Dow Tumbles 800 Points, Nearly 3%, As Bond Markets Signal Recession 14AUG19

PUTIN & #MOSCOWMITCH LIKE IT LIKE THAT
I am really glad I transferred 71% of my 401K to a safe, no loss portfolio about a month ago.  I have been reading and hearing all kinds of economist predicting a recession in 2020 for the past year and made the move to protect most of my retirement funds and I am thanking God I did! This probably isn't the beginning of the recession, hopefully is is just a really loud warning shot. From NPR

Dow Tumbles 800 Points As Bond Markets Signal Recession

August 14, 201912:53 PM ET

Heard on All Things Considered

CHRIS ARNOLD

Twitter

URI BERLINER

Updated at 4:06 p.m. ET

Stocks are falling sharply Wednesday on deepening worries over a slowdown in the global economy.

The Dow has dropped 800 points, or about 2.5%. Investors have been whipsawed in recent days from mixed signals emerging from the Trump administration about tariffs and the escalating trade war with China.

The jitters were exacerbated amid worrisome economic data from two big countries was announced. Germany posted negative growth in the latest quarter, and China's industrial output fell to a 17-year low.

An even bigger worry: The yield on the benchmark 10-year Treasury note fell below 2-year Treasuries for the first time since 2007. In other words, you would get a higher interest rate for government debt that matures in two years than in 10 years.

Such an inversion in yields has a strong track record of predicting a recession, especially the longer it continues. Each of the last seven recessions, dating back to 1969, were preceded by the 10-year falling below the 2-year.

Chris Zaccarelli, chief investment officer for Independent Advisor Alliance, commented on today's bond market turmoil: "The periods when the yield curve inverts are when markets believe we are headed into a recession and either inflation will be lower and/or the Federal Reserve will be forced to lower short term interest rates."

On Tuesday, the Trump administration said it was postponing some of its new tariffs on Chinese imports. The Office of the U.S. Trade Representative announced that 10% tariffs on certain popular consumer items — including cellphones, laptop computers, video game consoles, computer monitors and some toys, shoes and clothing — will be postponed until Dec. 15.

"What we've done is we've delayed it, so that they won't be relevant to the Christmas shopping season," President Trump told reporters.

The delays affect about $160 billion worth of imports, according to calculations by the advocacy group Tariffs Hurt the Heartland. Tariffs on another $112 billion worth of Chinese imports are still set to take effect on Sept. 1 as scheduled.

AMERICAN FARMERS

Canada Responds After White House Says Trudeau 'Stabbed Us In The Back' 10JUN18

I am extremely embarrassed by and ashamed of the words and actions of NOT MY pres drumpf/trump regarding Canada. America has always been able to depend on the people and government of Canada to be a good neighbor and friend and ally and it is disgraceful how the drumpf/trump-pence administration has turned on our Canadian brothers and sisters as if they have become a threat to the U.S., spreading lies about Canadian policy toward America. O Canada, I apologize for myself to the Canadian people and government for the actions of the drumpf/trump-pence administration and the fascist wing of the republican party, they do not represent of speak for me and I am sure they do not for the vast majority of the American people. AND it will be completely understandable if you tell drumpf/trump and pence 'ARGO F*@K YOURSELF' This from NPR.....

Canada Responds After White House Says Trudeau 'Stabbed Us In The Back'

Updated at 3:50 p.m. ET

After one White House adviser said there was "a special place in hell" for foreign leaders like Canadian prime minister Justin Trudeau, and another said Trudeau "stabbed us in the back," Canadian leaders offered a measured — even polite — response.

"Canada does not believe that ad hominem attacks are a particularly appropriate or useful way to conduct our relations with other countries," said Canadian foreign affairs minister Chrystia Freeland, according to the Toronto Star.

Daniel Dale

✔@ddale8

Foreign Affairs Minister Chrystia Freeland: "Canada does not believe that ad hominem attacks are a particularly appropriate or useful way to conduct our relations with other countries."

12:53 PM - Jun 10, 2018

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The foreign affairs minister spoke to reporters in Ottawa, and offered a markedly different tone from the attacks lobbed at Canada, one of the United States' closest allies, this weekend by President Trump and other members of his administration.

Tensions have been building between the two countries for months, as President Trump has targeted Canada as one of the many countries he sees as giving American the short end of the stick in trade deals.

Trump announced yesterday he was backing out of a joint statement made by the countries that attended this weekend's G-7 Summit in Canada, after Trudeau gave a press conference in which he said Canada planned to retaliate against the Trump administration's recently-announced tariffs that will commence July 1.

"I have made it clear to [President Trump] that it is not something we relish doing, but it is something that we absolutely will do," Trudeau said. "Canadians — we're polite, we're reasonable — but we also will not be pushed around."

WORLD

Trump Withdraws Endorsement Of G-7 Communique Over Trudeau Statements

Larry Kudlow, who is the director of the National Economic Council, appeared Sunday on CNN's State of the Union to defend Trump's decision to back out of the joint communique made at the end of the summit. The statement was a declaration of shared values and goals by the seven countries — the United States, Canada, Britain, France, Italy, Germany and Japan — that attended.

