The Journal reports that debt-collection lawsuits — suits over unpaid credit-card bills — have surged past pre-pandemic levels in multiple states, as Americans carry $1.25 trillion in credit-card debt and lenders lose patience.
Put this next to Thursday’s other consumer datapoint and the picture sharpens. Retail growth slowed to 0.2%, and the tempting read was a consumer choosing prudence. The lawsuit data suggests something harder: for a lot of households, the cutback isn’t a choice.
The book already leans the right way here — staples over discretionary, and a wary eye on consumer credit. The planning version matters more: at today’s card rates, no portfolio return beats paying off the balance. That’s the highest-yield, zero-risk trade available to any household, and it’s free to make.
Confirms the consumer sort from the harder side: some of the 0.2% is prudence, and some is a summons. Positioning already leans right — staples reinforced, discretionary benched, consumer-credit exposure watched. The planning point outranks the trading point: at current card rates, paying off the balance is the highest-yield riskless trade any household can make. We say it in every review.