It's the economy, stupid.

[Whack9]

Speaking of Gold futures, any of you invest in gold? I have a small amount invested in a gold ETF that's doing really well. Obviously. I can't see it going down anytime soon as the US dollar appears likely to crater in the near and distant future.

[Vrede too]

Speaking of Gold futures, any of you invest in gold? I have a small amount invested in a gold ETF - AAAU - that's doing really well. Obviously. I can't see it going down anytime soon as the US dollar appears likely to crater in the near and distant future.

Gold mining is horribly destructive here where it's heavily regulated. It's much worse in developing countries and so-called independent monitoring is a sham.

[GoCubsGo]

[Whack9]

Tesla profits down 71%

https://www.usatoday.com/story/money/20 ... 217370007/

Tesla profits plummet 71% amid backlash to Musk's role with Trump administration
Portrait of Bailey SchulzBailey Schulz
USA TODAY

Tesla's Q1 2025 earnings showed a 71% drop in net income and a 9% decline in revenue.
Elon Musk attributed some of Tesla's struggles to "rapidly evolving trade policy" and "changing political sentiment."
Analysts express concerns about near-term uncertainty for Tesla, linking the company's future to Musk's involvement with the White House.
Tesla CEO Elon Musk said he would soon be spending less time with the Trump administration after first-quarter earnings fell short of expectations.

Net income for the quarter was down 71% after a decline in vehicle deliveries, with Tesla battling growing competition from foreign brands, shifting trade policies and growing backlash to the brand after Musk aligned himself with the Trump administration.

...

The slump comes as Tesla, along with other automakers, adjust to auto tariffs imposed by President Donald Trump. In a Tuesday financial report, Tesla said “rapidly evolving trade policy” has impacted the global supply chain and the company’s cost structure.

...

Tesla also noted that “changing political sentiment” could have an impact on product demand in the near term. The company has faced backlash after Musk began work with the Trump administration's DOGE, the initiative that has fired tens of thousands of federal workers.

Good job, Musk. You've helped make the Tesla brand toxic.

[Whack9]

Sec of Treasury Bessent says trade war with China is unsustainable

https://apnews.com/article/tariffs-trad ... fa8ea19faa

WASHINGTON (AP) — U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said in a Tuesday speech that the ongoing tariffs showdown against China is unsustainable and he expects a “de-escalation” in the trade war between the world’s two largest economies.

But in a private speech in Washington for JPMorgan Chase, Bessent also cautioned that talks between the United States and China had yet to formally start. U.S. President Donald Trump placed import taxes of 145% on China, which has countered with 125% tariffs on U.S. goods. Trump has placed tariffs on several dozen countries, causing the stock market to stumble and interest rates to increase on U.S. debt as investors worry about slower economic growth and higher inflationary pressures.

...

The U.S. president said that the final tariff rate with China would come down “substantially” from the current 145%.

“It won’t be that high, not going to be that high,” Trump said.

tHe ArT oF tHe DeAL

[Vrede too]

Sec of Treasury Bessent says trade war with China is unsustainable

https://apnews.com/article/tariffs-trad ... fa8ea19faa

The U.S. president said that the final tariff rate with China would come down “substantially” from the current 145%.

“It won’t be that high, not going to be that high,” Trump said.

tHe ArT oF tHe DeAL

tHe ArT oF cApItUlAtIoN.
We're not taking over Gaza.
No peace deal between Ukraine and Russia.
Unilateral cease fire in the global trade war.
We're not fighting inflation.
Surrender to Jerome Powell.
Surrender to China.

... Trump’s tariffs have started to impact Tesla. It was reported last week that the company would stop importing parts from China for its American-made cars because the president’s tariffs have made them prohibitively expensive....

Surrender to big business.
Musk likely gone within a month.

What a wimp PINO is!

[Whack9]

Sec of Treasury Bessent says trade war with China is unsustainable

https://apnews.com/article/tariffs-trad ... fa8ea19faa

The U.S. president said that the final tariff rate with China would come down “substantially” from the current 145%.

“It won’t be that high, not going to be that high,” Trump said.

tHe ArT oF tHe DeAL

tHe ArT oF cApItUlAtIoN.
We're not taking over Gaza.
No peace deal between Ukraine and Russia.
Unilateral cease fire in the global trade war.
We're not fighting inflation.
Surrender to Jerome Powell.
Surrender to China.

... Trump’s tariffs have started to impact Tesla. It was reported last week that the company would stop importing parts from China for its American-made cars because the president’s tariffs have made them prohibitively expensive....

Surrender to big business.
Musk likely gone within a month.

What a wimp PINO is!

Trump is basically just negotiating with himself at this point and is still losing.

[GoCubsGo]

The markets are whiplashing again as the unstable genius seemingly backs off China.

Until tomorrow.

[neoplacebo]

Next week trump will be asked about a bad deal he just signed with some country. When confronted about the fact it's a bad deal for the US, trump will begin his accordian hands act and proudly insist that "maybe it is a bad deal but I plan to make up for it in quantity." The cult will gush in awe.

[O Really]

He'll never admit that it's a bad deal.
From a different perspective, though, if he could get out of this mess in 6 months or so with free world trade and no tariffs from anybody, I'd give him credit even if he didn't deserve it.

