Political Posts

[Paarslaars]

Yeah Powell knows Trump can't touch him... though I don't think he intentionally keeps rates up just to spite Trump.

[LC]

30 minutes ago, Investor20 said:

At the least dont make the guy who wants to sell illicit drugs and kill our children richer by doing business with them and Buffett says he never was able to make a profitable deal with such a person.

 

I call BS. 

 

We do business with Mexico, have done so for years throughout the original War on Drugs. America is better because of it - it allowed Americans to build out global treasures like Google, Microsoft, etc. while lower-income Mexicans build cars and harvest strawberries (generalizing - but you get my point).

 

Also, cutting off trade with China won't stop fentanyl.

 

You want to stop fentanyl deaths, raise lower and middle class wealth.

[changegonnacome]

7 minutes ago, LC said:

You want to stop fentanyl deaths, raise lower and middle class wealth.

 

100% Fentanyl isn't the problem - the problem is much more complicated & nuanced than that......and its something along lines of what kind of society/ political-economy you have where taking Fentanyl could appeal to such a significant portion of the population......put another way..........the precursor ingredients to Fentanyl are manufactured right here in the USA.....and they are lack of education, untreated mental health issues, lack of opportunity/community, poverty etc etc.....these are the REAL precursor ingredients to Fentanyl.

 

 

 

 

Edited April 17, 2025 by changegonnacome

[Blake Hampton]

5 minutes ago, changegonnacome said:

put another way..........the precursor ingredients to Fentanyl are manufactured right here in the USA.....and they are lack of education, untreated mental health issues, lack of opportunity/community, poverty etc etc.....these are the REAL precursor ingredients to Fentanyl.

As someone whose older brother overdosed and died from Fentanyl, I think that’s incredible writing. And I completely agree.

[Blake Hampton]

Trump couldn’t care less about the families of Fentanyl victims. He simply saw a political opportunity and took it.

[james22]

3 minutes ago, Blake Hampton said:

Trump couldn’t care less about the families of Fentanyl victims. He simply saw a political opportunity and took it.

 

Source?

[Red Lion]

1 hour ago, changegonnacome said:

 

Another example of Trump getting in his own way.

 

What purpose does goading the Fed for interest rate cuts do?.....Zero....they won't listen to you anyway on short rates......and at the margins, your lack of respect for Fed independence, is putting upward pressure on long rates.

Well if the 10 year yield reflects longer term fed funds rate expectations, and the consensus grow to accept we will likely get a trump Yes man in 2026, this could maybe arguably throw fuel on the lower long bond trade. 

[John Hjorth]

18 minutes ago, changegonnacome said:

...put another way..........the precursor ingredients to Fentanyl are manufactured right here in the USA.....and they are lack of education, untreated mental health issues, lack of opportunity/community, poverty etc etc.....these are the REAL precursor ingredients to Fentanyl.

 

5 minutes ago, Blake Hampton said:

As someone whose older brother overdosed and died from Fentanyl, I think that’s incredible writing. And I completely agree.

 

4 minutes ago, Blake Hampton said:

Trump couldn’t care less about the families of Fentanyl victims. He simply saw a political opportunity and took it.

 

 

Blake [ @Blake Hampton ],

 

Nobody is really holding you back from doing something about it.

[dwy000]

36 minutes ago, james22 said:

 

Source?

The fact that he's using fentanyl emergency to negotiate trade deals with Japan, Australia, Switzerland, Canada etc. 

[Cigarbutt]

5 hours ago, SharperDingaan said:

 

Think of your bank account...as the crowd stampedes the exit. 

If you weren't sure on this, look at... prices before and after... Same thing is coming to the US.

SD

Ok what you mean then is the relative change of capital flows and the effect on price (without taking into effect the induced currency echange variation arising from such changes in flows).

Read a few times lately (some kind of paraphrase): foreign investors have started to "dump" US assets and are recycling the USD into their own domestic currency blah blah ..

What one needs to remember is that we basically live in a close circuit. The USDs circulating do not disappear, they go around. So maybe the huge foreign inflows of USD going back through the capital account will decrease because of tariff limitations and all but this decrease in foreign inflows (mathematically) needs (to balance) the expected decrease in the US trade deficit.

For net capital flow out of the US to happen, the US would need to become a trade surplus country!

For interest, here's the foreign appetite (Japan) for US treasuries. Recently they've sold some of them in exchange for USD. And then, what can they do, on a sustainable basis, with the accumulated USDs? Continue to buy (and strengthen) Yens?

