Trump says sometimes you have to take medicine....I wish that his Secretary of Health, Kennedy, felt the same way.
While measles in Texas is terrible, our cutoff of food and medicine to Africa could have more dire consequences. The first case of ebola in American could be a plane ride away.
I see partisan acquaintances defending the economy against Trump's tariffs, and his inappropriate cabinet appointments as necessary to right the ship. As they guzzle the kool-aid, I hope that they have deep pockets and a good immune systems.
As I'm writing this. Trump announced that he is suspending the tariffs on most countries for 90 days. What the situation will be by the time you read this tomorrow, who knows? But, I can tell you that the rest of the world is not amused.
Ah, he’s still keeping a 10% tariff on everyone, giving them time to come to the table and work out a more comprehensive agreement. About 80 nations are requesting a sit down already. That will take at least 90 more days to accommodate.
ReplyDeleteReturning to a FAIR trade situation for America is a monumental task but a matter of national security for every one of us! Should have been done decades ago.
Trump could literally bomb a country to get them to toe the line and you would support him. 80 nations? Just parrot what you are told as truth. Ever other word out of his mouth is a lie.
DeleteThe reason for Trump's sudden reversal is the rapid rise of interest rates on US Treasury bond sales.
ReplyDeleteUS Treasury bonds are basically America's IOUs to the world that our Treasury Department sells to other nations to help finance our massive national debt, which is about $36 Trillion dollars. Now of that, about $8 Trillion of our natonal debt is held by other nations, who have bought US Treasury Bonds as investments.
Trump's tariffs had created hard feelings around the world, and it is rumored that Japan was about to cash in the US Treasury bonds it held in retaliation to the tariff's trump placed on Japanese exports to the US (Cars, electronic items mostly). If that started to happen, our Secratary of the Treasury feared it might start a cascade effect with other nations planning to sell Treasuries, even at a loss, making it very difficult for the United States to issue more IOSs to cover the money we need to borrow to finance our deficit spending.
That is the actual reason Trump did what he did on Wendesday afternoon and pull back (or suspend as he said) all of the tariffs he imposed around the world the other day. That led to the massive sign of relief on Wall Street and also Trump taking his victory lap.
Brent@4:58: Trump's victory laps are becoming more and more craven. It's one thing to have that first grade smirk, it's another to announce hours before, on your own social media venue, to buy stocks.
DeleteYes they hope to bring the yield on bonds down, but the U.S. economic reality will not allow that to happen. The answer is to make the Dollar great again and incentivise people to keep using it. A solid store of value not a constantly losing purchasing power currency. Force and manipulation will no longer work in the present sophisticated world.
DeleteHope that Trump can adjust his strategy, rather than listen to those who believe the answer is War.
Trump’s been telling people to buy stocks for many weeks now. He always goes on to say this will be a rocky time at first but before the end of the year he expects the market to take off quickly as the benefits of these changes become more obvious.
DeleteTo believe Trump, or not, is a personal decision each of us needs to make. I have confidence Trump has far more expertise in foreign economic affairs than I do. I am holding my equity positions steady throughout all of this.
I lived through investing back in 1987. Then, the market lost 23% in one day. I held on. Within about a year, all of my ‘paper losses’ were gained back. Now, at age 75, less than 5% of my net worth is dependent upon how the market moves.
Some people are overreacting to this period. Could be they haven’t properly prepared for their future by not adjusting their holdings correctly to match their remaining life expectancy.
Fund managers are advising not to buy on this dip. Therefore I'm buying. Does anyone think the big shots will ever give the small investors good advice. We're who that make money on.
DeleteScott is absolutely right. Wall St. bigshots are masters of the 'look-away' pass.' If they're looking left...go right!
DeleteI’m sure Trump loves the attention he’s getting from other countries, but I think we know he couldn’t pass a Wharton School Eco 101 class. Tariffs are an archaic approach to leveraging trade. Did we forget that tariffs caused the Boston Tea Party? If we stay on such a course China will wipe us up. Tariffs also ignore services, which is what the US does best. Yes we can manufacture shoes but it’s more profitable to manufacture jets. The US can’t produce everything, we don’t have the resources, natural or human.
ReplyDeleteTrump graduated from Wharton in 1968 with a BS in Economics.
Delete“Donald J. Trump earned a B.S. in real estate, which was awarded on May 20, 1968,” says Ron Ozio, Penn’s director of media relations. And that was then- this is now.
DeleteThere is no ridiculing a Wharton School degree. Anyone with a fifty-year career in Manhattan and global real estate know a lot about the world economy.
DeleteMike, Always remember, if you think things are bad now just imagine what America would be like under President Harris. America would still be bound to the Paris Accords, and the world court. The federal government would still be weaponized, men would still be girls and dominating women's sports, whites would still be oppossors and racists simply because they were white. I could go one, but because all of this and more is in the rear view mirror many Americans feel liberated. Yes, Trump's a bit unpredictable, often over the top, but isn't this a welcome change from the past four years of predictable consequences of truly bad and often reprehensible policies.
ReplyDeleteSome things you just can’t explain to brainwashed, block headed people who were surprised they didn’t win the last election. Look, the Earth is still turning. No need to set your hair on fire.
ReplyDeleteNotice today, the market has pulled back as of noon. That’s what it does. Doesn’t bother me one bit. In the long run, ‘buy and hold’ DOES average out to a decent return.
It will take more than a few trading days to undo the economic ship which has been sinking since the end of the Marshall Plan.
ReplyDelete