I hate writing about the markets because I don't really understand the markets. maybe someone can explain to me why, after China announced early this morning they were increasing their tariffs on OUR goods, that caused Dow futures to RISE. isn't that counter-intuitive?
The Simpsons predicted Little Donny Fuck Face’s death on April 12, 2025 in one of their episodes. I was never a fan of the show but if they were right I would happily become a convert. Come on cholesterol!!
None of these people can be trusted that work for Trump. Hitler's doctor fed him all sorts of toxins to treat his depression from what I have read it sounds like full blown quackery. Dictators do not hear the truth from their doctors, who are in a great position to poison them.
Wouldn’t it be fascinating if the high jacked Simpsons April 12th Donny Dday internet ploy is the libertarians’ equivalent of “Russia, if you’re listening…” and thus a cell is activated? Ha! That would be genius and poetic justice all in one.
1968--Jan/Feb. The Viet Cong broke into the US Embassy in Saigon during Tet
March-- Gene ? won a primary and Johnson said he wouldn't run for a second term
April 5--Martin Luther King assassinated, a few days later, Oakland Police murdered Bobby Hutton
May--
June 6--Bobby Kennedy assassinated (after this we were all in shock)
July--
Aug-- Police riot in Chicago during the Democratic Convention (that's the description of Senator Abraham Ribicoff on the floor of the convention. The response of the mayor of Chicago was "Fuck you!" That's a lipreading version.)
Sept/Oct-- This is where I get confused and would have to look it up. Days of Rage in Chicago/Weather Underground was either 1968 or 1969. I bailed someone out of jail for the first time in Oct. 1968.
Nov-- Nixon/Agnew elected.
Is that enough for you?
1969 even was worse on the ground in Berkeley.
I was 17 at the beginning of 1968 and 19 at the end of 1969.
These were awful years.
If astrology is true, then we're in trouble. Based on current events, this is shaping up to be an awful year.
For sure that's enough. I've read or seen docs about all of those events but having them all at once creates context. Looking back on it, what do you think was happening? It could not have all been driven by the war. I have to think MLK was assassinated because he was driving labor and civil rights leadership into an unstoppable singular force. Who ordered the assassinations? I saw Remarkable doc on RFK and they showed interviews with many elder women who were working on the campaign and they all said they were worried about him being assassinated, like they knew something but not quite where it was coming from. Winning CA was somehow the last straw?
Chris this is an accurate description of the orange felon and I love it!! Everyone is so creative when it comes to the orange felon’s description!! Have a great Friday everyone!!
Hey, Trump is at Walter Reed today getting his medical exam. He claims he's not worried about the cognitive test. So "camel, rhinoceros, lion, ice cream cone ..."
I have a fantasy about Holy getting booted out of the majority seat like McCarthy and 3 GOPs resigning - like Glitch where the governor is Dem...and suddenly there's a LOT of pushback from people in the street because people on both sides like Couch substantially less than Elmo and Thiel...and it all folds like a house of cards, the Dems destroy the electoral college, new elections are called, third party candidate runs, rank choice voting gives us a progressive president under 60 yrs old with popular support...
The line of succession worries me too. I get a sick enjoyment of the slow pans around the cabinet room as the sycophants spill their love for dear leader.
I think I also just answered my own question about why the Dems won't get rid of the electoral college either - because maybe a third party candidate would win and they'd be singing for their supper too with all their GOP collaborators. 😳
You know that’s not how it works, right? Should the Orange Shitstain, for whatever reason, vacate the office, Vance becomes President. The office of VP is now vacant and Vance nominates someone to fill it. That person is subject to confirmation by both houses of Congress. Unusual, in that these kinds of appointments are usually only subject to Senate confirmation. But there you have it.
Read Paul Krugman's substack. After many years at the NYT, he left because of their sanewashing BS, among others things. He's a Nobel prize winning economist who has a way with words and great taste in music. https://paulkrugman.substack.com/
Quoting him, '... amateurs talk about stocks, but professionals talk about bond and currency markets.' That might make the vaunted (/s) stock market easier to understand for many people.
It's the bond and currency markets, as Klugman says, that brought Trump to his knees.
Krugman ends his piece lamenting the loss of credibility and that America can't be trusted to act sanely. That's the thing. The stupid isn't going away. The normals might win the next round but eventually the stupid will come roaring back. We are finished as a country unless there's some sort of watershed event to remove the stupid and fast. And no, I'm not thinking "reeducation".
Insider Trading Jeff. Its a thing. The entire Trump Cabinet it doing it.
The sad part is, We have seen this before. Harding. He did this. And the sad part about all of it is, Harding actually had the balls to admit that he wasnt presidential material. And he still fucking cheated like a little bitch.
Sporkfoot has been trading like crazy this past week. She loaded up on Apple and others at their low point. Almost like she knew something the rest of us didn’t
Probably? Make that undoubtedly! Empty's head is pretty much the same as her name, but she knows to make a few pennies when she sees it going on everywhere else.
My investment manager family members told me long ago that the market is "an emotional animal" that can react to even the smallest disturbances in the Force. That's why things like 9-11, pandemics, Wall Street casino fuckery gone wrong and manufactured wars in Iraq can make it retire to the fainting couch. It can also go up on a bad news day if some other data sneaks in under the radar (good inflation news, or in our current world, a rumor that Trump's heart exploded.) What the markets have NEVER had to contend with is a 9-11 shock EVERY FUCKING DAY. The markets, gold, oil, T-bills are having a collective nervous breakdown - and since some are finally coming around to the fact that Trump is indeed crazy as a rat in a coffee can - can you imagine how hard his tiny unit must be knowing that he has Masters of the Universe power at his immediate whim? The scarier part is how many people are afraid to do anything about it. I'd say they'll pay for it in the mid-terms ... but if you told me Trump would win two, almost three of the last presidential elections - I'd have laughed in your face. Strap in. it's going to be a bumpy ride.
Read Buffett and Munger. The "Efficient Market Theory" is a lie. The stock markets are irrational. They seldom reflect the actual intrinsic value of a company on any given day. Like cattle stampeding across the plains. Water sloshing in a bath tub (with Donald's tariff paddle wheel churning everything up.)
