Corruption "R" Us

The Daily Beast writes...

Trump Family Scores Massive Payday as Company Falls Apart

KA-CHING!

The Trumps made a killing from a partnership with a fintech company—but investors weren’t as lucky.

Julia Ornedo

Jun. 10 2026

Investors have seen steep losses since putting their money on a fintech firm that partnered with a Trump family-backed crypto venture—but the president’s family got the better end of the deal, according to a new report.

ALT5 Sigma, now known as AI Financial Corp., teamed up with the Trump family’s World Liberty Financial last August in a deal that the president’s sons, Donald Jr. and Eric, celebrated with cheery photos at the Nasdaq MarketSite in New York.

Since the 1970s, presidents generally took steps to separate themselves from assets that could create conflicts of interest, often through blind trusts or by holding only broadly diversified investments. Ethics experts have noted that every president from the post-Watergate era through Obama used some form of blind trust, divestment, or conflict-free investment arrangement.

However with Trump, retained ownership of the Trump Organization while president.

Management was transferred primarily to his sons rather than to an independent blind trustee.

Under the deal, ALT5 acquired $1.5 billion in crypto tokens from World Liberty Financial. In turn, President Donald Trump and undisclosed members of his family were entitled to a staggering $500 million in proceeds from the sale, according to WLF disclosures first reported by CNBC.

This has resulted in massive profits for the family!

The Best Government Money Can Buy!

How many millions is Trump making off the war? You read that right.

So, you are planning on going to war against Iran… what is on Trump’s “To-Do List?” Why buy stock in oil companies? This is the headline for the Financial Times: “Traders placed $580mn in oil bets ahead of Donald Trump’s social media post on Iran talks.”

Before the tariffs… insider trading!

Before the war… insider trading!

Before the ceasefire… insider trading!

The insider trading suspicions looming over Trump's presidency

BBC News

20 April 2026

Nick Marsh

Throughout US President Donald Trump's second term in office, traders have been betting millions of dollars just before he makes major announcements.

The BBC has examined trade volume data on several financial markets and matched them to some of the president's most significant market-moving statements.

It found a consistent pattern of spikes just hours, or sometimes minutes, before a social media post or media interview was made public.

Some analysts say it bears the hallmarks of illegal insider trading, whereby bets are made by people based on information that is not available to the general public.

Others say the picture is more complicated and that some traders have become more adept at anticipating the president's interventions.

Among the dates they looked at are;

18:29 GMT: Oil bets surge

19:16 GMT: Trump says war is nearly complete

19:16–19:39 GMT: Oil drops by 14%

The first time the public would have known about the interview was at 15:16 Eastern Time (19:16 GMT) when the reporter posted about it on X.

Oil traders reacted to this news that the conflict could end much sooner than expected by selling oil, with the price plunging 14% in minutes. This added to an earlier fall, taking the overall drop from the highest point that day to 25%.

However, market data shows a huge surge of bets were placed on the price of oil falling at 18:29 GMT - a full 47 minutes before the reporter's post.

Each time Trump says the war is on… oil prices surge.

Each time Trump says the war is off… oil prices plummet.

And there is a growing body of evidence that government insiders are buying stocks long and short before decisions are announced publicly. The article lists suspicious dates:

23 March 2026: 'Complete and total resolution to hostilities'

9 April 2025: 'Liberation Day' pause

3 Jan 2026: Maduro seized

28 Feb 2026: Strikes on Iran

Now consider this: on one night last year, Trump fired over a dozen Inspectors General who oversaw many of the regulatory agencies.

Under Trump, government watchdogs losing their independence

The Daily Record

The Washington Post News Service & Syndicate

March 19, 2026

Key takeaways:

•  President Donald Trump fired inspectors general at 19 agencies during his second term’s early days.
• Cheryl Mason, a Trump appointee with a partisan background, is set to lead the Council of the Inspectors General on Integrity and Efficiency.
• Inspectors general offices lost 16.6% of their workforce from January 2025 to early 2026, exceeding overall government staffing cuts.

Inspectors general have long touted their independence from partisan politics, maintaining a strict firewall between themselves and the White House appointees whose activities they are supposed to check.

