• Tag Archives Donald Trump

  • BAT Is Dead: Republicans Kill Border Adjustment Tax

    Posted on by Jon Comment

    The Trump fiscal agenda – which these days really means tax reform – may be dead, but that does not mean it can’t reemerge as a zombie every now and then. That’s precisely what happened moments ago when Paul Ryan just announced that after months of speculation whether border adjustment tax will or won’t be implemented to help offset Trump’s proposed tax cuts, it is now officially dead.
    RYAN IS SAID TO BE TELLING REPUBLICANS BORDER TAX IS DEAD: BBG As Reuters adds:
    “BIG SIX” REPUBLICANS IN CONGRESS, TRUMP ADMINISTRATION ANNOUNCE BORDER TAX PROVISION HAS BEEN SET ASIDE IN ORDER TO ADVANCE TAX OVERHAUL A statement Thursday from the so-called Big Six – Ryan, Brady, White House economic adviser Gary Cohn, Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell and Senate Finance Committee Chairman Orrin Hatch – said due to the unknowns associated with the border-adjusted tax, the group ‘had decided to set this policy aside in order to advance tax reform.”

    This post was published at Zero Hedge on Jul 27, 2017.

    This entry was posted in Government and tagged

  • Graham Dares Trump: “Holy Hell To Pay if You Fire Sessions”

    Posted on by Jon Comment

    Threat, promise, or red flag to a bull?
    After a few days of non-stop tirades against current Attorney-General Jeff Sessions by President Trump, increasing numbers of Republicans are coming out in support of the “beleauered” AG urging Trump to stop.
    As Bloomberg reports, a number of Republicans have called White House officials – and even Trump personally – to warn against removing Sessions, according to a Senate GOP aide who asked not to be identified discussing the private conversations. Their message has been that Sessions is universally liked on Capitol Hill and that removing him would be one of Trump’s biggest mistakes as president.
    But, just in case the message from senior Republicans was not getting to the President, Republican Senator Lindsey Graham of South Carolina told CNN on Thursday morning…

    This post was published at Zero Hedge on Jul 27, 2017.

    This entry was posted in Government and tagged

  • Scaramucci: “Priebus Is A F**king Paranoid Schizophrenic”, Slams “Cocksucker” Bannon, Wants To “Kill” Leakers

    Posted on by Jon Comment

    Update: After what was either (i) his first White House nervous breakdown or (ii) a carefully disguised distraction intended to give the media something other than Russia to discuss on this weekend’s political talk show circuit, Anthony Scaramucci has just issued the following statement via Twitter:
    I sometimes use colorful language. I will refrain in this arena but not give up the passionate fight for @realDonaldTrump's agenda. #MAGA
    — Anthony Scaramucci (@Scaramucci) July 27, 2017

    This post was published at Zero Hedge on Jul 27, 2017.

    This entry was posted in Government and tagged

  • Demand for Physical Gold Up, Supply Down in First Half of 2017

    Posted on by Jon Comment

    It’s easy to get caught up in what the Fed will do next, or the latest political brouhaha in Washington D. C. And of course, this stuff matters. But when it comes to gold, you should never lose sight of fundamentals.
    Nothing is more fundamental than supply and demand. Based on the GFMS Gold Survey 2017 H1 Update Outlook, the fundamentals for gold are trending in a positive direction. Demand is pushing upward, while supply is falling.
    Demand for physical gold rose to 1,895 tons in the first half of 2017, a 17% increase over the same period last year.
    Comparing the first and second quarter of this year also reveals an upward trend. Demand climbed in Q2 2017 to 957 tons. That was up from 938 tons in Q1, a 2% increase.
    Meanwhile, total supply dropped 5% in the first half of the year. Mine output was stagnant, falling by 0.2%. Production dropped precipitously in China and Australia, the world’s number one and number two producers. The amount of scrap gold also fell, helping to drive the decline in supply.
    In many ways, the demand increase signals a return to normalcy after a tumultuous 2016.
    After the rollercoaster ride of events for the gold market in 2016, from a jewelers’ strike to Brexit to Trump to demonetization, 2017 has avoided similar dramatic events in the first half, at least from a gold perspective with far right candidates seeing little success in a range of European countries. Indeed the first half of this year has arguably been more of a reversion to normality across much of the gold market, with neither the highs (of ETF demand) or lows (of truly pitiful Asian demand) that were recorded in the first half of 2016 being repeated.’

