The trade and economy mega-thread (9 Viewers)

[superchuck500]

Is there a trade deal with China? Is it really a deal or just a pull-back to status quo ante? Is Trump advancing US interests in this well-executed trade battle plan or was this poorly conceived from the start . . . and harmful?

I think the jury's still out, but I haven't seen that the Chinese are offering much in compromise - and it's not even clear if there's going to be an agreement. But it's clear they are working on something and I'm sure Trump will sell it as the greatest trade deal ever. The proof will be in the details.

 

[UriUT]

They didn’t ask about his opinion on tariffs for crying out loud, they asked if Trump had tanked the market on purpose as part of his strategy, as he hinted he did. Did Stephanopoulos let that go? Or did he follow up?

Stepanopoulos did from what I can tell. He also concluded despite the evasion that it's trump's policy intentionally to crash the market and that its not just opinion.

 

[UriUT]

I was hoping international markets would be calmer and provide US markets some signs of stability.

Hope is gone. Nikkei halted trading after hitting losses that enacted circuit breaker.


I expect more news like this from Euro markets in next few hrs. Which simply adds more fear fuel.

Oil prices are really down. They are probably expecting covid years global recessions (low demand for oil).

Hey, Maga will tell us years from now when a dem president fixes this mess, I hope(?), that gas prices were really low. Just like when the economy opened post covid and after russia's belligerence.

 

[Optimus Prime]

President Donald Trump said Sunday evening that he is not intentionally engineering the ongoing stock market sell-off, but said little to try and dissuade it.

"I don't want anything to go down, but sometimes you have to take medicine to fix something," Trump told reporters aboard Air Force One Sunday night when asked about the markets……..

​

Trump says he doesn't want stocks to go down, 'but sometimes you have to take medicine'​

 

[Neworleansfan]

I was hoping international markets would be calmer and provide US markets some signs of stability.

Hope is gone. Nikkei halted trading after hitting losses that enacted circuit breaker.


I expect more news like this from Euro markets in next few hrs. Which simply adds more fear fuel.

Plus this. Not looking good at all.

https://www.reuters.com/markets/eu-seeks-unity-first-strike-back-trump-tariffs-2025-04-06/

 

[efil4]

Plus this. Not looking good at all.

https://www.reuters.com/markets/eu-seeks-unity-first-strike-back-trump-tariffs-2025-04-06/

Ok here me out (on my global realignment thought)

If EU follows thru, they become an "adversary" regarding trade. Trump will bellow this for days on end, which will become truth among his kind, and EU and US relationship is literally hanging by a thread.

Meanwhile, Israel's Netanyahu announced, upon leaving Hungary, that the two have come to an agreement to talks on ammunition to finish the job (in Gaza).

Netanyahu doesn't go to Orban without US or Russia knowledge. Ever.

Hungary is a thorn in EU/Nato. Does Putins bidding.

There is something larger happening. I hope it's not what I'm thinking, but I can't help but think this is all part of the realignment. Not with our usual allies.

I could totally be off base. And I hope I am. But I can't shake this thought Trump wants to align with Russia.

 

[efil4]

Futures off thier lows now by 300 (dow). While nothing to celebrate, hope that trend continues and we don't have mass sell off tomorrow.

 

[superchuck500]

He was a fund manager for Soros for over 15 years. Taught economic history at Yale for years.

This is how far gone these people are in this administration. They have thrown everything they have learned, been taught and knowledge acquired over decades out the window, to serve a king.

We are headed down a path we never traveled. ( in my lifetime ).

And the worst part is that they completely just failed to see that everyone who goes down these roads with Trump ends up wrecked - like the body of evidence that it’s just terrible judgment was completely lost of them.

I know that Bessent thinks he’s very smart - and maybe he used to be. But joining Trump is going to ruin his reputation for eternity and that was obvious before he chose to do it.

 

[longtime lurker]

One of my family members iPhone finally died after 6 years, and I was able to upgrade to a new one without a tariff hit. A heads up that if you were wondering about getting a new iPhone, now may be the time to do it without the significant tariff price increase. It looks like Apple shipped in a large amount to build up a supply for a few months without the added tax:

iPhone prices safe for now as Apple races ahead of Trump's tariff clock - The Economic Times

Trump tariffs: Apple currently has no plans to raise retail prices of its products, including iPhones, despite new tariffs, according to a TOI report. The company has pre-shipped a high inventory from its Indian and Chinese factories to the US, temporarily insulating it from the increased costs...

m.economictimes.com

 

[Optimus Prime]

A self-identified “MAGA leftist” believes that Trump’s market-shattering tariffs will reverse the “masculinity crisis” permeating America.

Batya Ungar-Sargon, a Free Press columnist, told Fox News host Rachel Campos-Duffy Sunday that the “crisis in masculinity” stemmed from the decision to outsource manual labour jobs to overseas workers in the last decade — a move that has deprived millions of American men of a purpose.