But now, over a year into the new Trump administration, political figures and the White House have sought greater influence over government watchdogs than ever before, leading to concerns about the independence of the oversight community.

After firing inspectors general at 19 agencies in an unprecedented purge in the early days of his second term, President Donald Trump has spent the past year nominating several new inspectors general with partisan backgrounds. Investigators, auditors and others were lost in widespread staffing cuts. And political appointees have increasingly gained new powers over the apparatus that is designed to independently operate in order to root out waste, fraud and abuse.

Suspicious?

Congress is starting to take notice!

Rep. Ritchie Torres Demands SEC and CFTC Investigate Suspicious Oil Futures Trade Made Ahead of Trump Iran Announcement

Apr 08, 2026

Today, Congressman Ritchie Torres (NY-15) wrote to the chairmen of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) demanding an immediate investigation into highly suspicious trading activity in oil and equity futures markets that occurred minutes before President Trump publicly announced a delay in military strikes against Iran.

According to reporting by Reuters, traders placed over $500 million in crude oil futures bets approximately fifteen minutes before Trump’s March 22nd Truth Social post announcing a pause in planned strikes against Iranian energy infrastructure. Oil prices plummeted more than 10 percent following the announcement, generating enormous profits for whoever made those trades. The New Yorker further reported that the surge in trading volume at 6:49 a.m. EST was approximately nine times the average level for that time of day, with positions precisely anticipating both a drop in oil prices and a rise in equity markets.

Listen to this Congresswoman...

And this is what Rachel Maddow had to say about all of this!

The thing that gets me… is that Trump & Company think they can get away with this!

Reward And Punishment

That is Trump's MO... reward his loyal boot kissing followers and attack... attack... attack his perceived foes.

With potential Argentina bailout, Trump tries to stop a MAGA role model from imploding

Trump and the MAGA movement have framed Argentina as a shining success. But throwing American tax dollars at its economy tells a different story.

MSNBC

Sept. 29, 2025

By Ja'han Jones

Donald Trump and his administration are preparing to hurl billions of dollars at Argentina to prevent its MAGA-inspired administration from going up in flames.

Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent’s announcement last week that the U.S. is in talks to provide more than $20 billion in a currency swap, along with other forms of aid, to prop up the South American country’s economy — and thereby aid President Javier Milei’s flailing administration — is a clear sign that the political outlook for Milei has soured in recent months.

With all his "budget" cuts somehow he found money to shower Milei with dollars!

For years now, Trump and the MAGA movement have portrayed Argentina’s right-wing leader and his administration as a shining example of what deep cuts to federal programs — mostly, targeting the poor and the middle class — can do. But Argentina’s economy has continued to suffer under Milei’s policies, undermining Trump’s rosy portrayal.

I have mixed feels on this because...

Trump’s Argentina Bailout Sparks Fury Among Farmers, Republicans

Newsweek

Oct 01, 2025

By Hugh Cameron

President Donald Trump’s offer to prop up Argentina’s economy—and the political future of embattled President Javier Milei—has drawn the ire of farmers and lawmakers, who consider this an ill-judged use of American resources.

[...]

To some the offer of such a significant financial backstop also conflicts with the isolationist, America-First ideology at the center of Trump’s political program, especially at a time when U.S. lawmakers have already been battling over budgetary issues and spending cuts.

Of course it does because for Trump never about "America First" it was always about "Trump First" 

Much of the resistance to Trump’s offer has come from farmers—particularly soybean croppers—who view Argentina as a competitor and believe the U.S. should prioritize U.S. agriculture before extending lifelines to foreign nations.

“The frustration is overwhelming,” American Soybean Association President Caleb Ragland posted to X. “U.S. soybean prices are falling, harvest is underway, and farmers read headlines not about securing a trade agreement with China, but that the U.S. is extending $20 billion in economic support to Argentina.”

If Trump keeps this up all of his loyal supporters will turn away from him! Blacks and Latino are having second thoughts. I hope that he continues agonizing his "loyal" base.

The columnist Paul Krugman writes;

But although in this case America is offering aid rather than taking it away, our new Argentina policy is part of the same Trumpian agenda.

