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Wall Street stocks tumble as investors fret over US economic slowdown

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Re: Wall Street stocks tumble as investors fret over US economic slowdown

#81

Post by pfisherman »

JumpCrisscross wrote: post #43
mempko wrote: post #18

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's simple incompetence. The whole lot are economically illiterate. Musk is out there talking about the US going bankrupt. Trump is saying other countries will pay for the tariffs. It's mind numbing. This is why you can't have business people running a country. A country is not like a business or a household.

> Musk is out there talking about the US going bankrupt Musk is particularly dark—he was born in South Africa. He knows how this winds up. Yet he seems adamant to recapitulate the ANC’s corrupt playbook.

Simple explanation. Musk has lost it. His long term drug (ketamine) use has resulted in a psychotic break, which we are watching play out publicly.

Re: Wall Street stocks tumble as investors fret over US economic slowdown

#82

Post by vkou »

idle_zealot wrote: post #25
Trasmatta wrote: post #3

Remember, this is the president that won largely because of people's dissatisfaction with inflation, and his promises to "fix" the economy. Instead, he's decided to wage a pointless trade war that nobody asked for, and came out yesterday essentially saying he's totally okay with a recession coming out of it. The only thing more absurd is the fact that some people didn't see this coming. He signalled everything that h…

This analysis is lacking. People didn't vote for Trump because they analyzed his proposed economic policies and decided they would improve their situation. Almost nobody votes like that. There's general financial anxiety in the US, and he promised to fix it. What methods he proposed using are almost irrelevant, it's the rhetoric around them that sways voters. The narrative is now one of temporary hardship to excise t…

Harris also promised to fix it, and had an actual plan for addressing housing, education, medical costs, and prices in general, but we are all now pretending like none of that was a part of her campaign.

Anyways, it's telling that everyone who was anxious over $3.50/dozen eggs in November is deathly silent over what's been happening in the past few weeks. All of a sudden, all of those people are now in the 'we have to be patient and get through the pain, there's definitely a payoff at the end' boat.

(Milk's $11/gallon at my grocery, by the way. Unless I buy 5 gallons at a time.)

Re: Wall Street stocks tumble as investors fret over US economic slowdown

#83

Post by mullingitover »

boo-ga-ga wrote: post #59
BenFranklin100 wrote: post #22

Tesla stock has been particularly hammered. Ontario apparently cancelled a Starlink contract and Italy is considering to do so as well. Musk’s political antics are affecting his businesses.

But he continues doing what he started. Considering the fact that he is very smart and definitely hungry for absolute power, you can think about his true goal. If he is ready to risk that much of his worth, it means that the potential win for him will bring so much more.

> Considering the fact that he is very smart

Is he though?

Plenty of people start out smart and then melt their brains in one way or another. Musk really seems like he's going down the same road.

Smarts aren't a permanent state of being, they're a temporary blessing, and if you're lucky they're slowly replaced with wisdom as you age. Musk doesn't seem to be getting the late-life migration to wisdom. Wise elders generally focus on a legacy that benefits their community, they don't spout slurs and pay people to make them look like they're good at video games.

Re: Wall Street stocks tumble as investors fret over US economic slowdown

#84

Post by corry »

Trasmatta wrote: post #3

Remember, this is the president that won largely because of people's dissatisfaction with inflation, and his promises to "fix" the economy. Instead, he's decided to wage a pointless trade war that nobody asked for, and came out yesterday essentially saying he's totally okay with a recession coming out of it. The only thing more absurd is the fact that some people didn't see this coming. He signalled everything that h…

My guess is that his supporters are so entrenched in their position that they won't care. Trump channelled their anger at how broken the American Dream has become, and they're probably OK getting personally singed if it means the whole thing burns down.

However, it will likely be a rude awakening on the other side for them, especially if they find that some of their entitlements were cut (just as they come to need them most), and meanwhile yet again the rich and powerful not only are fine but the gap continues to widen at an even faster rate.

Even then, I doubt his supporters will turn on him.

Remember, even Hitler had support from the average Germans after the end of the war (at least before the holocaust and other atrocities came to light to them). I'm not saying Trump is Hitler, just showing how you can lose everything and still not accept that your cherished leader wasn't such a smart or great guy...