Think about the coming insanity of the US Treasury investing in Bitcoin and other make believe crypto money. They can use our tax dollars in the Treasury to manipulate those markets for their personal gain. Their ill gotten gain in real US Dollars!
Trump's completely unnecessary chaos has generated so much uncertainty in the minds of business decision makers that gridlock has started. When CEOs are worried about the future of their companies they stop buying services from vendors or expanding or hiring. Optimism has flipped to pessimism. Even for companies that don't import or export.
I have two small companies that may fail because our clients are backing away from their previous purchase commitments. As of today.
Forget "recession". The Big Crunch is coming. Price inflation from the national sales tax (tariffs). Layoffs due to spending cutbacks. This is going to get ugly fast.
So much for the genius of King Donnie the Dumbshit.
It is more shocking that we must watch after so much inaction and in effect permission to break the laws were given to the felon psychopath.
Trump thinks he’s socking it to China. But trump has simultaneously destroyed our alternate sources like Vietnam, Japan etc by causing them to lose all confidence in the U.S. We buy parts for cars from Canada, Mexico & other countries. When you buy a cup of coffee, the paper cup is made with supplies from Canada, the lids…from China etc. The is by far the DUMBEST most psycho deranged administration EVER!!
The world's economy and well being depends on a 79 year old grampa who acts like he got a bumpy on his head. What in the hell is wrong with the grownups in the Press and the DNC and GOP to put up with this shit?
I just thought if it was something we used or people we know use, maybe we could find some customers for you. My husband is fairly well connected in the Bay Area musical community. It's a joke, he goes to lunches, faux rehearsals, and a breakfast every week. After a breakfast once, the group walked into a Guitar Center and everyone, employees and customers, greeted him by name. .One of his co-breakfastees exclaimed, "Damn, you really do know everyone!" But, no biggie.
I'm not as paranoid as some but I'll keep close to the vest just in case the next version of the Iron Heel goes after the resistors. This is a precarious world. See Bill Browder's experience, for one example.
One company is in consumer products with some imported components that are not made or available in the US. When the tariffs hit my company, customers will be made aware of the Trump Tariff Surtax they will have to pay.
The other company is in STEM education curriculum, with corporate backing. CEOs are backing away from educational funding projects, even if they will benefit their enterprises in the long run. Lots of fear in the C suites from Donald's insanity.
Amazing that rational adults grant the crooked dummy any credibility or power. The world rests on a dull knife edge, held by an old, malignant, dithering grampa.
Right on. Carney has some balls, thank the Lord. I've been reading Blundell and enjoy the beatings orange is taking from Carney - it's super interesting to follow Carney because he Is for real smart about finance/currency and can easily outplay in this sandbox. I live near the border and would cross if I could.
Thanks, Jeff! I needed this today. Another weekend of golf. Pissing away taxpayers money. I'm sure it will clear the space between his ears. Have a good weekend.
You know how in times (supposedly) past, people consulted oracles or read the entrails of sacrificed animals in order to propitiate the gods or predict the future? Substitute "markets" for oracles and entrails and you'll pretty much have it.
Not really, if you consider that China is already perceived as the only apparent check on Trump, if only in the short term. Markets operate only on what it perceives as information. Trump is a great geyser of chaos, which markets cannot abide. In that environment, it will cling to whatever driftwood of stability that may float by. But, again, temporarily.
Could the Yuan become the world's reserve currency? Of course not! That would be insane! Maybe the C$? More acceptable, but they're just too small. Searching for driftwood here....
Just think, investor cheaters class, usually lies and cheating, did I mention the worst it is the ‘Pump and Dump’ but at the prez level it’s not sneaky enough so everybody knows he wouldn’t do it and no stable genius would even think that way it would be stupid.
Paul Krugman used the script from this little snippet of Apocaclypse Now in one of his recent columns but I think the video is better'https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1RkAGDjfHvU. In any event it applies as much to the markets as it does to the Orange Turd.
There’s no way his Adderall consumption could be anything other than dangerous to his heart. I stopped taking mine several years ago out of an abundance of caution, even though I miss the lack of ADHD control. But I hope tRump continues to binge as much as he wants.
The stock market is a collection of pants-wetters who react to negative stimuli much the way a very nervous cat does: Touch its tail, it claws your arm.
Its other mood is irrational exuberance, which is what we witnessed post-election, when the pants-wetters forgot everything they learned the hard way in 2020 to become 110% bullish on Trump and America's Golden Age. How was he going to bring that about? "NEVER MIND! WE CAN SAY 'RET-RD' IN PUBLIC AGAIN!"
What could go wrong?
In short, it's stupid people playing with numbers until one of them either freaks out or gets irrationally exuberant. Then, because none of them have any immunity to emotional fluctuations, the rest succumb and it's anyone's guess where it'll end up.
Except for those of us who don't have millions in funny money to throw away. We end up broke.
Ok, …. So let me get this straight. These masters of the fucking universe who play the markets like a fuckin Stradivarius are only just now beginning to think that Agent Orange might actually be insane? Oh no! It must be true if those fucking fuckers have finally fucking figured it out. Meanwhile I lost a fuck ton of my retirement money last week and this week. I guess I’ll just have to keep working for another forty fucking years. It’s a good thing we have this super duper efficient capitalist system huh!
Maybe they should have asked someone who knows something about mental illness and dementia, like before they supported him?
Hey, at least you have a job. I’ve lost a chunk of my retirement and am way too old to be employable now. Debating whether to convert what’s left of it to cash & go back to fearing all the other things “blob l’orange” (credit to Anthony Davis) is destroying.
I hear you. I was self-employed, and at the time I began that journey I had to have a professional manage my retirement account for it to qualify as a business deduction. Since it’s done well enough to get me 7+ years into retirement (along with social security), I haven’t thought about it again until now. As Rep Crocket said, at least we could sleep instead of worrying about our retirement account when “sleepy joe” was president!
I sometimes can't help blame the people who voted for him. There's ample evidence, going back to the 1980s, of djt being a corrupt actor. In the 1980 he and his dad were greenmailing when the old man bought shares of Time, Inc. Then there are the decades of bad deals, bankruptcies, and all other manner of bad conduct. It boggles the mind.
