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Andrew Lokenauth | TheFinanceNewsletter.com @thefinancenewsletter.com · 14/10/2026

Same monthly home payment: $500,000 home at a 2.5% interest rate $270,000 home at a 8% interest rate

Andrew Lokenauth | TheFinanceNewsletter.com @thefinancenewsletter.com · 14/10/2026

Return since 2020: Google: 575% Apple: 520% Meta: 400% Microsoft: 320% Amazon: 185% Build-A-Bear: 1,425% Yes. The teddy bear company.

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Andrew Lokenauth | TheFinanceNewsletter.com @thefinancenewsletter.com · 10/10/2026

A $500,000 mortgage is now $3,500 per month, before taxes and insurance. Home sales are near historic lows and prices are near record highs. We’re now at the point where people who already own homes can’t afford to move, and people who don’t own homes can’t afford to buy.

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Andrew Lokenauth | TheFinanceNewsletter.com @thefinancenewsletter.com · 10/10/2026

The typical American family can no longer afford the typical American home. According to the Atlanta Fed: • Income needed to afford a typical home: $127,000 • Median household income: $86,500 • Income gap: 46%

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Andrew Lokenauth | TheFinanceNewsletter.com @thefinancenewsletter.com · 10/10/2026

2016: Median home price: $240,200 Mortgage rate: 3.4% Monthly payment: $850 2026: Median home price: $430,100 Mortgage rate: 7.4% Monthly payment: $2,400 That’s a 180% increase in just 10 years.

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Andrew Lokenauth | TheFinanceNewsletter.com @thefinancenewsletter.com · 10/10/2026

The U.S. annual budget deficit just hit its highest level since COVID. The THIRD-LARGEST in American history. Almost $2 TRILLION in a year. The government spent 37% more than it collected. And somehow, this isn’t the biggest financial story in America right now.

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Andrew Lokenauth | TheFinanceNewsletter.com @thefinancenewsletter.com · 09/10/2026

The rise in inflation on everyday goods came entirely from Trump’s tariffs, New York Fed research found. New analysis shows the tariffs raised consumer prices by 2.9% by February. Without the tariffs, prices on the goods studied would’ve fallen.

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Andrew Lokenauth | TheFinanceNewsletter.com @thefinancenewsletter.com · 08/10/2026

Layoffs announced in 2026 so far: Volkswagen: 50,000 employees UPS: 30,000 employees Oracle: 21,000 employees Amazon: 17,500 employees Meta: 10,500 employees Heineken: 6,000 employees Microsoft: 5,500 employees PayPal: 4,500 employees Uber: 3,300 employees

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Andrew Lokenauth | TheFinanceNewsletter.com @thefinancenewsletter.com · 07/10/2026

POV: you just made your first mortgage payment on your new $500k home at 8% and found out your next-door neighbor paid $300k for the same home 5 years ago and has a 3% mortgage

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Andrew Lokenauth | TheFinanceNewsletter.com @thefinancenewsletter.com · 05/10/2026

Anthropic is now worth $965B. JPMorgan, the biggest bank in America, is worth $900B. One took 227 years to get here. The other took 5.

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Andrew Lokenauth | TheFinanceNewsletter.com @thefinancenewsletter.com · 05/10/2026

Costco is packed at 10am on a Monday. The parking lot is full. Everyone looks 25 to 35. This definitely a recession indicator if I’ve ever seen one.

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Andrew Lokenauth | TheFinanceNewsletter.com @thefinancenewsletter.com · 05/10/2026

JUST IN: OpenAI CEO Sam Altman says the world "should accept some bad things happening" for AI’s benefits. Who gets to decide how much harm society should accept in the name of “progress”?

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Andrew Lokenauth | TheFinanceNewsletter.com @thefinancenewsletter.com · 03/10/2026

The number of grown adults who think they're getting a $5,000 midterm check is mind-blowing

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Andrew Lokenauth | TheFinanceNewsletter.com @thefinancenewsletter.com · 03/10/2026

Where are the DOGE checks? Where are lower mortgage rates? What happened to gas under $2? Where are the $2,000 tariff checks? When are electric bills being cut in half? What happened to bringing grocery prices down? What happened to the “1,500%” prescription discounts?

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Andrew Lokenauth | TheFinanceNewsletter.com @thefinancenewsletter.com · 02/10/2026

10 years ago, the mortgage rate was 3.47% and the median home cost $232,200. Today the rate is 7.3% and the median home costs $429,100.

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Andrew Lokenauth | TheFinanceNewsletter.com @thefinancenewsletter.com · 01/10/2026

You can’t afford a home because homes stopped being homes and became investments for people who already own one.

