It's the economy, stupid.

[GoCubsGo]

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.

Think you've got it about right. Absent DonOld having another colossal meltdown we might be at an equilibrium until real numbers start moving markets again.

The markets may be in a holding pattern as the stupid and the flip flopping whiplash continues....until something concrete actually happens.

[O Really]

Good grief - you're saying our entire economic policy is being run by day traders and formulas nobody has access to or would understand anyway? Because there's a lot of people jerking their knees every time there's a "wobble."

[Vrede too]

Good grief - you're saying our entire economic policy is being run by day traders and formulas nobody has access to or would understand anyway? Because there's a lot of people jerking their knees every time there's a "wobble."

That's just the markets, our economic policy is being run by people even loopier. Data from before "Independence Day":

Tourists are turning their backs on the US and it could cost the economy billions

Donald Trump doesn't think US losing tourism is a 'big deal'

[GoCubsGo]

Poor DonOld, this ain't gonna be a winning message. This is his economy.

GDP contracted today, first time since 2022. Prices headed up. Jobs report Friday, that's not going to be good news.

Market is opening down. I wonder what tomorrow's try will be.

[Supsalemgr]

Poor DonOld, this ain't gonna be a winning message. This is his economy.

GDP contracted today, first time since 2022. Prices headed up. Jobs report Friday, that's not going to be good news.

Market is opening down. I wonder what tomorrow's try will be.

When will politicians of both parties figure they are better off just not talking about the stock market?

[Vrede too]

Poor DonOld, this ain't gonna be a winning message. This is his economy.

GDP contracted today, first time since 2022. Prices headed up. Jobs report Friday, that's not going to be good news.

Market is opening down. I wonder what tomorrow's try will be.

https://x.com/trump_repost/status/1917568470151225379

Desperate, sad and cowardly.

S&P 500 INDEX is down about 1% today, about 10.1% since the inauguration. It's not just the loss of wealth, but also the interruption in the steady gains for well over 2 years.

[Whack9]

Schrodinger's stock market

[Vrede too]

Schrodinger's stock market

https://i.imgur.com/A4jHoJR.jpeg

https://i.imgur.com/4eufsnB.jpeg

Schrödinger is cool, but DonOLD sure is an asshole in all scenarios.

For example:

Trump Says Kids May Just Have To Live With Fewer Toys Because Of His Tariffs

... “Maybe the children will have two dolls instead of 30, and maybe the two dolls will cost a couple of bucks more than they would normally,” Trump said during a Cabinet meeting at the White House when asked about the prospect of stores nationwide having empty shelves as a result of him ratcheting up tariffs on China.

... Asked on Thursday about Trump suggesting that children may just have to get used to having two dolls, Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) told HuffPost that his comment sounds straight out of the dystopian novel 1984, in which a character and symbol called “Big Brother” constantly surveils citizens.

“I think how many dolls you have is up to the people who buy, not up to the president,” said Paul. “It sounds like the government choosing for you what is a good amount of things to buy.”

The Kentucky senator said he doesn’t care if people have one or four TVs in their houses, because it’s none of his business. He added, “But for the government to tell you shouldn’t have so many TVs, that sounds like Big Brother.”

UPDATE:

A working mother responded that she's not worried about dolls, "I wonder how I'm going to afford to put bread on the table for my kids."

"Let them eat cake," Trump replied.

[GoCubsGo]

DonOld gets a one month reprieve on this one, although the underlying numbers aren't too healthy.

Barely a blip in futures.

[GoCubsGo]

[GoCubsGo]

Predicting a bad week for Wall Street.

[Vrede too]

So many options, including:

[GoCubsGo]

So many options, including:

[1 CAT FAN]

Cubby, you looking to purchase a 304 on a budget?
O Really has the ka-ching to purchase a higher class 304. Y'all could order in, be discreet inside his gated community.

[Vrede too]

No wonder Barron grew up to be a RepuQ. He was groomed from the start.

[Whack9]

Trump says he'll call CEOs when he disagrees with their business decisions

https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/donald ... rcna204702

President Donald Trump on Friday reflected on his phone call earlier in the week with Amazon founder and Executive Chairman Jeff Bezos, telling NBC News’ “Meet the Press” in an interview that he’d use the same tactic with other CEOs if necessary.

...

If I think that somebody’s doing something that’s incorrect, wrong or maybe hurtful to the country, I’ll call," he added. "Wouldn’t you want me to call? [Former President Joe] Biden wouldn’t call because he didn’t know what was happening, but I do."

...

GOP 2024 on command economies:
GOP 2025 on command economies:
GOP 2028... ?

Waiting on Trump to announce he's transitioning then seeing his bootlickers decide they support it and follow suit of their king.

[1 CAT FAN]

Leftists junkies dependent on China.

"Made in America"

[GoCubsGo]

Real time to a month down the road.

Don’t Look at Stock Markets. Look at the Ports.

A drop in maritime traffic suggests that the worst is yet to come.