[Vrede too]

He'll never admit that it's a bad deal.
From a different perspective, though, if he could get out of this mess in 6 months or so with free world trade and no tariffs from anybody, I'd give him credit even if he didn't deserve it.

I saw an article stating that the average trade deal takes 18 months to negotiate and 45 months to implement.

[GoCubsGo]

They may need to talk to each other more in the West Wing.

[Vrede too]

tHe ArT oF tHe DeAL

tHe ArT oF cApItUlAtIoN.
We're not taking over Gaza.
No peace deal between Ukraine and Russia.
Unilateral cease fire in the global trade war.
We're not fighting inflation.
Surrender to Jerome Powell.
Surrender to China.

... Trump’s tariffs have started to impact Tesla. It was reported last week that the company would stop importing parts from China for its American-made cars because the president’s tariffs have made them prohibitively expensive....

Surrender to big business.
Musk likely gone within a month.

What a wimp PINO is!

Trump is basically just negotiating with himself at this point and is still losing.

Lawrence O'Donnell Reveals Moment Trump Became A 'Humiliated Clown' On Live TV
The president had to back down on Tuesday — and the world noticed.

MSNBC host Lawrence O’Donnell said President Donald Trump was forced to back down after his threat to fire Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell caused the stock market to tank.

And in the process, O’Donnell said, Trump also was forced to “implicitly acknowledge” that Powell is even more powerful than he is.

Trump has demanded that Powell cut interest rates and threatened to fire him for not doing so. That’s not a power Trump has, but the threat spooked investors already skittish over Trump’s tariffs and caused the Dow to plunge yet again on Monday....

So on Tuesday, Trump did some damage control.

“I have no intention of firing him,” Trump said while taking questions from reporters during a televised appearance where he also blamed the media.

O’Donnell said Trump capitulated in front of everyone.

“And so now the humiliated clown Donald Trump, who has been the subject of some of the finest economic editorial writing the Wall Street Journal has ever done, has decided that it’s time to back down and desperately assure Wall Street ‘I have no intention of firing him,’” O’Donnell summarized.

[O Really]

I don't claim to know anything about the stock market. I've made efforts from time to time but found it sounded like the adults' voices portrayed in the "Charlie Brown" shows or maybe explained in Klingon or something - anyway it put me straight to sleep. But I do understand that there are strong similarities between the stock market and other forms of gambling, and that a lot of actions are taken based on what you guess might happen. But why is it that given Trump's unreliability at a level never seen before, penchant for lies and record of flipflopping from day to day, that the market responds so quickly to every latest utterance. Trump says "I'm gonna impose tariffs" and the market goes down. The next day he say "maybe I won't" and the market goes up. Understood that nobody wants to get caught behind a major move, but wouldn't it be more prudent to wait a little and see what he's actually doing and not jump at every twoof? Or is everybody trying to be a day-trader now?

[GoCubsGo]

3D chess.

Ain't nobody gonna buy this but the sickophants.


Trump’s ‘art of the retreat’ may signal he’s setting Powell up to take the fall for economic turmoil

[Whack9]

I don't claim to know anything about the stock market. I've made efforts from time to time but found it sounded like the adults' voices portrayed in the "Charlie Brown" shows or maybe explained in Klingon or something - anyway it put me straight to sleep. But I do understand that there are strong similarities between the stock market and other forms of gambling, and that a lot of actions are taken based on what you guess might happen. But why is it that given Trump's unreliability at a level never seen before, penchant for lies and record of flipflopping from day to day, that the market responds so quickly to every latest utterance. Trump says "I'm gonna impose tariffs" and the market goes down. The next day he say "maybe I won't" and the market goes up. Understood that nobody wants to get caught behind a major move, but wouldn't it be more prudent to wait a little and see what he's actually doing and not jump at every twoof? Or is everybody trying to be a day-trader now?

I'd imagine a lot of trading these days is driven by algorithms and automated trading. I can't even begin to imagine how the algorithms are structured and what basis they make their decisions. But likely any event of significance, whether it be financial developments, economic data, other trades, and current events factors into the decision to buy/sell.

[O Really]

I have no idea what they may factor in, but it would seem any event that starts with "Trump says ..." should be immediately discounted.

[GoCubsGo]

I have no idea what they may factor in, but it would seem any event that starts with "Trump says ..." should be immediately discounted.

The markets are whiplashing again as the unstable genius seemingly backs off China.

Until tomorrow.

[O Really]

Seems they ought to treat him like a hurricane. When they predict a hurricane is coming, they may say "Oh it could hit here - or it could hit there - or or further south..." but you don't start or stop battening down your hatches with every little variation in prediction. You know there's a hurricane on the way, you know it's gonna damage something, and you can only hope it misses where you are. But you still get prepared. Unless, I guess, you're a trumper and then when he draws the hurricane far away from you, you just take back down your window screens and put the patio furniture back out.

[Vrede too]

There are daily wobbles, but the S&P 500 INDEX is staying around 11% below where it was on the inauguration.
https://finance.yahoo.com/quote/%5ESPX/
The wobbles are day traders and algorithms, while the 11% is because of algorithms and less active traders like me who have pulled back entirely. I think.