American consumers are slowing their spending as the Federal Reserve’s interest rate increases reverberate throughout the economy, according to the CEOs of two of the largest American banks. After two years of pandemic-fueled, double-digit growth in Bank of America card volume, “the rate of growth is slowing,” CEO Brian Moynihan said at a financial conference. While retail payments surged 11% so far this year to nearly $4 trillion, that increase obscures a slowdown that began in recent weeks: November spending rose just 5%, he said.

In today's episode of The Higher Standard, Chris and Saied have done something a little different and invited their brothers, Ariya and Haroon, to join them in the discussion as they attempt to dissect this and many other pieces of economic news.

They discuss what's likely to happen in the crypto space, and why the lack of regulation will remain a turn off for many investors.

Chris and Saied look at the sudden reversal in home prices that began this spring, which has now affected every one of America’s major metros with declines from their recent all-time peaks.

They also discuss a recent report stating that Morgan Stanley has cut about 2% of its workforce, affecting about 1,600 positions and following workforce reductions at Goldman Sachs and Citigroup.

Join Chris and Saied (as well as Ariya and Haroon) for this fascinating conversation.

Enjoy!

What You’ll Learn in this Show:

• Why JPMorgan CEO Jamie Dimon has compared crypto tokens to 'pet rocks.'
• Why every major financial institution has crypto within its organization.
• What home appraisals are and how they work.
• Why the only true hedge against inflation is to keep doing what you're doing when inflation isn't there to keep buying.
• And so much more...

Resources:

"Crypto is a complete sideshow, tokens are like 'pet rocks,' says JPMorgan CEO Jamie Dimon" (via YouTube)

"Goldman CEO says small bonuses, job cuts shouldn't be a surprise." (Bloomberg via Instagram)

"Home prices are down in every one of the top 58 metros according to the latest AEI data. But cities in this region have taken the biggest hit so far" (article from Fortune)

"Wisconsin Man Indicted for $35 Million Bank Fraud Scheme" (press release from the Department of Justice)

"‘There is a slowdown happening’ – Wells Fargo, BofA CEOs point to cooling consumer amid Fed hikes" (article from CNBC)

"A key indicator of a coming economic downturn is pricing in nearly 100% chance of a 'Powell recession' in 2023" (article from Yahoo! Finance)

"Morgan Stanley cuts about 2% of its workforce - source" (article from Reuters)