Trade War May Be Slowing Business Spending and Factories, Fed Says

Trump's fixations with tariffs are out of 1950's history books and evidently the only thing he remembers from that subject. Republicans promoted a serial bankruptcy exploiter to lead the land and let go of the reins on all policies. How is it possible to blame a teleprompter for including airports and the war of 1812 in the revolutionary war and still not demand his head be examined? There isn't a person in this administration that operates in the best interest of this country fiscally, morally, ethically or intellectually. A motley, ragtag tag crew along with their enablers in Congress.

Trump's ignorance, incompetence, and perfidy are a greater drag on American economic, social, and political well-being than the next 99 reasons combined. The people who still support and stand by him are at best unwittingly helping to drag the country down. It may be time to institute a citizenship test for all who want to participate in America's elections.

Thanks to his inheritance of 295 streams of income from his daddy, Donald Trump didn't suffer the consequences of being the single worst losing businessman in America over a ten year period. Trump doesn't understand economics nor international trade. Trump played a businessman on reality TV. Trump is the laziest President in American history. Trump spends most of time tweeting and speaking nicknames and slurs while watching Fox News and playing golf.

The Fed and SCOTUS, Powell and Roberts -- the levees are broken. Comes the flood.

I just go hit by it. (Trump's tariffs) A few yrs. ago I bought a pair of Nike sneakers (made in China) for $65 at my local store. Yesterday I bought another exact pair for $95. I really needed two pairs but decided against it because of the price.

Trump as a former real estate developer is addicted to cheap money. If the Fed lowers rates again it will create a stock market bubble, allow zombie companies to continue to stumble towards irrelevance and will leave them no interest rate tools when the recession does come. They should not lower rates.

The Fed should NOT lower interest rates. Stop giving these jerks free money. And tax breaks. Especially when they're not investing back into their own companies.

Theoretical economics is about as valuable as mud. These people have no clue whether their policies will work to improve or to hamper the US economy. They can guess and/or run models, but they can never account for the ingenuity of us human beings.

Trump has spent the past 2.5 years trumpeting "his" economy as the greatest in the past 10,000 years. Yet, the Fed needs to lower rates???? Their is a dichotomy hear that we should all immediately recognize.

Since 1977, the Federal Reserve has operated under a mandate from Congress to "promote effectively the goals of maximum employment, stable prices, and moderate long term interest rates". Hmm... I thought that both these mandates had been met, and that the Fed could gradually start raising interest rates. But, of course, for the last 10 years, the Fed's only mandate has been to keep the stock market propped up. Any hint by it of monetary tightening makes the market throw a taper tantrum, with the Fed then obligingly backing off or reversing direction. And now, despite its so-called independence, the Fed has to obey the bully in the White House, who tweets daily about how much higher the market would be if only the Fed would lower rates. If the Fed is talking about slowing business spending, it's only to bolster its rationale for a likely rate-cut to be announced within the next three weeks. As far as inflation goes, the Fed's inflation gauge is voodoo economics and way lower than the actual inflation we all encounter in our everyday lives. Jay Powell has a net worth of approximately $112 million. Do you seriously believe that this guy will be looking out for Joe Blow or Jane Blow?

It is not just the trade war, but the erratic behavior of Trump that is causing manufacturers to hold back. His tweets affect the stock markets. His twitter threats affect the way businesses operate. We need a stable government. People do not know from one day to the next what roller coaster ride he will throw us on. However, because so many people are more invested in the theatrics than the long-term outcome of his executive order and policies, he is a solid contender for a second term. Lord help us.

It's not the Fed's job to "keep the economic expansion going." It's to maximize employment and to keep inflation in check. Like everything else, Trump has politicized the Fed too and has Powell running scared and ready to do his bidding. Sad.

Just follow the out come of the recently closed Live Well Financial in Virginia. Flagstar Bank, Mirae Asset Securities Inc. and Industrial and Commercial Bank of China Financial Services LLC filed an involuntary Chapter 7 petition on Monday with the U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Delaware against the company. According to the Richmond Times Dispatch which reported on this development, involuntary bankruptcies are primarily filed against businesses when petitioning creditors believe the business can pay but refuses to do so. Live Well Financial was in the mortgage and reverse mortgage business. Let's see how many people loose their homes this go around.

My job was a hairsbreadth away from being eliminated last week and many of my colleagues were let go. Reason? Trump's tariffs.

“There are signs that the credit standards for leveraged loans are weak and have deteriorated over the past six months”is Fedspeak for- If there is even a slight downturn in the economy a lot of businesses are going to be in trouble and massive amounts of money will be lost and the defaults on loans will ripple through the economy.Pay attention to the Fed-If they are worried, I am worried.

Well, I needed a good laugh. "There are signs that credit standards for new leveraged loans are weak and have deteriorated". There is an impulsive, poorly educated, business failure at the helm and companies have borrowed recklessly and on a highly leveraged basis to con their shareholders into thinking profits have been good. They have been allowed to do so because when loans are interest-free, why not. "Such developments could increase the downside risk to economic activity." I remember one talking head saying, "Houston, you may get quite a bit of rain." Fortunately, it will crash before the election. Unfortunately, the Democratic House, Senate, and President will have their hands full creating a recovery. Fortunately, we will end up with huge sustainable energy infrastructure projects and a generation of active citizens who will all get to vote again. 60% of them will be Democrats.

Well, over 200,000 jobs were created in June notwithstanding the alleged economic slowdown and while interest rates are still at historically low levels, especially the 10-yr. treasury bond that has cratered to a bit over 2%. Wall St. craves lower rates for the obvious reasons that there is a record amount of margin buying, a record amount of stock buybacks, a record amount of (over) leveraged loans, etc. The same schemes and financial contrivances that brought the economy down 11 years ago are continuing, just dressed up in different clothes. The Fed knows this and has been a willing abettor by keeping rates near zero for 9 years while consumers still pay upwards of 20% annual interest on their credit cards and savers are left with barely 1% returns on their savings. Powell waived the white flag in Jan. after Wall St's worst December in 80 years and the markets have barely looked back since. Today's jobs report is exactly what Wall St. doesn't want to hear. It may keep the Fed from raising rates in late July. As for inflation...have any of the Fed members been in a supermarket lately to buy healthy foods? I rest my case.

“trade wars are good, and easy to win” Who doesn’t love a clueless President ?!

Maybe slowing? Read some of the last quarter earnings call transcripts from the retail sector. Most are trying to scramble to re-source products because of this uncertainty.

More "winning" news thanks to moronic trump trade policies and "tough tweets". When trump "wins" WE lose.