Headlines

Democrats build big edge in early voting

Just 14% of workers trust their CEOs as they return to the workplace

Five alleged 9/11 co-conspirators could go on trial next year after countless delays

 Poll: Likely voters disapprove of BLM protests

‘We’ll put them down very quickly’: Trump threatens to quash election night riots

Fraternities blamed for campus coronavirus outbreaks as universities struggle to resume classes

Trump won’t give more time for TikTok owner to find buyer for U.S. operations

Biden admits ‘USMCA better than NAFTA’

NIH director: ‘I’m pretty puzzled and rather disheartened’ by Trump rallies

Dr. Scott Gottlieb blames early virus testing failures for making March lockdown the only choice

Iran runs online disinformation campaign to boost Biden

Salvani physically attacked by leftist migrant in Tuscany


STAND UP FOR AMERICA!

Headlines

White House violated the law by freezing Ukraine aid — GAO says

Senate passes new North American trade deal, sending it to Trump

Schiff: New evidence likely to emerge ...

John Kerry: ‘Outright lie’ by Trump that Iran was given $150 billion

EU trade chief urges reset in U.S. relationship amid tensions

Stocks are the most overvalued since at least the 1980s based on one measure

Bloomberg seen as ‘best bet’ to beat Trump ...

Lev Parnas: Trump is lying, ‘he was aware of all my movements’

Trump is not the cause of cooling EU-U.S. ties, says Merkel

Holiday sales climb 4.1%, retail industry trade group says, on the higher end of estimates

U.S. and China tip toe around holes in the new trade agreement ... $95 billion centerpiece already in doubt?

Surveys: Manufacturing is surging in the USA

Headlines

McConnell prepares to move forward on impeachment trial rules without Democrats

Mortgage rates fall further, as buyers rush into first open houses of 2020

Tesla: most valuable car company in America ever ...

State Department urges Americans abroad to ‘keep a low profile’

Pompeo says U.S. will abide by laws of war after Trump suggests targeting Iranian cultural sites

US trade deficit falls more than expected to hit lowest level since Trump took office

IRS personal income-tax audits drop to lowest level in decades ...

Nancy Pelosi to introduce Executive Surrender resolution in House

Grassley: Impeachment could delay USMCA by a month

GM warns of ongoing challenges in China as stock falls 15% in 2019

Super Pump: Repo panic returns as Fed injects $99 billion ...

Chelsea Clinton rakes in $9 million as corporate board director

Pins and Needles

Pins and needles — there are a number of important issues pending at the moment:

- Iran’s response to Soleimani’s killing

- Kim Jong Un’s “Christmas present” to Trump

- Results of the Barr/Durham investigation into the origin of the spying on Trump

- Pelosi’s delivery of the Impeachment Articles to the Senate

- The next stock market correction

- The signing of the USMCA and Chinese trade deals

- The building of the Mexican border wall

-  Who the Democrats’ nominee will be

- Fate of Netanyahu and his coalition

- Brexit actuation

- Possible John Bolton testimony in the Senate impeachment trial

Headlines

Democrats unveil 2 articles of impeachment against Trump

House Democrats and White House have a deal to move forward with USMCA trade deal

President to participate in Senate trial ...

Report: Over 40 Virginia counties now Second Amendment sanctuaries

Rand Paul: Ban Congress from seeking members’, journalists’ phone data

Larry Kudlow says Dec. 15 tariffs are “still on the table’ after reports of possible delay

Florida congressman 22nd Republican to announce retirement ...

Norte: Whitewashed IG Report still exposes James Comey as a dirty cop

Bernie lands big progressive endorsement, besting Warren

The Fed will stay in hibernation until at least summer, CNBC survey

Government deficit spikes another 12% ...

Graham: FBI ran ‘criminal enterprise’ ...

Headlines

Watchdog report rips FBI handling of Russian probe

Trump: DOJ report ‘far worse than I would have ever thought possible,’ despite no finding of political bias

Bombshell report reveals US officials misled public about Afghanistan war ...

Nadler failed to swear in witnesses at Judiciary impeachment [hearing]

Trump nears USMCA compromise with Democrats

Trump family member — possible Ivanka — had ‘personal ‘ relationship with dossier author Steele

Poll: Hillary top choice of Dem voters ...

