Worst.Case.Scenario. In 24 years, the ratio of wholesale inventories to sales has only been higher than the current 1.35x once – at the peak of the recession in the last financial crisis. Wholesale sales tumbled 1.3% MoM (worse than the -0.3% exp) and inventories rose 0.3% MoM while expectations were for a drop of 0.1% (inventories over sales difference rose from $143.6BN to $151.2BN in one month, a new record high.) And finally, automotive inventories rose to 1.78x sales – the highest since the crisis.

Keep stacking, despite tumbling sales…

Which leaves us firmly in the “recession imminent” section of the business cycle…

And there has never been a wider absolute spread between inventories and sales…

This cannot end well.