight month of decline. Nonrevolving credit like auto loans rose 1.5%. The increase in consumer credit in March, meanwhile, was revised to 3.9% from 3.1%.

UPDATE - US consumer credit up $4.1 bln in November-Fed Thursday January 8, 3:34 pm ET (Adds details, quotes) WASHINGTON, Jan 8 (Reuters) - U.S. consumers took on debt in November, but at less than half the pace seen in October, a Federal Reserve report released on Thursday showed. The Fed said consumer debt outstanding rose by $4.1 billion in November, after a sharply revised rise of $8.3 billion in October. The November data was close to Wall Street expectations for a $5.0 billion advance. October's gain had initially been reported as a rise of only about $940.7 million. In...

UPDATE - US consumer credit rose $940.7 mln in Oct -Fed Friday December 5, 3:23 pm ET (Adds detail, background) WASHINGTON, Dec 5 (Reuters) - U.S. consumers took on new debt at a slower pace than expected in October, a Federal Reserve report showed on Friday. The Fed said consumer credit outstanding edged up $940.7 million to $1.977 trillion in October from an upwardly revised total of $1.976 trillion in September. In September, outstanding credit increased an upwardly revised $17.0 billion, the Fed said. Analysts polled by Reuters were expecting a $5 billion October increase. Revolving debt, which tracks credit...

US consumer credit shot up $15.1 bln in Sept - Fed Friday November 7, 3:01 pm ET WASHINGTON, Nov 7 (Reuters) - U.S. consumers piled on debt in September, taking on loans for cars and other items at a rapid pace, the Federal Reserve said on Friday. The Fed said consumer credit outstanding rose a larger-than-expected $15.1 billion to $1.972 trillion in September, its biggest gain since January. It marked an acceleration from August's revised $8.8 billion gain and was well ahead of Wall Street expectations of a $5.9 billion increase.

U.S. consumer debt expanded in July - Fed Monday September 8, 3:01 pm ET WASHINGTON, Sept 8 (Reuters) - U.S. consumers took on more debt in July, attracted to still-low loan rates for cars and other closed-end credit lines, the Federal Reserve said in a report on Monday. Consumer debt outstanding gained a seasonally adjusted $6.0 billion in July to total $1.774 trillion, the Fed said. The rise was slightly larger than Wall Street economists had been looking for, but most of it came from "non-revolving" loans for cars, mobile homes, education costs, boats or vacations

SAN FRANCISCO (CBS.MW) - Almost half of Americans who've received tax-rebate checks have used the money to pay off their debt -- not spent it in the mall, according to a recent CBS News/MarketWatch poll. Thirty percent of those surveyed said they've received their rebate checks and of those, 46 percent said the money went to pay bills. Another 29 percent said they've saved or invested the rebates, while just 18 percent said they spent it. The results are at odds with the Bush Administration's hope, and possibly that of retailers, for the tax rebate: that Americans would spend the...