The week in money & markets: US card balances, SEC X account hacked

Revolving consumer loans (aka credit card debt) hit a new record in the US this week: $1.3 trillion, according to the Federal Reserve’s latest release on consumer debt. At an annualized rate, the category, which mostly consists of credit card balances, spiked nearly 18% in November. Though that growth is a bit slower when smoothed out over a few months, it’s still higher than it was for most of the period between the Great Recession and the onset of the covid-19 pandemic. - Melvin Backman Read More

Inflation has hit consumers across the US hard. Prices on grocery and energy bills jumped, housing prices surged, and the Fed’s responding interest rate hikes have pushed mortgage and credit card interest rates to record highs. - Laura Bratton Read More

As global trade flows shift amid an intensifying great power competition between Washington and Beijing, the US is moving to import less from China in an effort to reduce dependencies on its chief geopolitical rival. - Mary Hui Read More

For decades, dentists and used car dealers have had their noses pressed up against the glass of private equity, wistfully watching all the fireworks of Blackstone’s leveraged buyouts and boardroom takeovers without the chance to throw their money into the pot. But no more. - Melvin Backman Read More

US inflation ticked up more than expected in December, rising 0.3 percentage points to 3.4%. This indicates the Fed won’t be cutting interest rates any time soon—unfortunately for all the investors, economists, and consumers craving a soft landing for the economy. - Laura Bratton Read More

On Jan. 9, the US Securities and Exchange Commission’s X (formerly Twitter) account made a highly-anticipated announcement: That it had approved spot bitcoin exchange-traded fund (ETF), which would open the floodgates for institutional investments. Bitcoin spiked. The only problem was that the news was fake. The SEC account was “compromised, and an unauthorized tweet was posted,” chair Gary Gensler clarified within minutes, adding that the listing and trading of spot bitcoin exchange-traded products has not been greenlit. Bitcoin plunged. - Ananya Bhattacharya Read More

Elyse Ausenbaugh, Global Investment Strategist at JP Morgan Private Bank, tells Quartz what 2024 has in store.