“Donald Trump is actually saying ‘no more’ to this and to the crisis in masculinity — which is of course why young men feel so attracted to what he’s offering,” Ungar-Sargon said while speaking on the issue.

The political pundit praised Trump’s commitment to working class Americans last month while speaking with Bill Maher on his Real Time show, calling the President’s agenda “socially moderate, anti-war, and anti-free-trade protectionist.”

She also doubled down on branding Trumps’ string of executive orders as being in line with a “leftist agenda.”

Maher quipped that her declaration “makes no sense.”

Asked about Trump’s shockwave tariffs, which ravaged the markets and sparked global volatility last week, Ungar-Sargon insisted that Trump’s economic policy was vital to sustaining the ethos of the “American Dream” and slated Wall Street for “shorting” Trump.

“But the rage that you see on Wall Street — what they are trying to do here is they are shorting the president’s agenda,” Ungar-Sargon said.

“Wall Street thinks, after 60 years of being utterly catered to, that they control this country and that they should control the president and all of our elected officials”, she declared.…….

Fox News pundit believes Trump tariffs will reverse ‘crisis in masculinity’

‘Donald Trump is actually saying ‘no more’ to this and to the crisis in masculinity,’ political pundit Batya Ungar-Sargon said

www.independent.co.uk

 

[Eeyore]

Happy Orange Monday!

 

[superchuck500]

Lots of “we were wrong about Trump’s economic policies” from Wall Street types today.

 

[Optimus Prime]

Few historical analogies exist for Donald Trump’s newly announced tariffs. The investment bank Evercore estimates that the so-called “liberation day” announcement has raised the weighted average US tariff to 29% – its highest rate since 1900.

To call it a generational action would be an understatement; my grandmother was born in 1939.

These tariffs, if they remain in place, will raise prices, eliminate jobs and shrink retirements. No one will pay for them more dearly than American workers.

Yet a shock to capitalism inevitably raises the question of whether, and how, capitalists will respond. Faced with Trump’s tariffs, what will the US’s business class do?

Some commentators have hoped that, once the effects of Trump’s economic misrule become apparent, executives will finally turn on the Maga movement.

But the answer, as during Trump’s previous tariff scares, is likely to disappoint.

The Chamber of Commerce, National Association of Manufacturers, and International Dairy Foods Association have each issued strongly worded statements against Trump’s trade action.

Others are likely forthcoming. But those words are unlikely to become meaningful action, for it is simply not in the business lobby’s nature to fight the Republican party……..

Corporate America won’t stop Trump’s tariffs. Here’s why | Alex Bronzini-Vender

Whether among executives, lobbyists or university trustees, an elite backlash to the Trump administration won’t. Only working people can resist Trump

www.theguardian.com

 

[RobF]

I feel like a lot of the impact is still restrained, as people keep thinking, "Yeah, but at any moment he'll say, 'Everyone's come to our table, tariffs are paused, great deals are coming!', right? Any moment now? Right?"

And he might do that. But he might not. I don't think it's predictable.

Like, there's no good reason for this obviously, but the reckless, selfish, "a short term deliberately crashing the market to try to bully other economies and also make lots of money by being able to time it because you're the one doing it," reason at least involves backing off to let things recover (and claim that as 'victory'), whereas there's then a whole scale of terribleness running through the same principle, but turning it into a game of chicken where he refuses to be the one to swerve, to, the deluded, "this is actually not a terrible idea and I am going to stick with it indefinitely."

Basically it comes down to trying to work out just how selfish, greedy, reckless, narcissistic and deluded the administration is, and which of those particular traits is going to win out, and I sure don't know. They have all of them in spades.

 

[efil4]

Lots of “we were wrong about Trump’s economic policies” from Wall Street types today.

Bill Ackman... how it started ( a mere 12 hrs ago)



Bill Ackman...how it's going



He got the call.

 

[DaveXA]

Lots of “we were wrong about Trump’s economic policies” from Wall Street types today.

Well, when you put dumbasses and hopelessly compromised individuals in positions of power...this is what you get.

 

[MT15]

Lots of “we were wrong about Trump’s economic policies” from Wall Street types today.

How? If I can see clearly what was going to happen, why couldn’t they? I’m a nobody retiree living in the Midwest. It was clear as day to me, so why did these supposed elites get their arses handed to them?

 

[faceman]

How? If I can see clearly what was going to happen, why couldn’t they? I’m a nobody retiree living in the Midwest. It was clear as day to me, so why did these supposed elites get their arses handed to them?

I believe most of us here saw this coming

 

[efil4]

How? If I can see clearly what was going to happen, why couldn’t they? I’m a nobody retiree living in the Midwest. It was clear as day to me, so why did these supposed elites get their arses handed to them?

because these "elites" had their focus on one thing- make money. They missed ALL the signals. Heck some were probably told "this is what we are planning" and invested heavily accordingly.

Then it went in the opposite direction and now ALL of them are taking an absolute beating.

Only one way to garner their attention - start $@#$@#$ with their money ( or ability to make money ) - THEN they come to life.