[1 CAT FAN]

I am sooooo tired of reporters/media saying "Trump "did" something" when it should be "Trump "said" or "Trump "wants" or better still just ignore his most ridiculous stable genius babblings. I'm not saying actually ignore the efforts he's making to destroy large parts of the country - I'm saying they should ignore the obvious smoke and mirrors he throws out every day.

I'm just as tired with DonOld or his merry band of trumpaloons saying "we've brought a gazillion dollars of investment and jobs into the United States with new factories and jobs" based upon vague future plans or promises from foreign governments or corporations when there hasn't a shovel of dirt moved or even land bought.

Yeah, that too. And really, what even remotely responsible CEO is going to totally disrupt their corporate integration and supply chain, as well as their entire business model, spending hundreds of millions, based on Trump's word (of today, which may be different from his word of tomorrow)

These companies say they're investing more in U.S. manufacturing as tariffs go into effect

Abbott Laboratories

Illinois-based medical device company Abbott Laboratories said in a statement Wednesday that a $500 million investment in manufacturing, research and development capabilities at plants in Illinois and Texas will "go live" by the end of the year.

Apple

Apple in February said that it's committed to spending more than $500 billion on expanding its U.S. manufacturing capabilities over four years.

The company says it will expand its current facilities, increasing the number of workers employed at plants in Arizona, California, Iowa, Michigan, Nevada, North Carolina, Oregon, Texas and Washington.

Chobani

Chobani, known for its Greek-style yogurt, is expanding manufacturing in New York State. The yogurt company on Tuesday announced plans to spend at least $1.2 billion opening a million-square-foot factory in Rome, New York.

Company executives believe the plant will be the largest dairy factory in the U.S., with the capacity to produce up to one billion pounds of dairy products annually. Chobani said the domestic expansion, which will create 1,000 new jobs, is necessary to meet demand.

Cra-Z-Art

Randolph, New Jersey-based toy company Cra-Z-Art in March said it is growing its U.S. production capacity by 50%, "to combat the cost of tariffs for imported goods from China and other countries."

Johnson & Johnson

Johnson & Johnson is planning to invest more than $55 billion in new U.S. manufacturing facilities over four years. The investment represents a 25% increase compared with the previous four years, the health care company said in March. The brand new Wilson, North Carolina, facility will focus on manufacturing next-generation medication for people with cancer, and immune-mediated and neurological diseases, the company said.

The pharmaceutical company will also expand capacity at existing domestic plants in a move it says "will create high-paying, high-technology jobs."

Honda Motor

Honda Motor this week said it is moving production of its Civic Hybrid Hatchback from Japan to the U.S., in the face of a barrage of tariffs by the Trump administration, including a 25% tariff on vehicles and auto parts imported into the U.S.

Hyundai Motor Company

Hyundai in March announced a $21 billion commitment to investing in domestic manufacturing from 2025 to 2028. "Hyundai Motor Group is deepening its partnership with the United States, reinforcing our shared vision for American industrial leadership. The Group's investment and efforts will further expand our operations in the U.S. and grow our American workforce," Hyundai said in a March statement.

IBM

IBM on April 28 pledged to invest $150 billion in U.S. manufacturing over five years. At least $30 million will go toward research and development to further U.S.-based computer manufacturing, the computing giant said.

"We have been focused on American jobs and manufacturing since our founding 114 years ago, and with this investment and manufacturing commitment we are ensuring that IBM remains the epicenter of the world's most advanced computing and AI capabilities," IBM CEO Arvind Krishna said in a statement.

Merck

Drugmaker Merck is investing $1 billion to build a U.S. plant in Delaware. The move comes amid plans by President Trump to impose tariffs on pharmaceuticals, which would include taxes on imported ingredients used drug manufacturing.

The company said it plans to build a new 470,000-square-foot facility in Wilmington, Delaware, where it will make Keytruda, the company's immunotherapy treatment for different cancers. The plant will be Merck's first U.S. facility dedicated to making Keytruda for U.S. patients, the company said.

"This is part of a significant investment to not only bring the world's best-selling medicine closer to the American patients who rely on it, but to also establish a home for our biologics portfolio of products serving U.S. patients," Merck said in a statement.

This one's for cubby, got to keep you in supply of AI photo shop images.

Nvidia

Last week, American chip maker Nvidia announced that for this first time in the company's history, it will be manufacturing chips and AI supercomputers in the U.S.

Nvidia said in a statement that it has commissioned more than a million square feet of manufacturing space to build its Blackwell chips in Arizona and AI supercomputers in Texas. The company said it expects to produce up to half a trillion dollars' worth of AI infrastructure in the U.S.
"The engines of the world's AI infrastructure are being built in the United States for the first time," Nvidia founder and CEO Jensen Huang said in the same statement. "Adding American manufacturing helps us better meet the incredible and growing demand for AI chips and supercomputers, strengthens our supply chain and boosts our resiliency."
https://www.cbsnews.com/news/us-manufac ... c-tariffs/