Senate Passes $1.2T Bill to Increase Military Spending, No Funding Cuts. Owning a Vehicle Will Soon Be a Luxury In the US.

The Federal Reserve kept rates unchanged at 5.25-5.50 but hinted at three rate cuts in the second half of the year.

However, on Friday, Fed’s Bostic said he personally anticipates just one rate cut this year:

“The economy continues to deliver surprises and it continues to be more resilient and more energized than I had forecast or projected. And so as a consequence, I’ve sort of re-calibrated when I think it’s appropriate to move.”

I discussed the Fed’s decision and Powell’s commentary in a recent video available on Rumble.

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During the Fed’s press briefing, Jerome Powell was asked whether there were any updates on the digital dollar (a CBDC). Powell provided an extremely vague response:

Mortgage rates decreased this week.

30-year fixed-rate mortgages averaged 6.74%; while 15-year fixed-rate mortgages averaged 6.16%.

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The Federal Reserve does a good job of contradicting its own statements. Earlier this month, Fed Chair Jerome Powell stated in a testimony to the US Congress that there will be bank failures. This week, Federal Reserve Vice Chair Michael Barr said that he does not see liquidity pressures in the U.S. banking system.

"The banking system overall is quite sound and resilient, and we're not seeing liquidity pressures in the system”

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U.S. Existing Home Sales increased 9.5% in February to 4.38 million, from 4.00 million in January, vs. 3.95 million expectation.

The median existing home sales price was $384.5K, a decrease from $379K in January. According to NAR Chief Economist Lawrence Yun:

“Due to inventory constraints, the Northeast was the regional underperformer in February home sales but the best performer in home prices. More supply is clearly needed to help stabilize home prices and get more Americans moving to their next residences.”

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On Friday, US House and Senate passed $1.2 trillion government funding bill.

The new bill should not surprise anyone: it increases defense appropriations by 3%, while keeping overall domestic spending as is. The 22% reduction to government spending, pushed by the Republicans, did not make it into the bill.

Among other “interesting” surprises, buried in the bill is $850,000 for "LGBTQ Senior Housing":

Bloomberg writes:

“Republicans were forced to accept earmarks for LGBTQ-related projects and $200 million in funds for a new FBI headquarters in Maryland.”

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Interest payments made by US households on non-mortgage debt are equivalent to the interest on mortgage debt, amounting to 575 billion dollars.

This is unprecedented and points to substantial deterioration in consumers’ ability to cover monthly expenses.

I discussed this news in detail in a recent video: YouTube | Rumble.

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The Biden administration is pushing for the strictest restrictions on vehicle emissions in US history that will soon make owning a vehicle a luxury.