CNN Politics

✔@CNNPolitics

White House economic adviser Larry Kudlow says Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau “stabbed us in the back” #CNNSOTU https://cnn.it/2sKB0SG 

9:08 AM - Jun 10, 2018

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"[Trudeau] really kind of stabbed us in the back," Kudlow said. "He did a whole disservice to the whole G-7."

In a tweet posted Saturday evening, Trump said his decision to rescind support for the statement was based on "false statements" made by Trudeau during a press conference he gave, as well as "the fact that Canada is charging massive Tariffs" on U.S. companies.

Donald J. Trump

✔@realDonaldTrump

Based on Justin’s false statements at his news conference, and the fact that Canada is charging massive Tariffs to our U.S. farmers, workers and companies, I have instructed our U.S. Reps not to endorse the Communique as we look at Tariffs on automobiles flooding the U.S. Market!

7:03 PM - Jun 9, 2018

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WORLD

Trump And Kim Arrive In Singapore For Unprecedented Summit

On Fox News Sunday, White House Director of Trade Policy Peter Navarro also defended the president with adversarial language.

"There's a special place in hell for any foreign leader that engages in bad faith diplomacy with President Donald J. Trump and then tries to stab him in the back on the way out the door," Navarro said. "And that's what bad faith Justin Trudeau did with that stunt press conference. That's what weak, dishonest Justin Trudeau did. And that comes right from Air Force One."

Trump left Quebec before the G-7 Summit had ended to head to Singapore, ahead of a highly anticipated meeting with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, a longtime foe of the United States.

Kudlow said on CNN that Trump's reaction to Trudeau's comments has been "in large part" because he does not want "any show of weakness" ahead of that meeting.

"Kim must not see American weakness," Kudlow said. "[Trudeau] can't put Trump in a position of being weak going into the North Korean talks with Kim. He can't do that."

The Star reports that "There is no obvious precedent for White House officials publicly slamming a Canadian prime minister in such personal terms":

While other presidents and prime ministers have had testy relations — president Richard Nixon famously used a profane word, behind closed doors, to refer to Trudeau's father Pierre Trudeau, also in the context of trade talks — neither side has demonstrated this level of animosity since John Diefenbaker feuded with John F. Kennedy in the early 1960s.

Trump Administration Delays Most Tariffs On Steel, Aluminum 30APR18

WATCH how the drumpf/trump-pence administration handles these trade talks, I think it is a preview of how the summit with n korea will go, just a whole lotta noise and basically no significant changes. I hope I am wrong but I have the feeling we're gonna end up thinking 'art of the deal' my ass. From NPR......

Trump Administration Delays Most Tariffs On Steel, Aluminum

April 30, 20188:28 PM ET

Heard on All Things Considered

SCOTT HORSLEY

Twitter

The Trump administration has decided to hold off on imposing most of its tariffs on imported steel and aluminum until at least June 1.

Tariffs were scheduled to take effect at 12:01 a.m. Tuesday on imports from Canada, the largest U.S. supplier of steel and aluminum, as well as Mexico, Argentina, Australia, Brazil and the EU.

A source familiar with the decision says the administration has reached an agreement in principle with Australia, Argentina and Brazil, which may avoid the need for tariffs against those countries altogether.

Talks continue with Canada, Mexico and the EU.

Trump initially ordered the tariffs — 25 percent on imported steel and 10 percent on imported aluminum — in March, ostensibly to protect domestic industries, which the president called critical to national security.

But before the levies took effect, the administration granted temporary waivers to most major U.S. allies.

In recent weeks, Trump has used the tariffs — or the threat of tariffs — as a bargaining chip in broader trade negotiations.

Mexico and Canada are in talks with the U.S. on a revised North American Free Trade Agreement.

South Korean officials won a permanent exemption from steel tariffs in March as part of an updated free trade agreement with the U.S. But in exchange, South Korea had to reduce its steel exports to the U.S. by about 30 percent, Similar quotas could be imposed on other countries as part of a final deal.

Japan never got a break from the tariffs, so Japanese exporters have been subject to the levies since late March. That was a source of some friction when Trump hostedJapanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe at Mar-a-Lago two weeks ago.

The EU had threatened to retaliate if the steel and aluminum tariffs took effect, by imposing levies of its own on politically sensitive American exports. Potential targets include Harley Davidson motorcycles, from the home state of House Speaker Paul Ryan, and Kentucky bourbon, which could get the attention of Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky.

The steel and aluminum tariffs are part of a broader effort to crack down on what Trump calls unfair trading practices. The administration has also imposed tariffs on imported solar panels and washing machines. And it's threatening hefty penalties against a wide range of exports from China.

A U.S. delegation is on its way to Beijing for trade talks later this week.

"You see what's happening with respect to trade and the United States," Trump said Monday. "We are being respected again."

Economists have warned that tariffs could backfire, by raising prices for U.S. businesses and consumers and sparking a backlash against American exports.