Re: Wall Street stocks tumble as investors fret over US economic slowdown

#85

Post by leereeves »

JumpCrisscross wrote: post #67
voidhorse wrote: post #7

This administration is either intentionally performing market manipulation or is simply incompetent. Either way, we all lose. Hope the general populous is happy with their choice, lol.

My neighbours and I have been buying up cropland on the cheap as a result of the trade war. As an ethical move, we’re only buying in Trump-voting counties from registered Republicans. But at the end of the day, there is massive pain in that sector, particularly among soybean farmers and dairy farmers close to Canada, and it’s directly attributable to Trump.

> As an ethical move, we’re only buying in Trump-voting counties from registered Republicans.

That's a strange kind of ethics, refusing to buy from Democrats who want to sell. It's like you're boycotting Democrats.

Re: Wall Street stocks tumble as investors fret over US economic slowdown

#86

Post by ajross »

mempko wrote: post #18
voidhorse wrote: post #7

This administration is either intentionally performing market manipulation or is simply incompetent. Either way, we all lose. Hope the general populous is happy with their choice, lol.

It's simple incompetence. The whole lot are economically illiterate. Musk is out there talking about the US going bankrupt. Trump is saying other countries will pay for the tariffs. It's mind numbing. This is why you can't have business people running a country. A country is not like a business or a household.

Exactly. And the clear proof is the ridiculous dance around tariff policy. Tarrifs were a clear fait accompli, promised in the campaign and scheduled the moment the administration took office. Then the market tanked right as they were about to take effect. Then there was a delay! Then they were only going to apply to goods not covered by NAFTA^H^H^HUSMTC! Which is all goods, basically. So no tariffs. Except they're still on the books.

That's not a rationalist trade policy. At its most charitable, it's a failed attempted at brinksmanship. More likely it's just not understanding how markets work and in particular how that is reflected in the stock market (which, if not "rationalist" per se, is a lot more so than the administration). Incompetence either way.

Re: Wall Street stocks tumble as investors fret over US economic slowdown

#87

Post by JumpCrisscross »

jghn wrote: post #61
JKCalhoun wrote: post #36

Earlier quoted context omitted.

With talk of a anticipated 10% to 20% drop in the markets, their silence could be ruinous.

SP500 is already down 10% in the last month

> SP500 is already down 10% in the last month

Not yet. Nasdaq is in correction, but the S&P is only down 8.6% from its 19 February high of 6,144 [1]. (5,529.)

[1] https://www.marketwatch.com/story/nasdaq-falls-back-into-cor...

Re: Wall Street stocks tumble as investors fret over US economic slowdown

#88

Post by Trasmatta »

paxys wrote: post #49

The standard move is to hunker down for the next 4 years, keep buying low, and wait for Democrats to come back and fix things in their next term. The same cycle has repeated what, 5 times in the last 30 years?

Hopefully there's still a free and fair election in 4 years. That might be contingent on how well Democrats do in next year's election. We need Congress back.

Re: Wall Street stocks tumble as investors fret over US economic slowdown

#89

Post by jrs235 »

mattmaroon wrote: post #50
JKCalhoun wrote: post #8

It'll be wild to see how Congress responds.

It's commonly said Presidents get 100 days in office to enact the bulk of their platform. It's an approximation, of course, but it's about then that the new-to-office approval rating bump starts to wane and Congress starts gearing up for midterms. We're about half way there. If the economy is in bad shape in May, I would not be surprised if Congress intervenes on tariffs. The fear of being primaried by MAGA loyalists…

I wish I had your optimism. Too many Republicans lack a spine and likely think their best chance of survival is actually to do nothing.

Re: Wall Street stocks tumble as investors fret over US economic slowdown

#90

Post by creato »

mmastrac wrote: post #51
voidhorse wrote: post #7

This administration is either intentionally performing market manipulation or is simply incompetent. Either way, we all lose. Hope the general populous is happy with their choice, lol.

I wouldn't be surprised if there's an inner circle buy/sell club around the tariff announcements. There's no economic sense to pushing them hard and then hitting the brakes so much unless you are actively looking to manipulate things. The on/off tariffs are just as bad as imposing them for market confidence (if not worse).

The simple explanation is they want the tariffs, but get scared by the blowback, but can't just give up, because that would look even more dumb than it already does.
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