We retired during the Biden years and all was well..financial guy AND tax guy were consulted prior and both said “you’re gonna be okay if you just maintain your lifestyle as is”. Now? I decided the best course of action is to plan on shuffling off this mortal coil a year or two sooner.
And since we managed to pay off our house, we figure that at least our kids, their spouses, the grands and the pets can all live with us. Sure 10 people and 5dogs might be crowded, but we can plant the lawn into a “victory garden”, become vegan and buy giant bags of soybeans from farmers in the Midwest and peanuts from the farmer who used to supply USAID. (Grandson with severe peanut allergy will just have to suck it up. Cheap grain to grind into flour. And with no Dept of education and child labor laws, we can send the 10 & 8 year old girls out to work the overnight shift cleaning the saws for the meat dept at the grocery store (all praise to King Donald for returning that word to us) and cleaning all the exhaust fans, hot cooking oil and the like. And soon the three year old can get out there to work too. He can easily fit into ducting to clean that out. And think of the fruit and veggies that needs to be picked! They’re all short and close the ground. The farmers will love to hire them to pick! Finally, these kids will learn important values, skills and lessons. Reading, science and math are so yesterday. Today’s kids look to the future with “real life skills”.
Not quite how I decided to do this. I'm guessing I'll be dead by June next year, if I follow in my mother's footsteps. Our house is paid off and my son still lives with us, earning a lot of money driving a BART train. We've finally planted all our dwarf fruit trees and are waiting for our raised planter box for vegetables. We have money in the bank, so I'm hoping my husband, and hopefully my son will be okay. It's not quite the dystopian future you envision. I'd advise no more grands. The climate crisis will not provide food for them.
Condolences to you. Got a message with my last SS check that payment could not be guaranteed. Also trying to figure out a way to earn money without triggering Afib. Best wishes to you.
It's true. Donnie was bellowing at them through a bullhorn that Big Beautiful Badass Tariffs were coming and they would be glorious. What they were listening for was "oh, a tax break, you say?".
Humans are flawed. Money is a force multiplier. Do the math.
And Kevin might just be high all the time with that stupid grin.
Bullshit: “yeah well, I’m not going to name the countries yet.”
I normally dont want to post links to my columns or anyone else's in the comments, (it doesnt feel right) but one of the best explanations about this tariff crap is here.
Cracker farm candidate Donnie is nuttier than a squirrel turd. But then again, so are many of his supporters and loyalists in Congress. Every time he fucks up which is daily, there's always some bullshit justification on what he said or did was perfectly ok. As long as the sanewashing press like the NYT are around, this shit won't stop.
The thing I am most proud of these days is my status as an OG Never-Trumping RINO. I quit the same day I read George Will's "Oh FUCK This Shit" piece came out (well not literally those words, that wouldn't go well with his bowtie), way back in the dim times. I don't get out much, either.
Exactly. These so called great minds on Wall Street all knew it to. They just decided to risk the country to get a tax, deregulation and a favor or two.
I deleted my post. clearly don’t understand how this website works. Ugh.
Thank you for this article. It explains a lot. Someone explained to Donnie (in very simple words) that other countries OWN our debt! THIS is why he “paused” his tariff madness! NOW they have to break the news to him that China owns $759B in treasury bonds. It won’t be long before he caves on China because they’ve got ahold of him by the dick!
Someone told someone who told someone else who told another guy who knew how to simplify it for the Dotard. This is how his entire administration works.
Looks to me you’re doing great! I thought the article was awesome in that I didn’t exactly know how tariffs worked-and it’s much clearer now. Donnie is a complete idiot and an embarrassment. 🙄
Interesting post by Blundell, and it makes a lot of sense, but at this point nothing has been made public in Canada. Blundell’s sources and the basis of his economic knowledge are unknown. Keep in mind that Carney was elected Leader of the Liberal Party on March 9th and sworn into office as Prime Minister on March 14. He left for Europe and the UK on the 17. Carney’s background certainly would have enabled him to communicate with other well-placed individuals internationally prior to his appointment as the PM of Canada.
It will take years for all official information to be available. But one thing is clear Carney’s knowledge of economics and his experience as the Governor of both the Bank of Canada and Bank of England make Trump and his advisers look like the stooges they truly are.
Yes, I’ve read it. But it sure doesn’t shed light on where Blundell, a Canadian substacker would have gotten this information, although what Carney was purported to have done certainly supports his thorough knowledge of how bonds work.
I just want to wipe that stupid grin off Chuckles Hassett’s face. There isn’t one brain cell in that administration. Not one. I’m so sick of these idiots, I could just scream. Thank goodness it’s almost the weekend. I can’t take anymore. Jeff, however, keeps me sane and very amused.
I'm quite sure that Jeff needs a vacay, poor man. Doing this every day must be exhausting. Reading it is exhausting but I'm committed. It's my only source of hope and joy right now.
There was a group of mental health professionals called Duty to Warn that formed after 2016. The AMA went after them, because although mental health professionals do have a duty to warn the intended victim(s) of a credible threat, the AMA organization is all about money. Grabbed licenses, got professors fired, etc. It was not pretty.
Undoubtedly. And also vindictive, ignorant, unpredictable,, stupid, egotistical, and a huge fucking crook. This "unique" combination makes him so dangerous. Unprecedentedly dangerous
Yeah, and remember when the ignoramus MAGAts used to brag that "he kept us out of wars" in his first term? He was restrained by the likes of the sane then; now he's surrounded by incompetent sycophants who are almost as ignorant as him.
Come for the cruelty, stay for the grift. Trump 2.0 is a giant magnet that pulled in sociopaths from every point of the compass. The only reason people still (!) think Donny is a genius is because of the Art of the Deal (ghostwritten) and The Apprentice (producer Mark Burnett), which promoted an entirely fictional version of our Idiot-in-Chief. There is no strategy. There is no 4-dimensional chess board. There is only Donny, his angry revenge-seeking mush brain, his lack of impulse control and his flunkies.
TRump's entire strategy is to please his boss in Moscow. Putin is overjoyed watching TRump destroy us from within. That's what's happening. I wish more people understood this.