    This post was published at Schiffgold on JULY 27, 2017.

    This entry was posted in Economy and tagged

  • Gold Price Jumps in Dollars as ‘Low-Rate Yellen’ Gets Trump’s Backing

    Posted on by Jon Comment

    Gold price gains continued for Dollar investors on Thursday but held flat for other traders as the US currency touched its lowest Euro value since January 2015 following yesterday’s “no change” decision from the Federal Reserve.
    “The actual path of the federal funds rate will depend on the economic outlook as informed by incoming data,” said the Fed’s July statement, seemingly delaying a move to start reducingits $4.6 trillion holdings of QE-bought Treasury and mortgage-backed bonds.
    Asian stock markets rose – as did most commodities and major government bond prices – but European equities then slipped as the Dollar bounced from its new 30-month lows versus the 19-nation single currency.
    Gold priced in Dollars today set its highest London benchmarking since 14 June at $1262 per ounce.
    But priced in Euros, gold fixed at only a 3-session high. The UK gold price in Pounds per ounce reached only a 2-session high.
    Thursday morning’s Dollar price stood 2.0% above the 2017 average to date.

    This post was published at FinancialSense on 07/27/2017.

    This entry was posted in Government and tagged

  • Winning: U.S. Crushes All Other Countries In Latest Obesity Study

    Posted on by Jon Comment

    When President Trump promised last fall that under a Trump administration America would “would win so much you’ll get tired of winning,” we suspect this is not what he had in mind. According to the latest international obesity study from the Organization For Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), America is by far the fattest nation in the world with just over 38% of the adult population considered ‘obese.’

    This post was published at Zero Hedge on Jul 26, 2017.

    This entry was posted in Geopolitics and tagged

  • Foxconn To Get $230,000 In Incentives For Every Wisconsin Job Created

    Posted on by Jon Comment

    To much fanfare, President Donald Trump on Wednesday announced that Taiwanese electronics giant Foxconn, best known for making the iPhone, will build a new plant producing LCD panels in Wisconsin that will bring thousands of jobs to the state. On the surface it’s a great deal: in what’s being called the largest economic development project in state history, Foxconn plans to build a $10 billion plant that will eventually employ as many as 13,000 people, according to the White House and Gov. Scott Walker.
    “It starts today with this investment in Wisconsin,” Foxconn chairman Terry Gou said at announcement in Washington D. C. on Wednesday.
    The plant is expected to open in 2020 and be on a 20 million square-foot campus on at least 1,000 acres, a campus Walker’s office has dubbed “Wisconn Valley” according to the Wisconsin State Journal. The plant could be the first of several facilities the company intends to build in the United States and will start with 3,000 employees, a staff that could eventually grow by 10,000.
    Furthermore, Walker’s office projected the project would create at least 22,000 “indirect and induced jobs” throughout Wisconsin and will generate an estimated $181 million in state and local tax revenues annually, including $60 million in local property taxes.

    This post was published at Zero Hedge on Jul 26, 2017.

    This entry was posted in Government and tagged

  • Five Years Ago Today…

    Posted on by Jon Comment

    ime flies when you are printing money.
    As Citi’s FX desk is kind enough to remind us, it was five years ago today that Donald Trump was a businessman and TV personality, and ECB President Mario Draghi vowed that:
    ‘The ECB is ready to do whatever it takes to preserve the euro. And believe me, it will be enough.’
    He then compared the common currency to an insect:
    ‘The euro is like a bumblebee. This is a mystery of nature because it shouldn’t fly but instead it does. So the euro was a bumblebee that flew very well for several years. And now — and I think people ask ‘how come?’– probably there was something in the atmosphere, in the air, that made the bumblebee fly. Now something must have changed in the air, and we know what after the financial crisis.’

