Here's a statement of the obvious: The opinions expressed here are those of the participants, not those of the Mutual Fund Observer. We cannot vouch for the accuracy or appropriateness of any of it, though we do encourage civility and good humor.
Just found out that Bessent worked for (protege of) George Soros for many years. Surprising that has not spawned any weird conspiracy theories... yet.
His Wikipedia page is a good read.
If foreigners were paying tariffs the PPI wouldn't be rising. We are experiencing the largest PPI rise in three years, with a 0.9 percent increase in July.
“So much for foreigners paying tariffs. If they did, PPI would be falling,” RSM chief econ…
https://www.cnbc.com/2025/08/14/tapestry-tpr-q4-2025-earnings-.html
"Shares of Coach and Kate Spade parent Tapestry fell on Thursday after it said tariffs will hurt its profits." - An example of how tariffs being absorbed by an importer, hurts the …
Imagine the increased cost to taxpayers in places like Florida and Texas when the hurricanes come and they are left to their own devices. I could even see this driving up insurance costs even more in those areas. And immigrant labor to fix/repair an…
If you're a puppet haven't you given up whatever prestige or respectability you might have had? I'm guessing they all just figured Powell would rollover like they all did while also forgetting that he is just one vote of many.
And one can extend thi…
Yes, Thanks.
Something that seems appropriate here is:
https://www.alternet.org/trump-economy-2673884073/
If anyone (Yogi?) objects to this being here, I will delete it.
"Bloomberg reports U.S. box shipments to retailers — for the purpose of pa…
@DrVenture,
The fact that DHS chose to reference William Gayley Simpson's book is very troubling.
It's no surprise that white supremist groups have flourished under Trump's current regime!
And they are clearly intending to recruit from the ranks of…
The elephant in the room is why he thinks that he needs this option. What bizarre conversations are going on in that circle? "When we crash the economy, people will come for us with pitchforks." ? "Eventually, the non-whites will rise up and we need…
Gaggles of agents are patrolling the National Mall. A place where there have been zero crimes recorded/reported in all of 2025. All dressed up and no heads to bust. Guys in ballistic vests where people are walking their terriers. lol
Of course, none of us knows what is going to happen yet. Yet, there are some troubling signs, that shouldn't be brushed aside. It is way too early to assume that this utter rejiggering of trade, via taxation, will have no negative consequences, poss…
@catch22 @Anna Fun stuff! It was a cool time of PC gaming and looking up random things on the internet, that we had almost forgotten.
Our first real windows computer (dial-up) was a Packard Bell from Sam's Club running Windows95. I bought it to …
There is simply no way to paint Trump insisting/directing an Investment Bank on who they should hire/fire, as anything other than Authoritarianism with a capital "A". And not an isolated incident here. A small piece of a massive pattern of such beha…
Dial-up will teach you patience. When I still had dial-up, Napster was in its prime. What made Napster cool was that if you searched and found an obscure song or artist, you could see what else that person was sharing - view their whole library. You…
@FD1000,
I have to give credit where credit is due.
You have been very consistent in propagating nonsense to bolster Donald J. Trump's reputation.
Are you seeking a position within the president's administration?
It does seem that you would fit in …
This adds to the bigger picture.
-Core inflation is 3.1% YOY.
-Half of all employers are shedding workers.
-Manufacturing is losing jobs
-GDP is only half of what is was in 2023/2024
-The WH is telling everyone from universities to Goldman Sachs…
It doesn't have to be big numbers, a 3.1% core inflation for years can be very bad. Just as 2.7% headline can be bad over the long run. Especially cumulatively, on top of the last inflation shock. We WILL get lower rates, and that will add to the in…
"While Trump (and many Presidents before him) pay lip service to broad-based
economic growth, a true reorientation of the economy is simply too painful to suffer through. Trump couldn’t even suffer a week of turbulence after Liberation Day. It now s…
And so it begins. https://newrepublic.com/post/199014/trump-agents-dc-takeover-video-harassing-people
We got all the federal agencies out letting people know that they cannot be smoking or drinking on their own doorsteps. Thank goodness that they a…
This is exactly correct. He is attempting to negate the separation of powers that The Constitution establishes.
When SCOTUS rules on tariffs, if they side with The Constitution, Trump will go postal.
There is a possibility that some manufacturing returns, out of desperation to stay solvent. They will crank up automation to 11. What Trump's Econ minions are overlooking is that they are providing vast incentive for corporations to spend on cutting…
From David's link
"First, look at the chart. The second line claims that it shows “medium income” — a term unknown to economics. Clearly it was supposed to say median income.
OK, speling misteaks hapen. But not, usually, in charts prepared for a …
Trump sycophants don't understand the concept of "facts". To them, "facts" are anything that they decide they are.
Facts are what are generated by people that they are getting prepared to fire.
It might be prudent to consider this, if planning any changes to allocations. I will not be changing anything at this time, but my equity allocation is quite low (for me) right now. I will be keeping an eye on this, though.
The lesson here is to not speak truth to power, but feed them what they want to hear. Of course, that is a recipe for disaster in most situations, but now necessary for survival - subterfuge and ego stroking.
Will this cut of 15% cause the value of the stock to drop by 15% or more?!
Normally it should have some adverse effect, but stocks only go up these days. If this extortion scheme works, what other U.S. companies may need to pay-up? In normal ma…