Jeff, as much as I like and completely agree with your political opinions you are one of very few writers, of politics or otherwise, who quite literally makes me laugh out loud. Thanks for all of that!
Well, The Independent from Britain has a headline this morning that Donald “might be insane” as to his tariffs. What do you expect when convicted Donald along with convicted Navarro plan trade policy🤮
Thank you, Jeff, for what you said about the New York Times. I, too, don’t want to understand those right-wing crooks, I just want them to get out of our f’ing faces.
The most ignorant and most zealous are those who believe ideas should be banned and prosecuted. Enter the religious, racist right. What ideas are they most afraid will cross the border? DEI? Universal healthcare? Environmental protections? Labor rights? Reproductive choice? Vaccination works?
The dangerous criminal in charge is equal measures crooked, stupid, and unstable, so who really knows his motivations. Even he probably doesn't have a clear idea why he does what he does most of the time. His fucking stooges did definitely make huge money with the tariff pause announcement, but was that intentional or did someone get through to him that he is really fucking up our solvency? According to what was said on the 11th Hour with Stephanie Ruhle, the enormous amount of US debt (Treasury securities) held by China, Canada, and Europe gives them the ability to screw us over royally if he continues to screw them, to the point of threatening to bankrupt us, although TBH I doubt he understands that.
That’s right. If those nations were to all divest their Treasury bond holdings at once we would default leading to unimaginably dire results around the world, including the collapse of the value of the US dollar.
That is why they have held off doing so. They are more responsible actors than our Idiot Prez. Thank goodness.
But don’t expect any of them to be present at the upcoming auction of new treasury bonds later this month.
Already Treasuries are seeing rising yields, which indicates falling prices, which indicates selling. A guy on CNBC said Japan is dumping their Treasuries
Maybe off topic, but, Trump fired the commander of the base in Greenland this morning, for, gasp, being a diplomat as well as a warrior, (most warriors know that diplomacy is integral to effective warrioring.)
I hate writing about the markets because I don't really understand the markets. maybe someone can explain to me why, after China announced early this morning they were increasing their tariffs on OUR goods, that caused Dow futures to RISE. isn't that counter-intuitive?
Don't worry it's down now. Fluctuating like the EKG of a 78 year old, obese, daily Big Mac eater; who snorts Adderall.
LOL!! Any day now....
The Simpsons predicted Little Donny Fuck Face’s death on April 12, 2025 in one of their episodes. I was never a fan of the show but if they were right I would happily become a convert. Come on cholesterol!!
If that happens,I’ll never miss an episode.
If (and hopefully WHEN) it happens do you think he'll trust his personal Dr. Nick? Or they guy who signed-off on his "215 pounds?"
315. And Playtex Girdle. Lol!
Sargent Ronny Jackson, is tortured regularly still I believe he was relived from duty he is a loser.
None of these people can be trusted that work for Trump. Hitler's doctor fed him all sorts of toxins to treat his depression from what I have read it sounds like full blown quackery. Dictators do not hear the truth from their doctors, who are in a great position to poison them.
🙏🙏🙏
The writers of the show said they did not write that into an episode. Someone made it up and it's all over the internet now, but we can always hope.
Well, shitballs! I heard that the Simpsons are pretty accurate in their predictions, so I got my hopes up. A grrl can dream.
Wouldn’t it be fascinating if the high jacked Simpsons April 12th Donny Dday internet ploy is the libertarians’ equivalent of “Russia, if you’re listening…” and thus a cell is activated? Ha! That would be genius and poetic justice all in one.
The Simpsons have never been wrong.
Donnie wanted a "Donald Trump Day."
If that episode comes true, we can have April 12th as Donald's Day - and that episode will be played on a loop on all TV stations.
Ewwwwwww
April 12, 2025? You posted this on April 11, 2025. An example of a REALLY mis-placed modifier. I figured it out but I am a Pedant.
Fingers crossed that today's the day, Mary!
Please please please Please please please Please please please ....
If it comes true I'll even buy a TV and watch reruns up to the present.
Big time. That would be worth a Military Parade.
He would get one for sure if that occurred.
That would be the first Presidential cortege that no-one turned up to watch. . .
😂🤣😂
Astrologically, April 2025 is an exact match to June 1968. Just sayin.
I was born May 1968. I saw a documentary once that said 1968 was a terrible year. I am also a fan of astrology so thx for the warning.
1968--Jan/Feb. The Viet Cong broke into the US Embassy in Saigon during Tet
March-- Gene ? won a primary and Johnson said he wouldn't run for a second term
April 5--Martin Luther King assassinated, a few days later, Oakland Police murdered Bobby Hutton
May--
June 6--Bobby Kennedy assassinated (after this we were all in shock)
July--
Aug-- Police riot in Chicago during the Democratic Convention (that's the description of Senator Abraham Ribicoff on the floor of the convention. The response of the mayor of Chicago was "Fuck you!" That's a lipreading version.)
Sept/Oct-- This is where I get confused and would have to look it up. Days of Rage in Chicago/Weather Underground was either 1968 or 1969. I bailed someone out of jail for the first time in Oct. 1968.
Nov-- Nixon/Agnew elected.
Is that enough for you?
1969 even was worse on the ground in Berkeley.
I was 17 at the beginning of 1968 and 19 at the end of 1969.
These were awful years.
If astrology is true, then we're in trouble. Based on current events, this is shaping up to be an awful year.
For sure that's enough. I've read or seen docs about all of those events but having them all at once creates context. Looking back on it, what do you think was happening? It could not have all been driven by the war. I have to think MLK was assassinated because he was driving labor and civil rights leadership into an unstoppable singular force. Who ordered the assassinations? I saw Remarkable doc on RFK and they showed interviews with many elder women who were working on the campaign and they all said they were worried about him being assassinated, like they knew something but not quite where it was coming from. Winning CA was somehow the last straw?
Well, it's sucked so far.
Oh dear.
The sooner the better! 👍
Any word on his physical today?
I'm sure they'll report that he's sharp as a tack. 🤮
🤮🤮🤮 See your one and raise you two.😂
Wish it'd get here 🤨💙✌🏻
Chris this is an accurate description of the orange felon and I love it!! Everyone is so creative when it comes to the orange felon’s description!! Have a great Friday everyone!!