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Andrew Lokenauth | TheFinanceNewsletter.com @thefinancenewsletter.com · 01/10/2026

It also counted Mark Zuckerberg’s $4.1 billion compensation as research spending to claim a $355 million tax break. Apparently when you’re worth $2 trillion, a data center is a science experiment and your CEO’s $4 billion payday is research.

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Andrew Lokenauth | TheFinanceNewsletter.com @thefinancenewsletter.com · 01/10/2026

JUST IN: Meta is using AI data centers to claim research tax credits, according to the NYT. Its total research credits reached almost $4,000,000,000 in 2025 alone.

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Andrew Lokenauth | TheFinanceNewsletter.com @thefinancenewsletter.com · 30/09/2026

Maturing is realizing the biggest flex isn’t an expensive car. It’s a car with $0 monthly payment.

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Andrew Lokenauth | TheFinanceNewsletter.com @thefinancenewsletter.com · 29/09/2026

Nobody wants to borrow $500,000 at an 8% interest rate After 10 years of payments you'll still owe $438,600 Nobody is buying a home today with an 8% interest rate. It's not happening.

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Andrew Lokenauth | TheFinanceNewsletter.com @thefinancenewsletter.com · 29/09/2026

2011: $4.99 2012: $4.99 2013: $4.99 2014: $4.99 2015: $4.99 2016: $4.99 2017: $4.99 2018: $4.99 2019: $4.99 2020: $4.99 2021: $4.99 2022: $4.99 2023: $4.99 2024: $4.99 2025: $4.99 2026: $4.99

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Andrew Lokenauth | TheFinanceNewsletter.com @thefinancenewsletter.com · 29/09/2026

The price of a Costco rotisserie chicken every year since it was introduced: 1994: $4.99 1995: $4.99 1996: $4.99 1997: $4.99 1998: $4.99 1999: $4.99 2000: $4.99 2001: $4.99 2002: $4.99 2003: $4.99 2004: $4.99 2005: $4.99 2006: $4.99 2007: $4.99 2008: $4.99 2009: $4.99 2010: $4.99

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Andrew Lokenauth | TheFinanceNewsletter.com @thefinancenewsletter.com · 28/09/2026

Trump is now responsible for 29% of our national debt. That's more than any President in American history. What happened to DOGE?

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Andrew Lokenauth | TheFinanceNewsletter.com @thefinancenewsletter.com · 26/09/2026

7 years ago: Mortgage rates were 3.5% Gas was $2.60 a gallon Inflation was under 2% Unemployment was its lowest since 1969 Now: Mortgage rates are almost 8% Gas is almost $5 a gallon Inflation is 3.4% Unemployment is now over 4% What happened?

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Andrew Lokenauth | TheFinanceNewsletter.com @thefinancenewsletter.com · 26/09/2026

My wife asked me to say something romantic. I told her our mortgage is 2.5%.

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Andrew Lokenauth | TheFinanceNewsletter.com @thefinancenewsletter.com · 23/09/2026

Me: “ChatGPT, what can I write off on my taxes?” ChatGPT: “Your car, groceries, vacations, rent, clothes, gym, Netflix, dog, wedding.” files taxes… 6 months later Me: “ChatGPT, I got audited. IRS says I owe $50,000 for tax fraud.” ChatGPT: “You’re right. Want me to explain how to survive jail?”

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Andrew Lokenauth | TheFinanceNewsletter.com @thefinancenewsletter.com · 23/09/2026

5 years ago mortgage rates were 3% and the average new home cost $450,000. Today, mortgage rates are 7% and the average new home costs $510,000. This is what destroyed housing affordability.

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Andrew Lokenauth | TheFinanceNewsletter.com @thefinancenewsletter.com · 22/09/2026

I got an MRI and they gave me 2 options: Pay $1,300 out of pocket or bill my health insurance I picked insurance They billed my insurance $8,000 Health insurance math is incredible lmao

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Andrew Lokenauth | TheFinanceNewsletter.com @thefinancenewsletter.com · 21/09/2026

gas prices so crazy I finally signed up for the reward points program at Exxon

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Andrew Lokenauth | TheFinanceNewsletter.com @thefinancenewsletter.com · 21/09/2026

Nobody wants a $500,000 mortgage at a 7.5% interest rate. It’s not happening. After 36 months of payments, you’ll still owe $485,071. You’ll have paid $125,859. $110,930 of it went to interest.

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Andrew Lokenauth | TheFinanceNewsletter.com @thefinancenewsletter.com · 19/09/2026

just heard someone say they don't care how high gas prices get because they only put in $25 every time

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Andrew Lokenauth | TheFinanceNewsletter.com @thefinancenewsletter.com · 18/09/2026

The median first time homebuyer is now 40 years old (a record high) and first time buyers are only 21% of all home buyers (a record low). A whole generation under 30 is figuring out that a home & a family will never be within reach for them. Society is not ready for what that does.

