Captain's Quarters

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US Residential Construction Spending Slumps For 6th Straight Month As US Banks Report $251 Billion of “Unrealized Losses” On Securities Investments in 2018

confoundedinterest17
March 13, 2019

Today is a double whammy for bad news for the US economy.

First, The Census Bureau monthly construction spending report reveals that highway and street spending rose 11.7% in January. The biggest decline was communication spending.

const spending chart

BUT, US residential construction spending slumped for the 6th straight month. It is beginning to resemble “The Matterhorn” plunge of the 2000s.

usconsrtuspen chart

The second whammy is the FDIC report revealing that US banks reported $251 billion of “unrealized losses” on securities investments in 2018, the most since 2008.

US-FDIC-Banks-unrealized-losses-2018-Q4

For a less grim chart from The Federal Reserve (and a different metric), here is US Commercial Bank Liabilities Net Unrealized Gains (Losses) Available for Sale.

unreLVVL chart

Double whammy!

https://confoundedinterest.net/2019/03/13/us-residential-construction-spending-slumps-for-6th-straight-month-as-us-banks-report-251-billion-of-unrealized-losses-on-securities-investments-in-2018/