The main point: The USD remains the underlying gold standard until a better option becomes possible and (opinion), at least so far, cryptocurrencies have not met the fundamental criteria to meet such alternative standard. i still expect, apart from temporary technical (noise) reasons, the USD (and equivalent Treasuries) to remain a safe haven and, counterintuitively, the recent US-based attempts to change the global financial order may precipitate such dynamics (reach for safety). Why? As you referred (oil crisis period), i was a kid basically when there were widespread beliefs that the USD was under threat as a global currency only to find out a few years later that the USD became even more at the center of the global financial system after Bretton Woods failed!

-----

Yes, the trade deficit vs GDP needs to come down, and it will, somehow..

 

[dealraker]

"Come on Jay, you know my successful sell is to constantly act like a deranged dumbass, it is your job to bail me out dude."

Edited April 17, 2025 by dealraker

[Longnose]

2 hours ago, LC said:

 

We should declare a War on Drugs.

It really worked well the last time we tried it.

 

[Parsad]

2 hours ago, changegonnacome said:

 

Another example of Trump getting in his own way.

 

What purpose does goading the Fed for interest rate cuts do?.....Zero....they won't listen to you anyway on short rates......and at the margins, your lack of respect for Fed independence, is putting upward pressure on long rates.

 

Funny thing is, prices are down because of reduced consumption from the tariffs and by keeping interest rates where they were.  What the hell does he need lower interest rates for right now if Powell is focused on keeping inflation at 2%.  Interest rates should only be reduced if growth is slowing and the country might drop into recession.  Cheers!

[Paarslaars]

I assume he needs lower rates for debt refinancing? 

[Parsad]

6 minutes ago, Paarslaars said:

I assume he needs lower rates for debt refinancing? 

 

I suspect also to continue weakening the dollar to drive more resettlement of manufacturing plants and increased exports.  Cheers!

[Parsad]

16 hours ago, cubsfan said:

I'm truly amazed that you guys would defend Harvard and all the Ivy League behavior.

 

The hatred from the Hamas backed organizations is so blatant.

It's right in your face, and you won't even admit it.

 

Somehow I doubt you'd support these despicable activities against blacks or Indians.

 

Just tells me a lot.

 

I have no problem with free speech being demonstrated by citizens...be it in school or elsewhere.  I have a problem with non-citizens muck-raking and pushing their agenda...be it in school or elsewhere.  

 

So if it is American citizen students protesting...all for it, whether I agree or not.  Whether it's something against blacks or Indians wouldn't matter.

 

I'd also like to note that I've been pretty clear that I've supported and continue to support Israel because of October 7th.  I don't agree with them and the U.S. turning Gaza into a resort though!

 

Cheers!

[changegonnacome]

2 hours ago, Blake Hampton said:

As someone whose older brother overdosed and died from Fentanyl, I think that’s incredible writing. And I completely agree.

 

Appreciate that - and sorry for your loss - what I said I think is the truth but nobody wants to talk about these complicated underlying issues when there are 'bad guys', perp walks & gangs to go after.

[changegonnacome]

The emerging marketization of the United States continues.................

 

 

[Parsad]

3 hours ago, Blake Hampton said:

Trump couldn’t care less about the families of Fentanyl victims. He simply saw a political opportunity and took it.

 

Maybe...at the same time, his older brother Fred was addicted to and died from alcohol, and Trump did try to help him at times.  But Trump being Trump, he's never missed an opportunity even if it's at the expense of his family.  Cheers!

[Blake Hampton]

[Blake Hampton]

If the administration gets its way in massively devaluing our currency, the American people will eat them alive. These are big problems.

[Blake Hampton]

Some of them almost sound excited. I don’t understand why anyone would welcome that kind of hell.

[gfp]

8 minutes ago, Blake Hampton said:

If the administration gets its way in massively devaluing our currency, the American people will eat them alive. These are big problems.

 

What if the US dollar declines gently?  Will everything be OK then?

 

I'm back from a trip and I see we are still freaking out here on the corner!

 

As a general tip, the future usually looks surprisingly like the recent past.

[Dalal.Holdings]

14 minutes ago, Blake Hampton said:

If the administration gets its way in massively devaluing our currency, the American people will eat them alive. These are big problems.

 

The dollar was near record highs almost neat parity with the Euro not too long ago. Relax

[Blake Hampton]

21 minutes ago, Blake Hampton said:

 

 

"Biting the hand that funds"