Neither does the small business owner when the mafia comes knocking, but they end up paying too.
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> using it as an excuse to gouge the living daylights out of their customers - Ford and GM are getting a great return on their investment.
Frightening interview on 60 minutes tonight with this ranter Lighthizer who has Trumpâs ear at the moment. His response to every historical negative impact they pointed out to him was basically âno itâs gonna work this time. Youâll see. The people wonât be hurt that much and weâll get all those manufacturing jobs back.â
Our wonderfully moral CEOs shipped our jobs out because our unionized employees are way too comparatively expensive for their profit margins. And our in-the-pocket politicians let it happen without penalty. They made billions in profit by doing it. This fixation on tariffs, especially universal ones including our allies, will not do anything but 1930s-ish damage. Itâs just more mindless trash from our Crazy-in-Chief.
And when eggs cost $15 a dozen and new cars go for $100K for a Chevy Malibu/whatever, CinC will blame Powell for high inflation and get away with it.
But the economist, Milton Friedman, was embraced, because they could twist his theory to fit their agenda, and thus legitimize it.
The tariff agenda fits with the stated objective: turn back the clock to 1912, when there was no income tax, and tariffs provided a substantial portion of government revenue.
So the Proles pay the tax, while the âJCsâ have everything they want paid for by the company, so they pocket millions, tax free.
But, of course, the Proles are assured the hated foreigners will pay the tax, not them, just like 45 years ago, the Proles were assured all the Billions given to the âJCsâ would land in their pockets, eventually.
Steve
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https://www.reuters.com/markets/us/trade-war-fears-roil-shares-us-auto-majors-big-tech-after-trump-tariffs-2025-02-03/
The t!t-for-tat tariffs could eat into company profits, raise consumer prices and prompt the Federal Reserve to rethink its rate-cutting cycle that could upend the U.S. stock markets that are currently trading near record levels.
If the sweeping tariffs were sustained, Goldman Sachs estimated a reduction of 2%-3% in its S&P 500 earnings forecasts, although the brokerage believes the duties on Canada and Mexico are likely to be temporary.
Corporate entities hope it is temporary.
âThis weekendâs actions challenge our underlying view that the Trump administration will strive to limit disruptive policies as it balances its desire to reduce engagement with the world with a commitment to support US businesses,â Bruce Kasman, chief economist for J.P.Morgan, said.
So corporate entities thought the Orange Oneâs campaigning memes were meaningless. That the memes would never be acted upon. Oops!
âWhy Orange One? Why? Low tax rates are mean less if you cut our profits!â
Nineteen of the 20 biggest companies saw their share prices drop in early trading on Monday
Traders are shocked that a president who said he would place tariffs on countries with whom the U.S. has notable trade deficits has put tariffs on some of those countries. After Canada, Mexico and China, the European Union may be next.
More shocked folks.
âIf company managements decide to absorb the higher input costs, then profit margins would be squeezed. If companies pass along the higher costs to its end customers, then sales volumes may suffer,â says the Wall Street bank.
âCombining these modeled EPS and valuation sensitivities suggests near-term downside of roughly 5% to S&P 500 fair value if the market prices the sustained implementation of the newly-announced tariffs,â says Goldman.
âWhy Orange One? Why?â
Investors didnât take President Donald Trump at his word, sparking an early market sell-off in reaction to his move to impose hefty tariffs on Canada, Mexico, and China.
âMarkets were a little complacent in wanting to believe that some of the threats wouldnât be carried through,â said BlueBay CIO at RBC Asset Management Mark Dowding.
We are in for a volatile rough ride cowboys!
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Markets later recovered on the theory that the co-president would be strongly motivated to convince the president of a more moderate course.
Tesla, Inc. (TSLA) 382.95 -21.65 (-5.35%)
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Trump blinked on Canada & Mexico tariffs. So sez the WSJ.
https://www.wsj.com/opinion/donald-trump-tariffs-canada-mexico-claudia-sheinbaum-justin-trudeau-concessions-trade-border-d5bbed97
The President pauses after minor concessions from Canada and Mexico.
Trump can brag all he want, but he backed down. I believe Trump was spooked by the market reaction. Would Trump have backed down if the market reaction was strongly positive?
Or the angry phone calls from corporate CEOs.
Regardless, the bragging will continue.
All Trump proved is that he is willing to break any deal he makes only to back down if the market objects.
The cost is a loss of trust. No one can believe any deal he makes.
True that.
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That is what I am thinking. Thing is, his base wants their âjobsâ protected from both foreign looking people, and foreign goods. TI appears to be executing on the foreign looking people part, but now he has, temporarily at least, caved on the foreign goods. What will the base do?
Steve
Irrelevant. No election for 2 years. Buckle in buttercup! Weâre in for a ride.
We are talking about someone who craves adoration. What happens when the labor leaders, for instance, turn on him, for not providing âjobsâ for their rank and file, by eliminating foreign goods from the US?
Steve
Again
Irrelevant. No election for 2 years.
You have a 78 year egocentric person in office for 4 years. The media will concentrated upon his presidency. He is in HEAVEN! This is last act of his life.
You believe he gives a good Gol Darn about the base or anything besides himself? He will let the political spin masters deal with that.
And he will continue to claim how he is winning.
You should be concerned whom the other side will select for 2028. The reluctance for the 70 & 80 year olds of that party to share power & allow younger members to rise & shine In the national spot light.
The democratic base is peeved about 2024.
And I suppose what really upsets that base is that the DNC doesnât believe there is any problem to fix.
The current president blew up his party in 2016. And it hasnât recovered yet. And it seems he blew up the opposing political party in 2024.
And this post may seem political; but the current president has a massive influence on the nationâs economy. In a weekâs time no one is sure what the US stance is in regard to tariffs. And they wonder if the president is sure of his stance. This creates much uncertainty in the markets.
Investment wise I am holding steady. I continue to have faith that stocks will raise in the long term.
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This.
FUD â opportunity.
I think thatâs the goal.
After the weekend kerfuffle⌠Iâm up.
I hope everyone is peacefully riding out this tempest.
ralph
1 Like
There are some hilariously degrading memes on FB today.
Steve
Isnât this what happened in 2018 after NAFTA was cancelled and USMCA was negotiated?
Supposedly MX n CA âwonâ?
The âArt of the Dealâ was roundly lampooned at that time, too?
Iâm hearing the same song and seeing the same dance.
Macroeconomically, we âsurvivedâ?
(past results are no guarantee ⌠N all the usual boiler plate pablum).
ralph
2 Likes
TI is crying a river about what tough negotiators the Canadians are. Meanwhile, the Danes told him to âf- offâ. Panama is the only place where he can claim to have âwonâ anything. (free passage for USN ships)
Trump crying wolf over tariffs has already convinced Wall Street that threats will be short-lived
Steve
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I believe this would not be considered âbreaking news.â
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I doubt he would pay the toll anyway. Thatâs how he works.
Recognizing that, Panama let it go.
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Unpaid toll = no more ships allowed until paid in full.
That would be a casus belli: obstructing the Shiny military. iirc, the push to invade Panama the last time was pushed into high gear when there was a confrontation between Panamanian and a couple US military people.
Steve
Failure to pay = reason to cut them off.
Alternative would be to cause serious damage to a US aircraft carrier as a result of ânegligence by US maintenance workers on the canal locksâ. And then Panama demands billions to compensate for lost revenue as a result of said negligence. Proof? Donât need any. Panamaâs word is more valid than any flypaper-clad dictator in a Panamanian court.