Mango Mussolini my favorite. Or Shitler.
I like to use treason weasel myself.
Donito Assolini
Congratulations! You now have an entry onto my long, hilarious list of T💩p monikers. Thanks for your contribution!
Shitgibbon
Agolf Shitler.
😂
Ditto Cathy and everyone here!!
Today is the Idiots "Annual Physical." I'm sure the Idiot is in tippy top shape. My ass! I want him to see a real doctor with real results.
T💩p always said he’s 6’3” and 239#. Know why? If he was 240# he would be categorized as “obese” on the BMI scale.
We know that he lies about everything and is also the vainest mofo on the 🌎.
How about Dr. This Won’t Hurt One Bit. You get to sleep it off. Forever.
Hey, Trump is at Walter Reed today getting his medical exam. He claims he's not worried about the cognitive test. So "camel, rhinoceros, lion, ice cream cone ..."
But then, we get Vance. He croaks from couch friction burn infection, we get Holy Mike. Seems like a no win situation.
I have a fantasy about Holy getting booted out of the majority seat like McCarthy and 3 GOPs resigning - like Glitch where the governor is Dem...and suddenly there's a LOT of pushback from people in the street because people on both sides like Couch substantially less than Elmo and Thiel...and it all folds like a house of cards, the Dems destroy the electoral college, new elections are called, third party candidate runs, rank choice voting gives us a progressive president under 60 yrs old with popular support...
I like the cut of your jib.
The line of succession worries me too. I get a sick enjoyment of the slow pans around the cabinet room as the sycophants spill their love for dear leader.
Holy Mike is hated by everyone, even his own Congress. I don't think anyone would follow him. Maybe that is my delusional thinking.
I think I also just answered my own question about why the Dems won't get rid of the electoral college either - because maybe a third party candidate would win and they'd be singing for their supper too with all their GOP collaborators. 😳
Scares the hell out me. Where’s the targeted super spreading virus when you need one?
You know that’s not how it works, right? Should the Orange Shitstain, for whatever reason, vacate the office, Vance becomes President. The office of VP is now vacant and Vance nominates someone to fill it. That person is subject to confirmation by both houses of Congress. Unusual, in that these kinds of appointments are usually only subject to Senate confirmation. But there you have it.
I forgot about that detail. Holy is only in line if Couch is sidelined before he appoints a new VP...unless there's an Alexander Haig style coup!
😂😂😂Couch friction burn infection. Omg.
Kinda sorry he chose to not drink or smoke. Could've speeded this along. But he's incapable of walking so there's that.
Snorts bigly though.
As does Junior— rotten apple didn’t fall from the tree. Fuck them.
Thanks, Chris, for that chuckle tucked in there where I didn't expect it. Fortunately, I wasn't drinking coffee when I read it.
And has never, ever disclosed a verifiable doctor's report -- that guy?
Take it easy, Chris. I hope to get there.
That was an awesome answer Chris!!! hahahaha
Good one, Chris
Read Paul Krugman's substack. After many years at the NYT, he left because of their sanewashing BS, among others things. He's a Nobel prize winning economist who has a way with words and great taste in music. https://paulkrugman.substack.com/
Oh yeah, that's a great Krugman this am.
Quoting him, '... amateurs talk about stocks, but professionals talk about bond and currency markets.' That might make the vaunted (/s) stock market easier to understand for many people.
It's the bond and currency markets, as Klugman says, that brought Trump to his knees.
He's been on fire lately!
Jake Broe has an excellent explanation of bonds on his y/t.
Yeah, Klugman was great in the “Odd Couple”.
I was all thumbs this morning, thanks for correcting me.
😂😂
Krugman ends his piece lamenting the loss of credibility and that America can't be trusted to act sanely. That's the thing. The stupid isn't going away. The normals might win the next round but eventually the stupid will come roaring back. We are finished as a country unless there's some sort of watershed event to remove the stupid and fast. And no, I'm not thinking "reeducation".
He's awesome. Jared Bernstein (Jared's Substack) is super informative as well.
And this is why I have canceled my subscription to the Times. Have the never heard of the words “lie” and “fraud?”
Insider Trading Jeff. Its a thing. The entire Trump Cabinet it doing it.
The sad part is, We have seen this before. Harding. He did this. And the sad part about all of it is, Harding actually had the balls to admit that he wasnt presidential material. And he still fucking cheated like a little bitch.
https://thistleandmoss.com/p/dumpster-fire-vs-historical-trash
And didn’t Martha Stewart go to jail over it? Ahhh, yes the scarlet letter and now it’s mainstream “investing” for millionaires.
Actually Martha went to jail for lying to the FBI. The insider trading part disappeared.
Even dimbulbs like Marj Traitor Greene are probably insider trading, along with the rest of the congressional MAGAts
Sporkfoot has been trading like crazy this past week. She loaded up on Apple and others at their low point. Almost like she knew something the rest of us didn’t
Probably? Make that undoubtedly! Empty's head is pretty much the same as her name, but she knows to make a few pennies when she sees it going on everywhere else.
Yes..I heard she.called her broker 30 minutes before the market rose
Harding was nice enough to die early.
All members of congress have a guide to the market (insider trading information) the job creates millionaires!!
My investment manager family members told me long ago that the market is "an emotional animal" that can react to even the smallest disturbances in the Force. That's why things like 9-11, pandemics, Wall Street casino fuckery gone wrong and manufactured wars in Iraq can make it retire to the fainting couch. It can also go up on a bad news day if some other data sneaks in under the radar (good inflation news, or in our current world, a rumor that Trump's heart exploded.) What the markets have NEVER had to contend with is a 9-11 shock EVERY FUCKING DAY. The markets, gold, oil, T-bills are having a collective nervous breakdown - and since some are finally coming around to the fact that Trump is indeed crazy as a rat in a coffee can - can you imagine how hard his tiny unit must be knowing that he has Masters of the Universe power at his immediate whim? The scarier part is how many people are afraid to do anything about it. I'd say they'll pay for it in the mid-terms ... but if you told me Trump would win two, almost three of the last presidential elections - I'd have laughed in your face. Strap in. it's going to be a bumpy ride.