    This post was published at Zero Hedge on Jul 26, 2017.

    This entry was posted in Economy and tagged

  • Bank Deregulation Back in Vogue: It’s time to dance the last fandango!

    Posted on by Jon Comment

    The Great Recession was so great for the only people who matter that it is time to do it all again. Time to shed those bulky new regulations that are like clod-hoppers on our heals and dance the light fantastic with your friendly bankster. Shed the encumbrances and get ready for the new roaring twenties.
    The banks need to be able to entice more people into debt because potential borrowers with good credit and easy access to financing are showing no interest in taking the banks’ current enticements toward greater debt. That could indicate the average person is smarter than the banks and apparently recognizes they are at their peak comfort levels with debt. The banks, on the other hand, want to reduce capital-reserve requirements in order to leverage up more.
    Thus, President Trump, blessed be he, is working (in consort with the Federal Reserve) on cutting bank stress tests in half to once every two years and working to significantly reduce the amount of reserve capital banks are required to keep. He also wants to make the stress tests a little easier to pass. Such are the plans of his Goldman Sachs economic overseers to whom Trump has given first chair in various illustrious White House departments.
    READ MORE

    This post was published at GoldSeek on 26 July 2017.

    This entry was posted in Government and tagged

  • Mr. Trump: You May Not Want To Take Credit For The Stock Market Just Yet

    Posted on by Jon Comment

    Stock market is still bullish
    If you have followed my analysis through the years, you would know that I have correctly been steadfastly bullish the stock market for quite some time. In fact, I was one of the very few who expected the market to rocket higher even after Donald Trump won the election last year.
    And, now, we are approaching the S&P 500 target in the 2500SPX region we expected to strike in 2017. However, just because the market has rallied strongly after the election as we expected, it does not mean we expect it to continue into the next election season. And, let me explain why that is so important.
    ‘It’s the economy, stupid’
    James Carville, one of President Clinton’s campaign strategists, coined a term years ago which has been considered the most important factor for an incumbent President being able to win re-election:
    ‘It’s the economy, stupid.’

    This post was published at GoldSeek on Wednesday, 26 July 2017.

    This entry was posted in Politics and tagged

  • The US Dollar – Looking For a Bounce

    Posted on by Jon Comment

    Recent Price Action
    The US Dollar Index (DXY) continued to move lower this week having lost another 1.4% from the previous weeks close. This continued move lower came after the DXY had already lost over 8% from the highs that were struck in January. While the Dollar is still getting hammered on both the charts and in the media the DXY is now coming into a fairly strong support zone that should ideally provide at least some temporary relief from the onslaught that the DXY has seen as of late.
    Anecdotal and Other Sentiment Indications
    Last week I had written about the news that was all over the financial press claiming that US Dollar was down because the Republicans were unable to be able to pass their health care bill. I noted how the pundits were claiming that this was evidence that the ‘Trump Trade’ was breaking down and that the continued uncertainty in the White House would surely cause the US Dollar to continue to fall lower.
    This week I am reading that not only do the Republicans need to get their act together to allow the US Dollar back on solid ground but that US Treasury Yields must also move higher before the US Dollar had any chance of bouncing. This is supposedly due to the US Political situation weighing down on US yields which were then in turn not allowing the US Dollar to bounce.
    Well even if we were to believe the first argument that, the US Political situation was weighing down on US Treasury yields, one simply has to look at a chart to know that there is no correlation between US Treasury yields and the value of the US Dollar on either a long or even a short term basis. Sometimes they move together and other times they don’t but again there is no consistent relationship suggesting that US Treasury yields have any effect at all on the value of the US Dollar.
    So if you are serious about trying to determine what is going to happen next in the market; instead of listening to the pundits attempt to assign causality to something that has nothing to do with the markets, or correlations that clearly do not stand the test of time, wouldn’t it be much easier to simply analyze the market for what it really is and just allow Sentiment to Speak.

