The stock market proved once again that it is not so much cool, calm and collected as it is out of its frigging mind, tacking on yet more price gains in the face of mounting crises on two fronts. The tariff war with China has escalated to the point where its effects have surpassed those that were said to have caused stocks to gyrate wildly in the Smoot-Hawley days leading up to the 1929 Crash. Meanwhile, matters seemed equally unsettled on Capitol Hill, where Trump subordinates at the Justice Department and FBI were threatening to disobey his order to declassify key documents related to the Russia probe. He could fire them all for this, and if he does it will turn his political enemies and their komrades in the news media even more savage. Since no one expects the President to back down, it is remarkable that Wall Street seems not to care even slightly about the prospect of political nuclear war breaking out before the November elections. Investors act as though they’re confident that all of the ugliness will stir up Trump’s base and tip the election his way. Maybe they’re right. But with the stock market in screaming-bullish mode, it would appear that they’ve made no allowance for a Democratic victory in November that would be economically and politically disastrous for the country.
Investors Fiddle as the Nation Burns
- September 20, 2018, 10:39 am
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September 20, 2018, 10:33 am
INDU OPPS sell trade in play at INDU yesterday high point, for lower pricing over the days ahead.
Have a great day Rick.
Harper Valley P.T.A
https://www.npr.org/2018/09/18/648848244/50-years-of-sockin-it-to-the-p-t-a
A single mom who wears miniskirts is the scorn of a small town. Fifty years ago this month, the song “Harper Valley P.T.A.” made singer Jeannie C. Riley the first woman to hit the top spot on both the pop and country charts. More recently, the song made Rolling Stone’s list of the “100 Greatest Country Songs of All Time.”
Smoot–Hawley Tariff or Hawley–Smoot Tariff
Threats of retaliation by other countries began long before the bill was enacted into law in June 1930. As it passed the House of Representatives in May 1929, boycotts broke out and foreign governments moved to increase rates against American products, even though rates could be increased or decreased by the Senate or by the conference committee. By September 1929, Hoover’s administration had received protest notes from 23 trading partners, but threats of retaliatory actions were ignored.[10]
In May 1930, Canada, the country’s most loyal trading partner, retaliated by imposing new tariffs on 16 products that accounted altogether for around 30% of US exports to Canada.[17] Canada later also forged closer economic links with the British Empire via the British Empire Economic Conference of 1932. France and Britain protested and developed new trade partners. Germany developed a system of trade via clearing.
In 1932, with the depression only having worsened for workers and farmers despite Smoot and Hawley’s promises of prosperity from a high tariff, the two lost their seats in the elections that year.[18]