It’s true that the plan to aid Argentina looks quite a lot like Bill Clinton’s bailout of Mexico during that nation’s financial crisis of 1994-5. But we had a compelling interest in helping Mexico, which is our neighbor and one of our most important trading partners. We had just signed a free trade agreement with Mexico, and were also trying to bolster Mexico’s transition from one-party rule to genuine democracy.

Argentina, in contrast, is not systemically important to the United States. Argentina is a miniscule player in terms of US interests. The U.S. accounts for only about 1/8^th of Argentina’s imports, less than its imports from the European Union and much less than its imports from China.

[...]

But remember that, in Trump’s world, America’s interests don’t count. Only his interests count. And Javier Milei, Argentina’s president, has been an important poster child for right-wing economics. The early success — or apparent success — of his policies was widely celebrated as a great victory. In February, Milei and Elon Musk shared the stage, wielding a chainshaw, during the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC.) And Milei has deftly played the part of the Trump acolyte, praising Trump’s tariffs and deportations at the UN, while attacking “left-wing infiltration” of American institutions.

With Trump, it is me first, politics second and the country last. 

Trump Media’s $2.5 Billion Bitcoin Bet Mirrors White House Crypto Strategy

Forbes

By Zach Everson,

May 27, 2025

Trump Media and Technology Group, the parent company of Truth Social, is raising $2.5 billion through a stock and bond sale—aiming to build a corporate bitcoin reserve, mirroring President Donald Trump’s pro-crypto agenda.

Think about this... Trump starts a bitcoin and then shapes legislation to profit from it!

Similar to Trump Media, the Trump administration has announced plans to create a national strategic bitcoin reserve in March. The administration’s reserve plan is being presented as a national economic strategy, while Trump Media’s bitcoin fund is a private business move—though the timing highlights the overlapping priorities. Trump Media’s announcement also coincides with the start of the bitcoin 2025 conference in Las Vegas where Vice President JD Vance, Trump Media board member Donald Trump Jr. and Eric Trump are expected to speak.

Convenient isn't it!

Mini-Post: Say What?

I consider myself pretty well up on discrimination laws. But I have never seen a protected class that covers politics, so...

Trump to crack down on banks over alleged political bias

An executive order will direct the government to take action to prevent banks from cutting off customers for political reasons.

Politico

By Michael Stratford

08/07/2025

President Donald Trump signed an executive order Thursday directing federal regulators to punish banks that illegally discriminate against conservatives with fines and other penalties, escalating his administration’s campaign against “debanking.”

The order calls on the Treasury Department and federal banking regulators to take action to prevent banks from cutting off customers for political reasons. Many of the policy changes build on efforts that are already underway by Trump-appointed regulators at the banking agencies.

But the order also, for the first time, instructs regulators to retroactively review whether financial institutions have in the past illegally closed accounts for political or religious reasons and determine whether to penalize offending banks with fines, consent orders, or through referrals to the Justice Department.

So in other words... it is a witch hunt.

Conservatives have long accused big Wall Street banks of blacklisting certain religious organizations and right-leaning industries like fossil fuels and firearms. And more recently, the crypto industry has complained that increased scrutiny from Biden-era regulators pressured banks into severing ties with digital asset firms or investors. Some Republican-led states have passed or considered laws to prevent banks from refusing business from certain industries or engaging in any political discrimination.

Gee... would you loan money to an asbestos company? Or to a coal company, or to a Trump company... somehow Trump thinks that is illegal!

The executive order also directs banking regulators to take a range of other steps aimed at addressing debanking. That includes some actions that regulators have already taken in the first months of the Trump administration, such as dropping “reputational risk” as a factor that regulators consider in their evaluation of financial institutions. Republicans argue that banks have unfairly cut off customers or industries based on the associated reputational risk of doing business with them.

THAT IS NOT ILLEGAL!

Graham Steele, who was a top Treasury Department official during the Biden administration, said he thought concerns about debanking were overblown and the issue was being used as a tool to help conservative-favored industries like fossil fuel companies and crypto while also advancing deregulation for banks.