    This post was published at GoldSeek on Wednesday, 26 July 2017.

    This entry was posted in Government and tagged

  • Hecho En Mexico: 2017 Auto Production In Mexico Surges Despite Trump Attacks

    Posted on by Jon Comment

    Earlier this year, before then President-elect Trump even moved into the White House, he picked several very public fights with auto manufacturers over their increasing reliance on Mexico for incremental production volumes.
    In a January 3rd tweet, the President-elect said ‘General Motors is sending Mexican made model of Chevy Cruze to U. S. car dealers-tax free across border. Make in U. S. A.or pay big border tax!’
    General Motors is sending Mexican made model of Chevy Cruze to U. S. car dealers-tax free across border. Make in U. S. A.or pay big border tax!
    — Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 3, 2017

    Then, on the same day, Trump took a victory lap after apparently convincing Ford to walk away from a new $1.6 billion production facility in Mexico. Of course, we’ve since noted that the production volume intended for that abandoned Mexico facility has instead been shifted to China…but who can keep track (see: Remember When Ford ‘Cancelled’ That Plant In Mexico? Well, They’ve Just Moved It To China).

    This post was published at Zero Hedge on Jul 25, 2017.

    This entry was posted in Government and tagged

  • IMF Sees U.S. Fading as Global Growth Engine

    Posted on by Jon Comment

    The world is leaning less on its biggest economy to sustain the global recovery, according to the International Monetary Fund.
    The fund left its forecast for global growth unchanged in the latest quarterly update to its World Economic Outlook, released Monday in Kuala Lumpur. The world economy will expand 3.5 percent this year, up from 3.2 percent in 2016, and by 3.6 percent next year, the IMF said. The forecasts for this year and next are unchanged from the fund’s projections in April.
    Beneath the headline figures, though, the drivers of the recovery are shifting, with the world relying less than expected on the U.S. and U.K. and more on China, Japan, the euro zone and Canada, according to the Washington-based IMF.
    The dollar fell to its lowest in 14 months last week as investors discounted the ability of President Donald Trump’s administration to deliver on its economic agenda after efforts by the Republican Senate to overhaul health care collapsed.
    ‘U.S. growth projections are lower than in April, primarily reflecting the assumption that fiscal policy will be less expansionary going forward than previously anticipated,’ the IMF said in the latest report.

    This post was published at bloomberg

    This entry was posted in Government and tagged

  • Why Robots Will Win the Coming Trade Wars

    Posted on by Jon Comment

    The first step to surviving a war is knowing which side you are on. But in a trade war, that’s not always easy.
    Suppose the US imposed tariffs on steel imported from the European Union. Prices on goods made with that steel would probably rise, but this would affect you only to the extent you rely on those particular goods.
    When the EU responded by slapping tariffs on items ‘Made in USA,’ it would hurt you only if your livelihood depended on those export revenues.
    Of course, we may be headed toward a wider trade war, which could cause more general price inflation, hurting everyone in some way – though I think it will be more targeted at first.
    But one group is sure to win in a trade war because demand for their services will skyrocket.
    Who are these lucky people?
    They aren’t people at all. They’re robots.
    Trade Talks Fizzle
    If you monitor trade and logistics news like I do, the signs are everywhere. Last week, US and Chinese negotiators met in Washington to cap the 100-day dialogue that Presidents Trump and Xi promised at their April summit.
    It didn’t go well, apparently.

    This post was published at Mauldin Economics on JULY 25, 2017.

    This entry was posted in Economy and tagged

  • The Central Banker Transition Is Happening Quietly In The Background – Episode 1341a

    Posted on by Jon Comment

    The following video was published by X22Report on Jul 25, 2017
    Eight state have not recovered jobs since the great recession, we need to remember this is the manipulated job numbers. Case-Shiller reports prices for homes in the 20 cities have surpassed the housing bubble prior to 2008. Fed very worried about commercial real estate, apartment building are being built at an extremely fast pace. The Fed is pushing for a real-time payment system. The IMF has already hinted that they will most likely move their office to China within the next couple of years. The transition from one system to another is happening ever so quietly. The corporate media is now pushing the reason why the economy has been downgraded, its because of Trump.