U.s. Attorney John Durham: ‘We don’t agree’ with Inspector General’s conclusion ...

Supreme Court leaves in place Kentucky abortion restrictions

Morgan Stanley is cutting jobs due to uncertain global environment, sources say

Causes of Wall Street cash crunch remain mystery ... Fed pump won’t fix it ...

Jordan: ‘Deeply troubling’ that FBI spied on Trump campaign

Headlines

U.S., Mexico resolve differences in USMCA talks

Warren’s antitrust bill would dramatically boost government control over biggest US companies

Six other [Saudis] arrested; filmed attack ...

Trump backs down on designating Mexican cartels as terrorists

DeVos orders partial loan relief for many duped student borrowers

It’s possible US economy is not just ‘late cycle’ but rather just recharging

Kudlow claims Dec 15 ‘important [China trade deal] date ...

Pope Francis compares Trump to murderous King Herod

Hostilities between Warren and Buttigieg boil over

Managing China is NATO’s biggest challenge yet

Release of Trump banking records delayed by Ruth Bader Ginsburg ...

Trump Science Advisor Will Harper: Global warming is a ‘scam’

Headlines

4 dead, 11 injured in shooting at Pensacola naval base

Trump’s tricky decision: Hit China with new tariffs or hold off?

Limbaugh: Impeachment driven by ‘raw hatred’ of President ...

Unemployment drops to lowest in 50 years

U.S. gains a robust 266,000 jobs; unemployment falls to 3.5%

Kudlow says trade deal is close, but Trump is prepared to ‘walk away’ if some conditions not met

Bernie unveils plan to break up Internet titans ...

Graham: I have no desire to subpoena Schiff’s phone records

Appeals court lifts some rulings blocking Trump ‘public charge’ rule for immigrants

House GOP leader says ‘we get USMCA done’ this year despite Dem focus on Trump impeachment

Fed pumps $4 trillion into markets ...

Devin Nunes: Adam Schiff violated my ‘civil liberties’ with snooping

Headlines

Fiona Hill clashes with GOP over ‘fictional’ Ukrainian claims

Janet Yellen says, ‘there is good reason to worry’ about the US economy sliding into recession

Israel PM Netanyahu defiant after his indictment ...

Fiona Hill penned a Washington Post op ed against giving Ukraine weapons in 2015

Haley billed as ‘frontrunner’ in 2024 GOP nomination

SpaceX blows the top off of Starship in pressure testing to the max

Iran [Inter]net outages to effectively isolate entire nation ...

Fiona Hill worked with Christopher Steele, author of the Russian ‘dossier’

Inspector General’s report on FBI-Russian probe due out in December

House Dems, Republicans fail to reach agreement on USMCA trade agreement

White House backs full Senate trial ...

Confidence in Trump economy hits highest level ever

Headlines

Act like a stiff’: To fight impeachment, Trump tries to look presidential

States’ massive Google antitrust probe will expand into search and Android businesses

Giuliani faces U.S. probe on campaign finance, lobbying breaches ...

Democrat dud: First public impeachment hearing falls short

Amazon suing Pentagon over $10 billion cloud contract, alleging ‘bias’

Trump asks Supreme Court to let him keep his tax returns private, setting up landmark fight

Love him or hate him, voters say impeachment hearing will not change their views ...

Taylor's ‘bombshell’ repeats what was in the July 25 phone call transcript

Senate confirms controversial Trump judicial nominee

Nancy Pelosi says an USMCA trade deal breakthrough could be ‘imminent’

Turkish media paints White House visit as Erdogan triumph over Trump ...

Kamala Harris continues to flounder in the polls

Headlines

Pelosi: Democrats, Trump administration are close on USMCA

The Federal Reserve could soon pause in its latest rate-cutting cycle

Gallup: 52% support [Trump] removal ... Mirrors Nixon ...

Donal Trump urges prayers for ‘very sad’ Nancy Pelosi

China threatens ‘strong countermeasures’ if Trump signs bill supporting Hong Kong rights

Trump Doral to host G-7 summit — sparking yet another ethics fight for the White House

Impeachment blockade crumbles as witnesses agree to testify ...