If I don't loan you money because I consider you a sleazebag and I feel that it damage my reputation, that is not against the law!

The federal protected classes are:

• Race
• Color
• National origin
• Sex (includes pregnancy, sexual orientation, and gender identity as of recent interpretations by the EEOC and Supreme Court)
• Religion
• Disability
• Age (40 and older — under the Age Discrimination in Employment Act)
• Genetic information (under the Genetic Information Nondiscrimination Act)
• Citizenship status (limited protections under the Immigration Reform and Control Act)
• Veteran status

Do you see anything in  the list about political party?

Not An April Fool's Joke

Letting the grubby little hands of the billionaires get their hands on all the money!

'Rates are going to go up': The challenge in privatizing Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac

The government-backed companies could be released from oversight when home affordability is near an all-time low.

Yahoo Finance

By Claire Boston

March 31, 2025

Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac shares jumped this week after new comments from Trump administration officials and a board shake-up at the companies drew fresh attention to their potential release from government control.

But beyond the stock market, housing experts see plenty of reasons to be skeptical about the end of an arrangement that dates back to the depths of the financial crisis. The biggest one? Privatization will probably send mortgage rates higher.

“We can debate how much of a cost it will be,” said Mark Zandi, chief economist at Moody’s Analytics. “That’s a legitimate debate, but rates are going to go higher.”

The Trump administration is considering sweeping changes to a crucial piece of the US housing ecosystem at a time when affordability is near an all-time low and home sales are mired in a years-long slump. While Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac don’t make mortgages, they play a crucial role in lending by buying up mortgages from banks and other lenders and packaging them into bonds. The system frees up money for more loans.

Okay what are Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac loans. According to Perplexity AI:

Fannie Mae (Federal National Mortgage Association) and Freddie Mac (Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corporation) are government-sponsored enterprises (GSEs) created by Congress to provide liquidity, stability, and affordability to the U.S. housing market. They play a pivotal role in the secondary mortgage market by purchasing mortgages from lenders, bundling them into mortgage-backed securities (MBS), and selling them to investors. This process ensures that lenders have access to capital for issuing new home loans, making mortgages more accessible and affordable for Americans.

Key Functions

• Liquidity: Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac buy mortgages from banks and other lenders, providing them with funds to issue more loans.
• Stability: By securitizing mortgages into MBS, they attract investors, ensuring a steady flow of funds into the housing market.
• Affordability: Their operations help lower interest rates on mortgages, making homeownership more attainable for families.

Historical Context

• Both entities were placed under federal conservatorship during the 2008 financial crisis due to their significant exposure to subprime mortgages. They remain under the oversight of the Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA).
• Together, they support around 70% of U.S. residential mortgages.

Recent Developments

In March 2025, discussions about privatizing Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac have intensified under the Trump administration. Privatization could potentially increase profits for investors but may also lead to higher mortgage rates and reduced affordability for homebuyers due to diminished federal backing

ChatGPT wrote:

"So, these financial institutions were designed to support affordable housing for low-income people, but in 2008, they faced a collapse during the 2008 Financial Crisis. Many of these institutions, particularly mortgage lenders, were involved in risky practices that contributed to the crisis, including the widespread use of subprime mortgages. When the housing market collapsed, it triggered a wider financial collapse, impacting brokerage houses and banks.

The U.S. government intervened to bail out these financial institutions to prevent a complete economic collapse. However, the bailout was not necessarily in exchange for nationalization in all cases. Some institutions, like Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, were placed under government conservatorship, which is different from full nationalization. Others, like AIG and the big banks, received emergency loans or capital injections, but they were not directly nationalized."

Key Points to Clarify:

Affordable Housing and Subprime Mortgages: Institutions like Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac were created to support affordable housing, especially for low-income individuals. However, the 2008 crisis was exacerbated by the widespread issuance of subprime mortgages (loans to borrowers with poor credit), which were packaged into risky securities.

The 2008 Financial Crisis: The collapse occurred when these risky mortgages and mortgage-backed securities lost value as home prices plummeted, causing widespread panic. Financial institutions, including banks, brokerages, and insurers, faced massive losses, leading to the government stepping in to stabilize the system.

