Weekly Briefs: IRS To Focus On Audits, U.S. Household's Net Worth Increases

Numbers:

• The Fed reports that U.S. households' net worth increased 2.1% to $148.8 trillion during Q1 2023 due to the rising value of equity (stocks) holdings that offsets a decline in real estate.

• Household debt increased 2.2% an an annual rate in the first three months of 2023, an increase of 3.2% compared to December 31, 2022 level.

• Mortgage rates decreased this week after several consecutive weeks. 30-year fixed-rate mortgages averaged 6.71% as of June 8, down from last week when they averaged 6.79%.

• Initial jobless claims rose by 28K to 261K vs. 233K a week prior; a bigger increase than 235K consensus.

News:

• Treasury Secretary Yellen says the IRS will focus on improving tax code enforcement (conduct more tax audits) and work to improve customer experience despite the $21 billion pullback in funding as the result of the debt-ceiling deal.

• Yellen admitted that banks are preparing for issues with commercial real estate:

  "I do think there will be issues with respect to commercial real estate. Demand for office space since we've seen such a big change in attitudes toward remote work has changed and especially in an environment of higher interest rates."

  I discussed the details and the impact of banks ditching billions in commercial property debt in one of my latest videos:

• The S&P 500 (SP500) technically entered a bull market: on Friday it added 0.39% for the week to close at 4,298.86 pointsThe benchmark index has now risen more than 20% from a closing low of 3,577.03 points hit on October 12 last year.

• As the result of regulatory scrutiny, Binance is transitioning to a cryptocurrency-only platform. The company is halting USD deposits. USD withdrawal channels will be paused as early as June 13.