    This entry was posted in Economy and tagged

  • Asian Metals Market Update: July-25-2017

    Posted on by Jon Comment

    Factors which can affect markets
    Gold and silver need to break and trade over $1262 and $16.64 for another wave of rise. Sell off will be there if gold does not break $1262 and silver does not break $16.64. Trend after the FOMC statement will be the key. Cautious optimism for gold and silver despite the bullish technical. Crude oil seems to have formed a short term floor around $44 while copper seems to be in the race to outperform silver and zinc.
    Any reduction in Trump related risk is the only key factor that can cause precious metals to move into a short term bearish phase. I still expect an October interest rate hike by the Federal Reserve. Whereas markets are factoring in a December interest rate hike. One needs to watch for Trump related news as US economy is on a strong footing. Mild slowdown in US economy (if any) will be cyclical due to advent of American summer driving season.

    This post was published at GoldSeek on 25 July 2017.

    This entry was posted in Banking and tagged

  • Wall of Optimism Cracking? IMF Lowers US Economic Growth Forecast

    Posted on by Jon Comment

    Over the last several years, mainstream analysts have built a wall of optimism about the US economy. ‘Everything looks great,’ they say. ‘Look at the jobs numbers!’ ‘Look at the stock market!’
    A number of contrarians have said things aren’t so great and a massive crash is on the horizon. The mainstream has pretty much ignored the naysayers. But a recent report by the International Monetary Fund shows some cracks in the wall of mainstream optimism. And in the current political climate, it may not take much to cause the wall to crumble down.
    The recent collapse of Republican efforts to reform healthcare has rekindled doubts about Trump’s ability to push through his ambitious economic agenda. The real concern is if enough people lose faith in the Republican’s ability to fix healthcare, reform the tax system, and pass a significant infrastructure spending bill, it will prick the stock market bubble and set off a crash.
    It seems we’re beginning to see signs of doubt. On Monday, the IMF released its World Economic Outlook, featuring a downward revision in the economic growth forecast for the United States. The IMF estimated US growth at 2.1% both this year and next. In the April World Economic Outlook, it had forecast US growth of 2.3% in 2017 and 2.5% in 2018.

    This post was published at Schiffgold on JULY 25, 2017.

    This entry was posted in Politics and tagged

  • U.S. Mega Banks Are This Close to Breaking Their Profit Record

    Posted on by Jon Comment

    The last time big U.S. banks made so much money, the financial world was heading toward the brink of collapse. This time, it’s stiff regulation that’s in danger.
    Ten of the nation’s biggest lenders including JPMorgan Chase & Co. and Bank of America Corp. together made $30 billion last quarter, just a few hundred million short of the record in the second quarter of 2007, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. The achievement comes just as the industry’s long campaign against post-crisis rules finds traction with the Trump administration.
    Banks have been decrying regulations aimed at curbing risk, blaming them for hurting capital markets and discouraging lending to consumers and companies. President Donald Trump, echoing those complaints, has asked regulators to find ways to ease off. But in this year’s second quarter, banks saw their profits propped up by lending operations even after a surge in revenue from more volatile trading units subsided.
    ‘It shows that the legislation we passed in no way retarded the ability of the banks to make money,’ said Barney Frank, the former congressman whose name is on the 2010 law tightening industry oversight. Banks are supporting the economy, he said. And ‘very specifically, it refutes Trump’s claim that we cut into lending. How do banks make record profits if they can’t lend — especially when they’re down in trading?’
    The second quarter wasn’t a fluke. Even looking at the past 12 months, profits are still near the same level as 2007.

    This post was published at bloomberg

    This entry was posted in Government and tagged