Government Bailouts: The government provided bailouts to many financial institutions. For example, AIG received a massive loan, and major banks were supported through capital infusions. Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac were placed into conservatorship, meaning they were temporarily taken over by the government, but they were not fully nationalized (i.e., the government did not own them outright, but it did take control).

Nationalization vs. Conservatorship: Nationalization involves the government taking complete control and ownership of a company. In contrast, conservatorship means the government takes control to stabilize an institution but doesn’t necessarily take full ownership.

So now Trump & Company want to give them back to the billionaires so they can rip us off again!

Yahoo goes on to write...

In the years since the financial crisis, Fannie and Freddie returned to profitability, paid back the government, and developed new methods to shift credit risk away from taxpayers. Meanwhile, the housing market recovered, and homeowner equity sits near record highs.

Now that it profitably they want it back!

Most experts agree that Fannie and Freddie would need some sort of government guarantee when they go private to continue without disruption. Even a return to an implicit guarantee would likely raise mortgage rates, said Jim Parrott, a nonresident fellow at the Urban Institute and a former White House economic adviser during the Obama administration.

So if it goes belly-up again, it won't cost the billionaires anything, we take all the risk and they take all the money!

"This is such a big issue," Fratantoni said. "The numbers are so big ... that this is going to take a lot of attention from the Treasury and particularly from the Treasury secretary."

Keep in mind that Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac were created to help low income people buy their first home to insure their mortgages, if they become "for profit" again how will it affect low income buyers?

Brainwashing! Part 2

[In Depth}
A bunch of billionaires are trying to brainwash the children and the right-wingers are loving it!  And the conservatives are eating it up because it is filled with their propaganda.

During the Watergate hearings the catchphrase was “Follow the money!” and that is still true today.

Who are the ones behind PraguerU? And what else do they have their fingers in?

This morning I wrote about how a right-wing talk show host Dennis Prager and oil men Tim Dunn and Farris Wilks created PraguerU, well they also greased some wheels with their billions.
 

 The Cool Down wrote about these two…

"Money talks," or so they say. Unfortunately, in the United States, a pair of billionaires have been sending money to some media outlets to talk about the supposed benefits of oil and gas and deny the existence of human-caused global heating.

What's happening?
According to the Guardian, Farris and Dan Wilks have been sending millions of dollars to pro-dirty-energy and evangelical organizations.

The Wilks brothers, who made their fortune from oil and gas fracking, are trying to promote the narrative that the world is not experiencing a climate crisis.

Among the media entities to have received funding from the Wilks brothers is PragerU, an unaccredited university that provides "edutainment" videos for classroom use. The Guardian cited Texas financial records that show the Wilks have handed over at least $8 million to PragerU.

"The goal of [the] Wilks and those that share their ideology is to gain control of levers of power and control information," Texas-based campaign finance analyst Chris Tackett told the outlet. "That's why they invest heavily into politicians, agenda-driven nonprofits and media organizations like PragerU and the Daily Wire. It is all connected."

And you wounder why PragerU is pushing that global warming is fake, you think it might be that these two oil men are worried about their pocketbooks?

How two Texas megadonors have turbocharged the state’s far-right shift
CNN
By Casey Tolan, Matthew Reynard, Will Simon and Ed Lavandera
July 24, 2022

Gun owners allowed to carry handguns without permits or training. Parents of transgender children facing investigation by state officials. Women forced to drive hours out-of-state to access abortion.

This is Texas now: While the Lone Star State has long been a bastion of Republican politics, new laws and policies have taken Texas further to the right in recent years than it has been in decades.

Elected officials and political observers in the state say a major factor in the transformation can be traced back to West Texas. Two billionaire oil and fracking magnates from the region, Tim Dunn and Farris Wilks, have quietly bankrolled some of Texas’ most far-right political candidates – helping reshape the state’s Republican Party in their worldview.

Over the last decade, Dunn and his wife, Terri, have contributed more than $18 million to state candidates and political action committees, while Wilks and his wife, Jo Ann, have given more than $11 million, putting them among the top donors in the state.

