jas007

Did I say Trump has an "unlimited license" to run foreign policy? Nope. For example, Congress can declare war. And certain actions are taken with the advice and consent of the Senate, such as appointing ambassadors. And it's the Senate that must ratify treaties. The list goes on. But it is the President that is the prime driver of foreign policy. And all this has been recognized in the courts.

Wrong. Trump didn't "blink." Yet more evidence that the mainstream media gets ahead of itself whenever they sense an opportunity to bash Trump. The truth doesn't seem to be a priority for them, so long as it's all to "get Trump." https://finance.yahoo.com/news/bessent-us-and-china-tariffs-need-to-come-down-before-talks-can-start-154240028.html

Well, it looks like Trump didn't "blink," as the mainstream is so eager to report. Bessent just denied it and again signaled that the tariffs need to be reduced in a mutual fashion. Of course, the markets didn't like that to much, but they're still up substantially on the day, so far. https://finance.yahoo.com/news/bessent-us-and-china-tariffs-need-to-come-down-before-talks-can-start-154240028.html

Once upon a time, In June of 1963, President Kennedy signed Executive Order 1110. This order allowed the Treasury to issue currency directly. I won't go into too much detail here, but obviously, the Central Banks didn't like that as it took away their monopoly. We all know what happened to Kennedy just a few months later. LBJ later rescinded the order. In any event, the Fed can be ended, either by the President or by congress. I can't see Trump doing that, though. That last thing he wants right now is sound money. He just wants the Fed to print more, weakening the currency. He must think that's the answer.

It's not like people have much choice. If you have some money, it has to go somewhere, right? Stocks, bonds, gold, crypto, real estate, cash, commodities, overseas markets. It's all a great game. And there are theories about "portfolio management" and "asset allocation." When to move money and why. Interest rates, currency fluctuations, political considerations. Nothing stands still and it all moves in cycles. And for any individual? What's your time horizon? How old are you? Do you have kids you want to leave money to? Or not? Some people want to die with zero. Blow it all while they can. There's no one answer.

I didn't know the Fed Put had any "credibility." On its face, it almost seems criminal. When Wall Street wins, they keep the money. When they lose, they don't lose at all, and everyone else pays. That's a nice gig, if you can get it. As for Black Swan events and crisis situations? The markets are already on the precipice, being held together with duct tape and BS. And despite what Powell says, when such comes to shove, he'll do what they always do. Print more money.

Sometimes, it doesn't seem like real money when you're in the middle of it all. But then you realize you just lost a Porsche, playing around. Anyway, you live and learn. And for what it's worth, trading is a hard way to make money, which is why I don't do much of it anymore. It's too aggravating and t's not really necessary for me to do that. I'm now more of a long term investor, which usually works out better, in any event. Take a look, sometime, at some of the long term gains that people made over the last 40 years. Not every stock, but a lot of them.

Over the years, I've lost all sorts of money trading stocks or investing in the wrong ones. That's how you get good at it. Once you male a mistake and that mistake costs you money, you won't make that particular mistake again. I think my record was losing $128,000 one time in a 10 minute period. So yes, I screw up once in a while. It comes with the territory. The idea is to make more money than you lose.

I'm sure he said that to calm the markets, and it doesn't mean much, in any event Most of not all of his public pronouncements are political theater. Powell isn't going anywhere, and Trump knows it. Further, he knows the Fed Put will always be there, regardless of Powell's theatrics.

April isn't over yet, is it? And so far today, it looks like it's going to be another good day. The market could be bottoming here. Somehow, I got lucky, and I'm currently ahead YTD. And super fantastic for the last 12 months. Trump and Xi are supposed to meet in May, and if they settle the tariff thing to everyone's satisfaction, the market will be on its way up again, at least for the time being. The Ukraine war should be over soon, and the only other problem in the world is the Middle East and the Neocons that want to drag the US into WWIII. If that happens, none of us will be around too much longer to worry about the markets.

I think that's pretty much what he's all about. The food dye problem was an is easy fix. It's already banned in many parts of the world and it is problematic, to put it mildly. Up next will be all the other chemicals in food. Junk they put in there to make it taste good or for other reasons. None of it is really necessary but the food industry seems to have good lobbyists and they make a lot of money selling the public ultra-processed food with ingredients you can't even pronounce. But the big drug companies and the medical industry? He's up against big $$$$ in that arena and can expect to see a lot of blowback. Maybe he'll succeed. Too many people are being damaged by existing medical protocols.

I guess it's been said that what should probably happen is that they go after the people who are working illegally or whatever and leave the tourists alone. After all, if a person is not working, then they're here spending money they've remitted into Thailand, and that's good for Thailand, right? I'm sure all the businesses appreciate that money.

