Good Friday A.M.,

Stocks taking a beating this a.m. with the Dow down 600. Treasuries and Mortgage bonds are flat. The data today was bad but less bad than expected. Are equities seeing the writing on the wall? When will consumer spending come back? That is the main driver of our economy… it represents 70% of GDP. Not much else has changed. I do expect rates to improve over the next few weeks as markets settle down. Short and sweet today with a few graphs from the WSJ on consumer spending and savings rates (people are smart to save).

Credit card spending is now down 25% from the same time last year:

The US savings rate increased by the highest percentage in 39 years:

Please remain safe and stay healthy. Enjoy the weekend and some new freedoms.

Make today great!