Market Watch: The 'Mother of All Credit Squeezes' is Coming - Hang onto Your Wallet
Article by Charlie Garcia in Market Watch
Americans have just hit their credit limit — literally. With credit-card interest rates above 20% and housing sales plunging to depths unseen since 2009, we’re staring at the mother of all consumer squeezes
Consider the housing market. Mortgage rates may be easing slightly, but home sales aren’t just down — they’ve cratered, falling to an anemic annual pace of just 4 million units.
That’s worse than expected, a flashing sign that consumer confidence is buckling. Homes are stacking up unsold, and buyers have vanished, tightening their wallets like Ebenezer Scrooge.
Americans aren’t suddenly paying down credit card balances because they’ve become financially savvy — they’re doing it out of sheer panic. After years of inflation-induced spending sprees, they’re now ......