I like that explanation. I like to refer to the markets as a "consensual mass hallucination"
Read Buffett and Munger. The "Efficient Market Theory" is a lie. The stock markets are irrational. They seldom reflect the actual intrinsic value of a company on any given day. Like cattle stampeding across the plains. Water sloshing in a bath tub (with Donald's tariff paddle wheel churning everything up.)
Think about the coming insanity of the US Treasury investing in Bitcoin and other make believe crypto money. They can use our tax dollars in the Treasury to manipulate those markets for their personal gain. Their ill gotten gain in real US Dollars!
Donnie and friends are pushing crypto so they can loot the treasury and there will be no way to trace their larceny.
Trump's completely unnecessary chaos has generated so much uncertainty in the minds of business decision makers that gridlock has started. When CEOs are worried about the future of their companies they stop buying services from vendors or expanding or hiring. Optimism has flipped to pessimism. Even for companies that don't import or export.
I have two small companies that may fail because our clients are backing away from their previous purchase commitments. As of today.
Forget "recession". The Big Crunch is coming. Price inflation from the national sales tax (tariffs). Layoffs due to spending cutbacks. This is going to get ugly fast.
So much for the genius of King Donnie the Dumbshit.
It is more shocking that we must watch after so much inaction and in effect permission to break the laws were given to the felon psychopath.
Trump thinks he’s socking it to China. But trump has simultaneously destroyed our alternate sources like Vietnam, Japan etc by causing them to lose all confidence in the U.S. We buy parts for cars from Canada, Mexico & other countries. When you buy a cup of coffee, the paper cup is made with supplies from Canada, the lids…from China etc. The is by far the DUMBEST most psycho deranged administration EVER!!
The world's economy and well being depends on a 79 year old grampa who acts like he got a bumpy on his head. What in the hell is wrong with the grownups in the Press and the DNC and GOP to put up with this shit?
What are you selling? Where are you located?
Why do you ask kemosabe?
I just thought if it was something we used or people we know use, maybe we could find some customers for you. My husband is fairly well connected in the Bay Area musical community. It's a joke, he goes to lunches, faux rehearsals, and a breakfast every week. After a breakfast once, the group walked into a Guitar Center and everyone, employees and customers, greeted him by name. .One of his co-breakfastees exclaimed, "Damn, you really do know everyone!" But, no biggie.
I'm not as paranoid as some but I'll keep close to the vest just in case the next version of the Iron Heel goes after the resistors. This is a precarious world. See Bill Browder's experience, for one example.
One company is in consumer products with some imported components that are not made or available in the US. When the tariffs hit my company, customers will be made aware of the Trump Tariff Surtax they will have to pay.
The other company is in STEM education curriculum, with corporate backing. CEOs are backing away from educational funding projects, even if they will benefit their enterprises in the long run. Lots of fear in the C suites from Donald's insanity.
Amazing that rational adults grant the crooked dummy any credibility or power. The world rests on a dull knife edge, held by an old, malignant, dithering grampa.
I just wonder how long he'll last. Take care.
Best explanation I've read so far.
https://open.substack.com/pub/deanblundell/p/carneys-checkmate-how-canadas-quiet?r=39x24&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=web&showWelcomeOnShare=false
Right on. Carney has some balls, thank the Lord. I've been reading Blundell and enjoy the beatings orange is taking from Carney - it's super interesting to follow Carney because he Is for real smart about finance/currency and can easily outplay in this sandbox. I live near the border and would cross if I could.
Oh me too!
Thanks for the read totally agree - best explanation of the situation.
Fantastic read, thank you!
Thanks, Susan. That’s great info!
Thank you for this
Just a lag.
Thanks, Jeff! I needed this today. Another weekend of golf. Pissing away taxpayers money. I'm sure it will clear the space between his ears. Have a good weekend.
You know how in times (supposedly) past, people consulted oracles or read the entrails of sacrificed animals in order to propitiate the gods or predict the future? Substitute "markets" for oracles and entrails and you'll pretty much have it.
Donnie the Connie just checks his "gut", remember?
"Gut" = entrails when they're still inside the body. <g>
Markets are just another human construct that no human can understand, like all other human constructs.
Same. I've had the market explained to me, what effects what and how. Then I watch the market and it does the exact opposite.
Not really, if you consider that China is already perceived as the only apparent check on Trump, if only in the short term. Markets operate only on what it perceives as information. Trump is a great geyser of chaos, which markets cannot abide. In that environment, it will cling to whatever driftwood of stability that may float by. But, again, temporarily.
Could the Yuan become the world's reserve currency? Of course not! That would be insane! Maybe the C$? More acceptable, but they're just too small. Searching for driftwood here....
Just think, investor cheaters class, usually lies and cheating, did I mention the worst it is the ‘Pump and Dump’ but at the prez level it’s not sneaky enough so everybody knows he wouldn’t do it and no stable genius would even think that way it would be stupid.
Paul Krugman used the script from this little snippet of Apocaclypse Now in one of his recent columns but I think the video is better'https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1RkAGDjfHvU. In any event it applies as much to the markets as it does to the Orange Turd.
There’s no way his Adderall consumption could be anything other than dangerous to his heart. I stopped taking mine several years ago out of an abundance of caution, even though I miss the lack of ADHD control. But I hope tRump continues to binge as much as he wants.
The stock market is a collection of pants-wetters who react to negative stimuli much the way a very nervous cat does: Touch its tail, it claws your arm.
Its other mood is irrational exuberance, which is what we witnessed post-election, when the pants-wetters forgot everything they learned the hard way in 2020 to become 110% bullish on Trump and America's Golden Age. How was he going to bring that about? "NEVER MIND! WE CAN SAY 'RET-RD' IN PUBLIC AGAIN!"
What could go wrong?
In short, it's stupid people playing with numbers until one of them either freaks out or gets irrationally exuberant. Then, because none of them have any immunity to emotional fluctuations, the rest succumb and it's anyone's guess where it'll end up.
Except for those of us who don't have millions in funny money to throw away. We end up broke.
TL/dr: Buy low, sell high.
You're welcome.