[…]

 Critics, and even some former associates, say that Dunn and Wilks demand loyalty from the candidates they back, punishing even deeply conservative legislators who cross them by bankrolling primary challengers. Kel Seliger, a longtime Republican state senator from Amarillo who has clashed with the billionaires, said their influence has made Austin feel a little like Moscow.

“It is a Russian-style oligarchy, pure and simple,” Seliger said. “Really, really wealthy people who are willing to spend a lot of money to get policy made the way they want it – and they get it.”
These billionaires want to protect their dynasties and they know the Republicans will protect the oligarchs.

Then we have billionaire John Paulson who orgainzed Trump’s Florida fundraiser,

Trump says $50 million raised from biggest fundraiser yet
Reuters
By Alexandra Ulmer
April 6, 2024

Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump's campaign said a major fundraiser in Florida on Saturday raked in a massive $50.5 million as the former president seeks to replenish diminished coffers in his rematch against Democrat Joe Biden.

The event, his biggest fundraiser yet, is a much-needed boost for Trump, who has been routinely outraised by Biden and is in the midst of a financial squeeze due to ballooning lawyer fees and legal payouts from his criminal and civil court cases.

The dinner, hosted at billionaire hedge fund manager John Paulson's Palm Beach home, will allocate a portion of the money to be raised to a fundraising group that has spent tens of millions of dollars on Trump's legal fees.

While Trump has struggled to get some major traditional Republican donors on board, he retains the support of some heavy hitters. Co-hosts on Saturday, for example, include hedge-fund investor Robert Mercer and his daughter and conservative activist Rebekah, investor Scott Bessent, and casino mogul Phil Ruffin, according to the fundraiser invitation seen by Reuters.

Okay, did you notice billionaire hedge fund manager John Paulson who helped Trump rasie the $50 million? Now read…

Trump floats billionaire Paulson as potential Treasury chief, Bloomberg reports
By Reuters
March 13, 2024

Donald Trump, who is set to face President Joe Biden in November's presidential election, has talked about selecting billionaire hedge fund manager John Paulson as his Treasury secretary should he win, Bloomberg reported on Wednesday.

Paulson's name has been mentioned in recent discussions, according to the report that cited unnamed people familiar with Trump's thinking.

The conversations were informal and preliminary, the report added. No decisions about a possible cabinet have been made by the former president, it said.

Yahoo Finance reported,

Trump aides have often tried to publicly downplay the validity of the various names being bandied about and didn't respond to a Yahoo Finance request to confirm who might be under consideration.

[…]

Apparently atop the list at the moment is John Paulson, the billionaire hedge fund billionaire who recently co-hosted a massive fundraiser for Trump at his Florida home. Trump has even publicly floated Paulson for the job.

In January, Trump told a New Hampshire crowd that Paulson "makes a hell of a lot of money," adding: "You know what? Put him at Treasury. You want to make a little money?"

Reporters at the recent fundraiser — which Trump said raised $50.5 million — even asked for an update on Paulson's likelihood as Treasury Secretary to no avail.

Paulson appears to be far from the only finance-world figure under consideration.

There is Scott Bessent, a former Soros Fund Management investing chief, who co-hosted the recent fundraiser. Also on the various lists are Stephen A. Schwarzman, the Blackstone CEO, and Jeff Yass, the billionaire known for his giant stake in TikTok.

All have crossed paths with Trump over the years but have not had extended working relationships with the former president.

Follow the money!

Danger! Danger!

[RANT]

In the last fifty years there have been a shift in the retirement of the workers in here in the U.S. and you should be worried.

Over the last fifty years there have been a shift from pensions to IRAs and 401(k)s where I worked back in the 80s they changed from a retirement pension to IRAs and then later on to a 401(k). Being single never traveling and not being a big spender I amassed a good retirement nest egg so I would could live in retirement without a worry.

In 2007 the company shut down and I took an early retirement, my severance and COBRA lasted in to the spring of 2008. In October under Bush W. I watched the crash of the stock market and in one week I lost a third of my life savings!

Over the Obama administration I watched my retirement savings creep back, never getting to the level where it was before the Bush stock market crash.

