US Margin Debt Hits Record $1.23 Trillion After December Surge

The assessment is 'likely_true' with high confidence due to consistent reporting across multiple relevant sources and the absence of any contradictory evidence. Several secondary sources with high relevance, including Longbridge, Sahm Capital, and The Kobeissi Letter, directly state that US margin debt reached a record $1.23 trillion at the end of December. While these sources have lower authority scores, their claims are specific and consistent with each other. Furthermore, a more authoritative source, Seeking Alpha, corroborates the central part of the claim by confirming that margin debt hit a "new record high in December," even though its summary doesn't provide the specific $1.23 trillion figure. The source from MacroMicro also supports the general trend of margin debt reaching "historic highs." The sources concerning federal public debt and California's budget are correctly identified as irrelevant and do not factor into the assessment. The convergence of specific figures from multiple secondary sources and the contextual confirmation from a more authoritative source strongly supports the truthfulness of the statement.