Ok, …. So let me get this straight. These masters of the fucking universe who play the markets like a fuckin Stradivarius are only just now beginning to think that Agent Orange might actually be insane? Oh no! It must be true if those fucking fuckers have finally fucking figured it out. Meanwhile I lost a fuck ton of my retirement money last week and this week. I guess I’ll just have to keep working for another forty fucking years. It’s a good thing we have this super duper efficient capitalist system huh!
Maybe they should have asked someone who knows something about mental illness and dementia, like before they supported him?
Hey, at least you have a job. I’ve lost a chunk of my retirement and am way too old to be employable now. Debating whether to convert what’s left of it to cash & go back to fearing all the other things “blob l’orange” (credit to Anthony Davis) is destroying.
TRump's supporters are all as mentally ill as he is.
Megan 👍🏼 So true!
I’ve always said you should give cash a bit of credit Abbi! Having never trusted putting money into a rigged system, bon chance!!
I hear you. I was self-employed, and at the time I began that journey I had to have a professional manage my retirement account for it to qualify as a business deduction. Since it’s done well enough to get me 7+ years into retirement (along with social security), I haven’t thought about it again until now. As Rep Crocket said, at least we could sleep instead of worrying about our retirement account when “sleepy joe” was president!
Truer words Abbi!!
"super duper efficient capitalist system" 🤣🤣🤣 👏👏👏
Not sure whether to laugh or cry. 🤣
I hear ya...can we do both at the same time?
I’m working on it!
I sometimes can't help blame the people who voted for him. There's ample evidence, going back to the 1980s, of djt being a corrupt actor. In the 1980 he and his dad were greenmailing when the old man bought shares of Time, Inc. Then there are the decades of bad deals, bankruptcies, and all other manner of bad conduct. It boggles the mind.
It's the responsibility of the voter to make a wise decision. You can blame them. They weren't paying attention.
Sans mention of his Genovese, along with all the many crime syndicates he was tied to, including Russian mob boss Semion Mogilivech!
I’m doing both in my coffee.
We retired during the Biden years and all was well..financial guy AND tax guy were consulted prior and both said “you’re gonna be okay if you just maintain your lifestyle as is”. Now? I decided the best course of action is to plan on shuffling off this mortal coil a year or two sooner.
And since we managed to pay off our house, we figure that at least our kids, their spouses, the grands and the pets can all live with us. Sure 10 people and 5dogs might be crowded, but we can plant the lawn into a “victory garden”, become vegan and buy giant bags of soybeans from farmers in the Midwest and peanuts from the farmer who used to supply USAID. (Grandson with severe peanut allergy will just have to suck it up. Cheap grain to grind into flour. And with no Dept of education and child labor laws, we can send the 10 & 8 year old girls out to work the overnight shift cleaning the saws for the meat dept at the grocery store (all praise to King Donald for returning that word to us) and cleaning all the exhaust fans, hot cooking oil and the like. And soon the three year old can get out there to work too. He can easily fit into ducting to clean that out. And think of the fruit and veggies that needs to be picked! They’re all short and close the ground. The farmers will love to hire them to pick! Finally, these kids will learn important values, skills and lessons. Reading, science and math are so yesterday. Today’s kids look to the future with “real life skills”.
The GOLDEN AGE HAS BEGUN. ALL HAIL THE KING. 🤴🏻
Not quite how I decided to do this. I'm guessing I'll be dead by June next year, if I follow in my mother's footsteps. Our house is paid off and my son still lives with us, earning a lot of money driving a BART train. We've finally planted all our dwarf fruit trees and are waiting for our raised planter box for vegetables. We have money in the bank, so I'm hoping my husband, and hopefully my son will be okay. It's not quite the dystopian future you envision. I'd advise no more grands. The climate crisis will not provide food for them.
When you step on the dinosaur's tail, the signal arrives some time later...
Nicely placed rage Chris, it appears that the financial wizards Trump likes, listens to, are odious cretins as well!!
Condolences to you. Got a message with my last SS check that payment could not be guaranteed. Also trying to figure out a way to earn money without triggering Afib. Best wishes to you.
It's true. Donnie was bellowing at them through a bullhorn that Big Beautiful Badass Tariffs were coming and they would be glorious. What they were listening for was "oh, a tax break, you say?".
Humans are flawed. Money is a force multiplier. Do the math.
I'm sorry...MIGHT be insane???? 😂😂😂😂
And Kevin might just be high all the time with that stupid grin.
Bullshit: “yeah well, I’m not going to name the countries yet.”
I normally dont want to post links to my columns or anyone else's in the comments, (it doesnt feel right) but one of the best explanations about this tariff crap is here.
Mark Carney is the new leader of the free world. Can he please be our new president? https://open.substack.com/pub/deanblundell/p/carneys-checkmate-how-canadas-quiet?r=39x24&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=web&showWelcomeOnShare=false
Cracker farm candidate Donnie is nuttier than a squirrel turd. But then again, so are many of his supporters and loyalists in Congress. Every time he fucks up which is daily, there's always some bullshit justification on what he said or did was perfectly ok. As long as the sanewashing press like the NYT are around, this shit won't stop.
"... nuttier than a squirrel turd." My man!
Hell, yeah!
Posting links like that is important. Blundell is right.
It was a terrific essay...my respect for Mr. Carney soared!!
Mine couldn't soar. It was already pegging 11.
Took me about 2 seconds years ago to figure out T is insane! It was a delayed reaction.
The thing I am most proud of these days is my status as an OG Never-Trumping RINO. I quit the same day I read George Will's "Oh FUCK This Shit" piece came out (well not literally those words, that wouldn't go well with his bowtie), way back in the dim times. I don't get out much, either.
Exactly. These so called great minds on Wall Street all knew it to. They just decided to risk the country to get a tax, deregulation and a favor or two.
My election info showed up in the mail yesterday and I'm voting early. Let's go Liberal Party, we need CARNEY IN DA HOUSE! 💪🍁✔️
Vaya con Dios.
I deleted my post. clearly don’t understand how this website works. Ugh.
Thank you for this article. It explains a lot. Someone explained to Donnie (in very simple words) that other countries OWN our debt! THIS is why he “paused” his tariff madness! NOW they have to break the news to him that China owns $759B in treasury bonds. It won’t be long before he caves on China because they’ve got ahold of him by the dick!