Now the market is crashing under another Republican, Trump.

This time I have lost about 20% of my savings so far.

The news media says don’t worry, in the long run you still do better than banks… well if you are retired there is no long term, you need your money now to live. Tens of million retirees are worrying as they watch their nest egg disappear.

My warning to all you younger generation… you are screwed!

With your college debit (when I went to college you could earn over the summer and part-time job enough to pay for college), with no pensions, with no long term employment possibilities (I worked for 28 years with the same company), and with flat pay raises you are going to be hurting in your retirement.

Stocks plunge for second session in a row after arrest of Huawei exec reignites trade worries
Market Watch
By Sue Chang and Chris Matthews
Published: Dec 6, 2018

U.S. stocks sank Thursday, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average shedding more than a 1,000 points in two consecutive sessions, after the arrest of a Huawei executive reignited trade worries.

How are the benchmarks trading?
The Dow Jones Industrial Average DJIA, -0.38%  declined 372 points, or 1.5%, to 24,655, though the index was down by as many as 785 points at the low. The index of blue chips shed 800 points on Tuesday, as fears about heightened trade tensions sparked a selloff.

The S&P 500 index SPX, -0.24%  dropped 38 points, 1.4%, to 2,661 and the Nasdaq Composite Index COMP, +0.32%  fell 44 points, or 0.6%, to 7,115.

Thursday’s losses have put the Dow and the S&P into the red for 2018 while the Nasdaq clung to gains on the year.

What are the concerns?

Investors are also facing a heavy load of economic data.

The private sector added 179,000 new jobs in November, according to payroll firm ADP, below consensus estimates of 195,000, according to FactSet.

• 231,000 Americans applied for jobless benefits in the week ending Dec. 1, according to the Labor Department, surpassing the 224,000 reading expected by economists polled by MarketWatch.
• The Labor Department also raised its estimate of third-quarter productivity growth to 2.3% from 2.2%, while unit labor costs rose 0.9%, less than the initially reported 1.2% climb.
• The Institute of Supply Management said a gauge of services sector in November climbed to 60.7%.
• The Commerce Department said factory orders fell 2.1% in November.
• At 12.15 a.m. Atlanta Fed Chief and FOMC member Raphael Bostic will give a speech on the U.S. economic outlook.

What are the strategists saying?
“There’s not much incentive to be heroic and step in here expecting some kind of rally in the next two weeks,” before we see liquidity dry up during the holiday season, Aaron Clark, portfolio manager with GW&K Investment Management told MarketWatch.

We are heading for another recession!

U.S. Economy Will Slow in 2019, May Enter Recession in 2020, Economists Forecast. Trump Administration Disagrees
Fortune
By Kevin Kelleher
November 21, 2018

The good economic news for 2019 is that the odds are still against the U.S. economy entering a recession. The bad news, according to many economists, is a series of economic forecasts that calls for growth to not only be slower in the U.S., but also globally.

2018 has been a banner year for economic growth, with the U.S. gross domestic product rising at an annual pace of 3.5% in the third quarter and at 4.2% in the second quarter, according to the Bureau of Economic Statistics. The economy has been firing on most of its cylinders, as consumers spent more, companies invested in inventories, and local governments maintained their spending, the BEA said.

As economists crunch the numbers for their 2019 forecasts, however, they are expecting a slowdown. Goldman drew some attention this week after it said U.S. GDP growth will slow to 1.8% in the third quarter of 2019 and to 1.6% during the fourth quarter. The positive impact of the tax cuts passed in late 2017 will fade while financial conditions will tighten, Goldman predicted.
[…]
Separately, a survey of fund managers by Bank of America Merrill Lynch showed that 44% of respondents expect global growth to slow in 2019. Ian Shepherdson, chief economist at Pantheon Macroeconomics, wrote in a note to clients that global growth could be zero in early 2020. “Gravity can’t be defied forever,” Shepherdson said.

The NASDAQ said…

In fact, economists are the last people to see recessions coming. And by the time they identify that we are in recession, especially mild ones, they are often just about over by the time they recognize it.

The Republicans and the Trump administration are leading us over a financial cliff.

[/RANT]