Not that I agree with him, necessarily, but because he's the President and he's the one running US foreign policy, per the US Constitution, Article II. Or do you think that's no longer relevant? Like I said, I deal in reality, not propaganda-induced fantasy.

And where did you read this so-called "information"? Or are you just putting your desired spin on the fact that, reportedly, Xi and Trump will meet in May, as Trump has requested. China wanted to do it the normal way - through diplomatic channels to work out a deal, and then finally with XI. But Trump wanted to bypass all that and meet directly with Xi, which sounds like exactly what is now being reported.

Playing the Hitler card gets old after a while. I guess people think it has some shock value, but at some point it becomes like The Boy Who Cried Wolf. What are they going to say when a real monster comes along? Perhaps some of this people should stop and take a look at what they tried to do to Donald Trump.

I wouldn't say they're playing politics, but the potential deportees do have a point. There is such a thing as due process and, if the deportations were allowed to proceed, they could have faced irreversible harm. Remember, during the next administration, the shoe could be on the other foot, politically. The court is just looking out for the concept of due process. It's important. It remains to be seen how they will eventually rule on the merits. At that point, Trump may well be allowed to proceed.

I have TMN Fiber in my condo, but it won't connect. Right now, I'm hooked up to my phone as a hotspot. Anyone else having trouble? It's Wednesday April 23 at 2:38PM. I've tried the usual - rebooting the router and so on.

For what it's worth, I didn't vote for anyone. I do believe in free speech, though, and I'm capable of thinking for myself. I guess in your mind, that makes me MAGA? LOL From what I can tell, some of you people have been brainwashed so badly you don't know up from down. All you know is how to parrot what you read in the mainstream propaganda outlets.

I don't know the particulars, but surely these people have 1st amendment rights. Have they incited any violence? Anything that would cross the line into terrorism or criminal activity? I'm old enough to remember the Weather Underground, the SDS, and the "Chicago 8" trials stemming from the 1968 Democratic National Convention and the "Days of Rage." I think everybody in the world saw the cops Mayor Daley sent into the street to crack heads. The Democrats weren't going to put up with any of it. The leaders of the group eventually went on trial and were convicted, but all the convictions were eventually overturned by the 7th Circuit Court of Appeals. During trial, one of the issues was free speech. In any event, those people went from speaking and rallies to eventually declaring "war" on the US in 1970 and later engaging in bombings and the like. In any event, there's probably a lesson there for everyone. Speak all you want, but somewhere there's a line and you're going to end up in trouble. As for the "obscure statute" you reference above? If that's the Alien Exclusion Act or whatever it's called, I guess we all get to find out what the Supreme Court thinks sometime soon.

I think if you go back and read some of my posts, you'll see that I'm not a "hardcore MAGA member." If thinking Harris would have been a disaster as President makes me hardcore MAGA, then that's silly. Call me a realist who makes some effort to think for myself and question authority. I may not get everything right all the time, but at least I try. I'm smart enough to know propaganda when I see it, and I'm smart enough to know crazy when I see it. And I absolutely believe in free speech.

I'm sure I can't be the only veteran here (Vietnam era)) who thinks the current crop of leftists are nuts. Not that I'm a MAGA, necessarily, but I do think Trump was the only real choice in the last election. Harris would have been a disaster.

I'm not so sure Trump cares much about "billionaire buddies." That's too much of a simple explanation. One thing that Trump can't control and that will eventually put a floor under the markets is the Fed Put. Once the bond market gets into big trouble, the Fed will rush in to "buy it all," and it's that and the resultant money printing that will operate in the usual fashion. More money flowing into the system. More inflation in just about everything. And that will work until it doesn't. And before it doesn't, both Trump and Xi will come to their senses and make a deal. Neither side can afford a total shutdown of trade.

Just a quick story for those regurgitating mainstream propaganda instead of making sensible conclusions from reality: https://apnews.com/article/tariffs-trade-taxes-trump-china-bessent-treasury-66668fa26957ece530a250fa8ea19faa And before long, we'll all see another news story about how Trump and Xi are in negotiations. Neither side can afford this nonsense, and so it won't go one too much longer.

And this morning the Baht is weakening again, slightly. Never forget, whatever Trump's policy on the dollar and however weak it gets, what's to say that the Thai baht won't perform even worse? Not every currency moves in the same direction vs the dollar, and for various reasons might weaken along with the dollar.

I don't recall having a "motto." As for Biden? Not much need to waste any energy worrying about that nonsense. Biden didn't seem to be in charge of anything, though. Biden, Trump. Whoever is running the country is running the country and there's not much you can do about it. During an election cycle, that's a different matter. For example, why not voice an opinion about Harris or whoever? That's when it might matter.