How'd they find it?
Someone told someone who told someone else who told another guy who knew how to simplify it for the Dotard. This is how his entire administration works.
😂😂😂😂
Looks to me you’re doing great! I thought the article was awesome in that I didn’t exactly know how tariffs worked-and it’s much clearer now. Donnie is a complete idiot and an embarrassment. 🙄
I am strongly advocating for them to accept us as their 11th province. We promise to be good...
I'm right there with you!
Thanks for that post Susan!
Interesting post by Blundell, and it makes a lot of sense, but at this point nothing has been made public in Canada. Blundell’s sources and the basis of his economic knowledge are unknown. Keep in mind that Carney was elected Leader of the Liberal Party on March 9th and sworn into office as Prime Minister on March 14. He left for Europe and the UK on the 17. Carney’s background certainly would have enabled him to communicate with other well-placed individuals internationally prior to his appointment as the PM of Canada.
Right. Maybe it had been kept on the quiet side for a reason 🤷♀️
It will take years for all official information to be available. But one thing is clear Carney’s knowledge of economics and his experience as the Governor of both the Bank of Canada and Bank of England make Trump and his advisers look like the stooges they truly are.
I understand there is an article in the Guardian today on this. Has anyone read it?
Yes, I’ve read it. But it sure doesn’t shed light on where Blundell, a Canadian substacker would have gotten this information, although what Carney was purported to have done certainly supports his thorough knowledge of how bonds work.
I just want to wipe that stupid grin off Chuckles Hassett’s face. There isn’t one brain cell in that administration. Not one. I’m so sick of these idiots, I could just scream. Thank goodness it’s almost the weekend. I can’t take anymore. Jeff, however, keeps me sane and very amused.
Thank Goddess Jeff doesn’t take the weekend off!
I like to think of Jeff as a dedicated public servant... he's doing the heavy lifting to help the rest of us stay sane! 😂
I'm quite sure that Jeff needs a vacay, poor man. Doing this every day must be exhausting. Reading it is exhausting but I'm committed. It's my only source of hope and joy right now.
Aw c’mon, there’s at least two or three brain cells. They just have to share them.
A man who would incite a mob to storm the Capitol is not sane. Why are people just now questioning his sanity?
There was a group of mental health professionals called Duty to Warn that formed after 2016. The AMA went after them, because although mental health professionals do have a duty to warn the intended victim(s) of a credible threat, the AMA organization is all about money. Grabbed licenses, got professors fired, etc. It was not pretty.
Dr Bandy Lee
Maybe??
He's absolutely a fucking idiot.
Undoubtedly. And also vindictive, ignorant, unpredictable,, stupid, egotistical, and a huge fucking crook. This "unique" combination makes him so dangerous. Unprecedentedly dangerous
You think he's bad now? Wait until he starts his little war with Iran which Hogsbreath will support with all his might.
Yeah, and remember when the ignoramus MAGAts used to brag that "he kept us out of wars" in his first term? He was restrained by the likes of the sane then; now he's surrounded by incompetent sycophants who are almost as ignorant as him.
I think Panama will be first.
The NYT promoting instability shows just how unstable they’ve become.
….yesterday I was wondering… but nope, fuck the @NYTimes, really.
Come for the cruelty, stay for the grift. Trump 2.0 is a giant magnet that pulled in sociopaths from every point of the compass. The only reason people still (!) think Donny is a genius is because of the Art of the Deal (ghostwritten) and The Apprentice (producer Mark Burnett), which promoted an entirely fictional version of our Idiot-in-Chief. There is no strategy. There is no 4-dimensional chess board. There is only Donny, his angry revenge-seeking mush brain, his lack of impulse control and his flunkies.
TRump's entire strategy is to please his boss in Moscow. Putin is overjoyed watching TRump destroy us from within. That's what's happening. I wish more people understood this.
Agree...it explains every single thing.
I think so! I'm confused as to how others don't see it happening, right before their very eyes.
Jeff, as much as I like and completely agree with your political opinions you are one of very few writers, of politics or otherwise, who quite literally makes me laugh out loud. Thanks for all of that!
Well, The Independent from Britain has a headline this morning that Donald “might be insane” as to his tariffs. What do you expect when convicted Donald along with convicted Navarro plan trade policy🤮
Thank you, Jeff, for what you said about the New York Times. I, too, don’t want to understand those right-wing crooks, I just want them to get out of our f’ing faces.
The part about "ideas" may not be so far-fetched. After all, they're talking about revoking visas based on "beliefs" among other things.
The most ignorant and most zealous are those who believe ideas should be banned and prosecuted. Enter the religious, racist right. What ideas are they most afraid will cross the border? DEI? Universal healthcare? Environmental protections? Labor rights? Reproductive choice? Vaccination works?
When involuntary commitment makes sense.
Danger to others & inability to care for oneself are 2 of the 3 criteria he clearly achieves.
The dangerous criminal in charge is equal measures crooked, stupid, and unstable, so who really knows his motivations. Even he probably doesn't have a clear idea why he does what he does most of the time. His fucking stooges did definitely make huge money with the tariff pause announcement, but was that intentional or did someone get through to him that he is really fucking up our solvency? According to what was said on the 11th Hour with Stephanie Ruhle, the enormous amount of US debt (Treasury securities) held by China, Canada, and Europe gives them the ability to screw us over royally if he continues to screw them, to the point of threatening to bankrupt us, although TBH I doubt he understands that.
That’s right. If those nations were to all divest their Treasury bond holdings at once we would default leading to unimaginably dire results around the world, including the collapse of the value of the US dollar.
That is why they have held off doing so. They are more responsible actors than our Idiot Prez. Thank goodness.
But don’t expect any of them to be present at the upcoming auction of new treasury bonds later this month.
Already Treasuries are seeing rising yields, which indicates falling prices, which indicates selling. A guy on CNBC said Japan is dumping their Treasuries
Maybe off topic, but, Trump fired the commander of the base in Greenland this morning, for, gasp, being a diplomat as well as a warrior, (most warriors know that diplomacy is integral to effective warrioring.)
https://abcnews.go.com/International/commander-us-base-greenland-fired-email-critical-vance/story?id=120705531