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Andrew Lokenauth | TheFinanceNewsletter.com @thefinancenewsletter.com · 15/09/2026

“Mortgages can’t keep going up every single day” Mortgage rates:

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Andrew Lokenauth | TheFinanceNewsletter.com @thefinancenewsletter.com · 15/09/2026

Boomers: I bought my first house at 25 for $50,000. Millennials: I’m 30 with 3 roommates & 2 jobs. Gen Z:

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Andrew Lokenauth | TheFinanceNewsletter.com @thefinancenewsletter.com · 15/09/2026

30-year mortgage rates just hit 7.17% A $500,000 mortgage over 30 years: $1,891/month at 2.17% $3,384/month at 7.17% That’s $537,500 more for the same home And the odds of a Fed rate hike this week are 92% Homeownership has become a luxury

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Andrew Lokenauth | TheFinanceNewsletter.com @thefinancenewsletter.com · 15/09/2026

Anthropic valuation: $965B Walmart valuation: $870B Anthropic revenue: $65B Walmart revenue: $713B Totally normal, right?

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Andrew Lokenauth | TheFinanceNewsletter.com @thefinancenewsletter.com · 13/09/2026

Trump rejects calls to slow AI development, saying he wants the U.S. to stay ahead of China. “We’re leading China in AI. We’re the most sophisticated country in the world.”

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Andrew Lokenauth | TheFinanceNewsletter.com @thefinancenewsletter.com · 13/09/2026

Elon Musk, Sam Altman, and Dario Amodei all agree AI development needs to slow down. What have they seen that we haven’t? What happened behind closed doors? What haven’t they told us?

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Andrew Lokenauth | TheFinanceNewsletter.com @thefinancenewsletter.com · 12/09/2026

You’re paying 4x more for RAM because memory that hasn’t been made has already been bought with money that doesn’t exist GPUs haven’t been built. Neither have data centers. Infrastructure to power them may never exist. All to satisfy demand that doesn’t exist & generate profits that are impossible

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Andrew Lokenauth | TheFinanceNewsletter.com @thefinancenewsletter.com · 04/09/2026

The average American is 39. The average member of Congress is 59. 24 members are 80 or older.

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Andrew Lokenauth | TheFinanceNewsletter.com @thefinancenewsletter.com · 04/09/2026

They don't leave Congress because the grift is too good. Chuck Grassley: 92 Eleanor Holmes Norton: 89 Hal Rogers: 88 Maxine Waters: 88 Steny Hoyer: 87 Nancy Pelosi: 86 Jim Clyburn: 86 Mitch McConnell: 84 John Carter: 84 Jim Risch: 83 Virginia Foxx: 83 Angus King: 82 No age limit. No term limit.

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Andrew Lokenauth | TheFinanceNewsletter.com @thefinancenewsletter.com · 03/09/2026

Unpopular opinion: Having a paid off car makes you never want to sign another car loan ever again.

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Andrew Lokenauth | TheFinanceNewsletter.com @thefinancenewsletter.com · 28/08/2026

US corporate profits just hit a record high. Worker payouts have dropped to their lowest levels since the 1950s. You do not hate corporate greed enough.

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Andrew Lokenauth | TheFinanceNewsletter.com @thefinancenewsletter.com · 27/08/2026

“best foods to stock up on” “how much food does one person need for a year” “how to grow my own food”

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Andrew Lokenauth | TheFinanceNewsletter.com @thefinancenewsletter.com · 27/08/2026

COVID showed what happens when supply shocks hit a system with no room to absorb them. Three years of higher prices. The next inflation shock is already forming.

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Andrew Lokenauth | TheFinanceNewsletter.com @thefinancenewsletter.com · 27/08/2026

Now the same risk is back. The Panama Canal is preparing to cut daily ship traffic again. The canal moves 5% of world trade. More than 70% of its cargo starts or ends in the US. Meanwhile, traffic through the Strait of Hormuz remains severely disrupted and far below normal.

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Andrew Lokenauth | TheFinanceNewsletter.com @thefinancenewsletter.com · 27/08/2026

El Niño is a warming of Pacific waters that shifts weather worldwide. It raises drought risk across parts of Asia & Australia, flood risk across parts of the Americas, and can disrupt crops, hydropower and shipping. All at once. The last El Niño pushed Panama into its third-driest year on record.

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Andrew Lokenauth | TheFinanceNewsletter.com @thefinancenewsletter.com · 27/08/2026

There’s also a 69% chance it becomes historic. Stronger than every El Niño measured since 1950. This is the next supply shock.

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