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Household debt exploded to $18.6 trillion during the third quarter of 2025.
Of that, $13.07 trillion was in mortgage debt, according to the Federal Reserve Bank of New York’s report on household debt and credit. Credit card and auto balances sat at $1.23 trillion and $1.66 trillion, respectively. Student loan balances jumped by $15 billion to $1.65 trillion.
According to MarketWatch, “Home loans are where borrowers could see the most significant savings on interest if rates drop in the new year. For the average new loan amount of around $370,000 with 6.3% interest, a 25-basis-point cut could save homeowners $929 in interest in a year, according to TransUnion calculations. A 1-percentage-point cut (100 basis points) would mean $3,715 in savings.”
With the holidays upon us, markets aren’t moving much.
Instead, many are taking time off to enjoy the holidays and their families. And we hope you’re doing – or are about to do the same – especially with markets closing at 1 pm EST today.
To you and yours, have a very happy, healthy holiday season.
The S&P 500 is flat this morning after posting a record high of 6,920. The SPDR S&P 500 ETF (SPY) is up fractionally. The Dow is down about 10 points, as the Nasdaq gains about six points.
The economy expanded more than expected
The economy grew 4.3% in the third quarter, according to the initial reading. Consumer spending grew 3.5% after growing 2.5% in the second quarter. Holiday retail spending jumped 4.2% thanks to e-commerce and electronics, according to a Visa report.
In addition, Americans racked up an average of $1,223 of debt, which could be a positive for buy now, pay later stocks, such as Affirm Holdings (NASDAQ: AFRM).
In fact, from a market valuation of about $156.58 billion in 2023, the BNPL market is expected to rally to more than $1 trillion by 2028.
Americans are taking on substantial amounts of debt
For one, “All major loan categories tracked in the report saw increases as well. Credit card balances topped $1.2 trillion, rising 7.3% from the fourth quarter of last year and logging the smallest yearly increase since 2021,” reported CNN. “Higher levels of household debt are to be expected as they can reflect factors such as population growth, strong economic conditions, holiday-related spending, and the rise of e-commerce.”
As a result, more Americans are turning to buy now, pay later borrowing.
According to the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, “Among consumers with a credit record, 21.2 percent financed at least one purchase with a BNPL loan, up from 17.6 percent in 2021. About 20 percent of borrowers in 2022 were heavy users originating more than one BNPL loan on average each month, an increase from 18 percent in 2021. The average number of originations per borrower increased from 8.5 to 9.5.”
Obesity stocks are bursting at the seams
The obesity issue is bursting at the seams.
According to the World Health Organization, obesity has more than doubled since 1990. Adolescent obesity has quadrupled. About 390 million children and adolescents aged five to 19 years were overweight in 2022, including 160 million who were living with obesity.
Fortunately, we’re seeing big advancements in medications being used to combat the issue.
Look at Novo Nordisk (NYSE: NVO), which is up $1.20 in premarket.
Novo Nordisk’s Wegovy just won approval of its GLP-1 pill and expects to launch the pill in early January. The company also expects the pill to help people lose as much weight as with the injections.
“In the 64-week OASIS 4 study of 307 adults without diabetes, participants taking the pill alongside lifestyle changes lost an average of 16.6% of body weight, compared with 2.7% for placebo. Over a third (34.4%) achieved at least 20% weight loss, versus 2.9% for placebo,” said the company in a recent press release.
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