All eyes on Michael Bloomberg as Joe Biden flops in debate

State Department restarts some Central American assistance

Surging SUV demand is canceling out the environmental benefit of electric cars

More pumping: Fed injects $104 billion in short-term liquidity ...

Elijah Cummings death rocks oversight

Headlines

Trump announces ‘highest sanctions ever’ targeting Iran’s central bank

Thousand more workers furloughed with more coming as GM, suppliers idle plants in UAW strike

Number of unaccompanied alien children entering USA highest in history ...

Blue state blues: Democrats back policy that led to Parkland shooting

Trump trolls de Blasio after mayor’s withdrawal from presidential race

Trump administration faces long odds in fight with California over auto emissions waiver

NY Fed to pump $75 billion into markets daily through Oct, 10 ...

‘Largest polar expedition in history’ to probe Arctic climate

USMCA frustrations grow among House Democrats excluded from Trump talks

Trump says he doesn’t need a trade deal with China before the 2020 elections

Netanyahu clings to power as coalition talks loom ...

Warren hires Planned Parenthood leader to head campaign in Florida

Looming Recession?

A recession is the Democrats’ wet dream. They know that an economic swoon would help their chances in the presidential election next year. So what might cause a recession? Certainly the U.S.-China trade war could be a significant factor. In fact, it is clear now that the Chinese now are not going to agree to what day of the week it is until after November, 2020 ... hoping that Trump will be bounced and a squishy Democrat will be then sitting across the negotiating table. Trump clearly knows this and is reducing expectations.

Another possibility is the trade deal with Mexico and Canada ... not as big as China, but still important. Nancy Pelosi is sitting on the USMCA like it is a hard-boiled egg. She will not give Trump a win this close to the next election even if it damages our country. How patriotic!

And, of course, the Fed has a potentially huge roll in how well our economy does. It really screwed the pooch last December when it continued raising interest rates when much of the rest of the developed world had negative rates to stimulate their economies. There then was over a three percentage point differential in rates which strengthen the dollar and hurt exports. Trump’s jawboning has caused Powell to reverse himself and start to lower rates once again ... and to halt quantitative tightening (reducing the money supply). Is the Fed doing too little, too late?

And I am sure that there are other schemes being concocted inside the DNC to shoot our economy in the head ... or at least in the leg. Even though many of the poobahs on Wall Street are liberals, they still like money better ... and there have been times where a falling stock market led the economy down. So if they can nudge the economy down by shorting the stock market, they might just do it. However, they also need to worry about a low-probability whiplash caused by a breakthrough in the trade war. There is a limit to this type of economic manipulation.

We’re all in for an exciting 15-month roller coaster ride. Stay buckled in!

Slow Walk

“There are no golden moments.” — Tom West


It seems that almost everything is in a slow walk these days:


USMCA (NAFTA 2.0) ratification

North Korea and Iran denuclearizing

China trade deal

Fully fixing (or replacing) Obamacare

Securing our Mexico border and immigration reform

European trade dealings

Reduction of the national deficit


Some of this sloth is politically inspired by next year’s election. However, President Trump seems to have taken most of these delays in stride. He is showing remarkable patience and little frustration. Remarkable!

Perhaps building skyscrapers always involves frustrating delays ... so Trump has gotten used to the perpetual slow walk ...

Headlines

Trump’s tariff war leaves allies fretting about losing strong economy

Justice Department reportedly preparing antitrust probe of Google

13 dead; shooting in VA Beach, disgruntled city employee

Trump celebrates LGBT pride, urges world decriminalize homosexuality

Nunes demands release of Mueller’s ‘backup and source documentation’

Acting US Defense Secretary calls for Asian allies to boost arms spending

Mysterious flashes of light observed on moon ...

Bernie Sanders blasts NRA, calls for gun laws after VA Beach shooting

Judge blocks Missouri from closing lone abortion clinic

Business groups are considering legal action against the White House over Mexican tariffs

Impeachment headcount reaches 51 in House ...

Canadian prime minister deems USMCA ‘win-win-win’