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🚨US food prices are RE-ACCELERATING:
The CPI for food at home jumped +0.7% MoM in April, the largest monthly increase since August 2022, pushing the YoY rate to +2.9%, the highest since August 2023.
Since January 2020, grocery prices have risen +32% in total.
Ground beef spiked +18.9% YoY to a record $6.90 per pound, while uncooked steak surged +17.1% YoY to a record $13.02 per pound, with both up ~70% to 78% since January 2020.
Coffee prices soared +29% YoY to $9.72 per pound, up +133% since January 2020.
American grocery bills have never been this high.
BREAKING: Donald Trump executed 3,642 securities transactions during the first quarter, averaging nearly 58 trades for every U.S. trading day.
This translates to roughly nine trades every hour or about one trade every seven minutes during market hours, per YF
The 30-Year US Treasury Yield ended the day at 5.14%, its highest close since July 2007.
The Federal Reserve and Federal Government continue to spin the lie of low inflation while the bond market reveals the truth.
Americans are defaulting on their student loan debt at a record pace:
Delinquent federal student loan debt jumped +$12.2 billion in Q1 2026, to $171.4 billion, an all-time high.
This has officially surpassed the $166.8 billion peak recorded in Q4 2019.
At the same time, the proportion of seriously delinquent loans rose +0.7 percentage points, to 10.3%, the highest since Q1 2020.
This comes as 2.6 million borrowers defaulted in Q1 2026, followed by ~1.0 million in Q4 2025.
The average borrower entering default is now nearly 40 years old, up from 36.4 before the 2020 pandemic.
The US student loan crisis is intensifying.
SUMMARY OF FED DECISION (4/29/2026):
1. Fed leaves rates unchanged for the 3rd straight meeting
2. 4 Fed members dissented on the Fed's interest rate pause for the first time since 1992
3. 3 Fed members did not support the inclusion of an "easing bias" in the statement
4. Fed says Middle East developments are contributing to a "high level of uncertainty"
5. Fed specifically notes concern over increase in energy prices
6. Fed replaces "somewhat elevated" with "is elevated" in reference to inflation
The Fed appears to be bracing for more inflation.
U.S. Farm Bankruptcies Surge +46% as Fertilizer Costs Squeeze Farmers:
The American Farm Bureau Federation reported 315 Chapter 12 bankruptcy filings in 2025, up from 216 in 2024 and the third consecutive annual increase.
The Midwest got hit hardest with 121 filings, a +70% jump.
The Southeast followed with 105, up +69%.
Together, those two regions accounted for more than two-thirds of every farm bankruptcy in the country.
Fertilizer prices are pouring gasoline on the fire.
Urea, the most widely used nitrogen fertilizer on the planet, has ripped +87% year-to-date and trades near $720 a tonne.
For corn growers who depend on nitrogen, this is a dire situation.
Many farmers are reporting they will cut the amount of fertilizer they use, shift from corn toward less nitrogen-dependent soybeans, or just take the yield loss.
Farms are under pressure.
US electricity bills are surging:
Average US residential electricity prices rose +5% YoY, to a record 17.3 cents per kilowatt-hour in 2025.
Since January 2020, electricity prices have risen +30% or more in at least 11 US states, with the steepest increases concentrated in the Northeast and Midwest.
In parts of eastern Pennsylvania, electricity prices have surged +200% over this period, adding ~$23 per month to the average household bill this year alone.
Data centers are expected to add at least $23 billion to customer bills on PJM Interconnection, the nation's largest power grid, over the 3 years ending May 2028.
This comes as US summer power demand is projected to rise +224 gigawatts over the next decade, enough to power an additional 180 million homes, driven primarily by data center expansion, electric vehicles, and heat pumps.
Rising electricity bills are a major economic issue.
BREAKING: The US exported over 5 million barrels of oil per day last week, a record high, amid the Iran War.
In aggregate, the US exported a record 12.7 million barrels of crude oil and refined products per day last week.
As the Iran War leads to one of the largest energy disruptions in history, the US is capitalizing.
Total exports will likely exceed 13 million barrels per day soon.