In a statement earlier today, Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross has announced the U.S. is revoking the special trade status of Hong Kong in response to escalating encroachment by China in violation of the prior agreement for autonomy.

It is a challenging status to modify because the administration does not want to reduce the ability of Hong Kong to operate as an autonomous economic region.  However, at the same time Beijing is taking control of all systems within Hong Kong and as such policies must be adjusted.  It would be an exercise in futility to expect China to retreat.

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CPFB) was originally created by congress (Elizabeth Warren lead) as a quasi-constitutional watchdog agency to reach into the banking and financial system, under the guise of oversight, and extract money by fining entities for CFPB defined regulatory and/or compliance violations.

Essentially, the CFPB is a congressionally authorized far-left extortion scheme in the banking sector.  The CFPB levies fines; the fines generate income; however, unlike traditional fines that go to the U.S. treasury, the CFBP fines are then redistributed to left-wing organizations to help fund their political activism.

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) was the brainchild of Senator Elizabeth Warren as an outcome of the Dodd-Frank legislation. Within the CFPB Warren tried to set up the head of the agency, the Director, in a manner that that he/she would operate without oversight. Unfortunately, her dictatorial-fiat-design collapsed when challenged in court.  Backstory #1 – Backstory #2

A federal court found the CFPB Director position held too much power and deemed it unconstitutional. The court decision noted that giving the President power to fire the Director would fix the constitutional problem.  This issue was argued extensively after President Trump appointed Mick Mulvaney as interim Director.  Elizabeth Warren declaring the CFPB Director could not be fired by the executive.  The legal battle worked its way to the Supreme Court.

(more…)

~ Tom Cotton Summarizes The Stakes of 2020 ~

What Senator Tom Cotton discusses in this interview is essentially what’s at stake in the 2020 election; and as an extension why radical leftists, democrats, media and Wall Street are united against their ‘America First’ enemy, Donald Trump.  There are trillions at stake.

The Chinese Communist Party influence over Wall Street and U.S. multinationals is very well known.  The CCP influence over Big Tech, and U.S. tech labs is starting to become more widely known; along with revelations about CCP influence inside major universities.

The Trump administration have direct policy positions to counteract each of these CCP influences; however, CCP financial beneficiaries from Hollywood to sports and pop-culture, to universities and ultimately U.S. politicians, do not want to lose affluence.

.

Behind a great deal of the visible resist Trump movement (whether financial or ideological) is a CCP dragon wearing a panda mask and writing big checks to keep the resistance operations strong.

What better laundry operation could exist to benefit the CCP than Black Lives Matter? Beijing can ship funds to BLM in a myriad of ways, and that money is then transferred –via Act Blue– into the coffers of those political voices supporting Joe Biden’s campaign.

(more…)

Chris McGlade recites his 2018 poem “The Right To Hate”, from his hometown in the north of England.  A working man’s view of left-wing intolerance.

(more…)

Earlier today President Trump signed an Executive Order requiring Federal agencies to focus hiring on the skills job seekers possess, rather than focusing on whether they earned a college degree.  The order requires Federal agencies to revise and update outdated Federal job qualification standards and candidate assessments, improving the quality and competency of the civil service.

The order implements best practices already adopted by private sector leaders to promote equity and inclusion.  As a result of this reform, talented individuals with apprenticeships, technical training, and apt backgrounds will have greater opportunity to pursue careers in the Federal civil service.  [Video and Transcript of Workforce Meeting]

.

[Transcript] – THE PRESIDENT: Nice to see you. Thank you very much. Busy time.

MS. TRUMP: Absolutely.

THE PRESIDENT: We’re making a lot of progress with the whole situation that came in from a place called China, as you probably know. You probably see. But we have a little work to do, and we’ll get it done. We’re having some very good numbers coming out in terms of the comeback — the comeback of our nation. And I think it’s going very rapidly and it’s going to be very good. But right now, we’re in that process of building.

(more…)

There is a lot of weird financial data in/around Nike that is coming to a head.  For those who track issues closely, Nike is using the COVID-19 issues to hide the Kaepernick effect.

Everyone remembers Nike went all-in on their social justice model and made a corporate decision to make Black Lives Matter activist Colin Kaepernick the image of their brand.

In their latest financial results Nike is reporting a net quarterly loss of $790 million…. That’s a big deal. However, given the defensive excuses over the COVID-19 shutdown, that loss alone isn’t the big story.  Their year-over-year sales are down 38%, which tells us the downward spiral has been happening for a lot longer than a quarter.

How bad were their results?  To give you some perspective most financial analysts in the industry were looking for a profit target around seven cents per share.  The result Nike reported was a loss of 51 cents per share.  That is a massive disparity.

In my opinion, having tracked MAGA and Anti-MAGA companies and effects, what Nike was doing in much of last year was hiding and deferring income losses due to sales declines.  They did this because the larger goal was to hide the impact of their branding shift. Nike didn’t want people to know how much backlash they faced, so they used every mechanism possible including inventory manipulation to avoid showing losses.

(more…)

Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross appears on Fox News with Stuart Varney to discuss a change in federal hiring policy.  However, within the interview Ross notes some key economic data that has a very solid predictor value for economic growth.

Both the spending rates and the savings rates for Americans are at all time highs.  The COVID-19 lockdown has limited purchase options, leading to less initial spending; however, consumers have a lot of recent cash reserve as shown in their rate of savings.

Ross is right, within this dynamic, as soon as economic limits are removed, the spending will boost the economy very quickly.

(more…)

Earlier today President toured Fincantieri Marine shipyard and delivered remarks about the historic $5 billion dollar contract the Administration recently granted Fincantieri Marinette Marine. This is the first visit by a sitting President to the city of Marinette, Wisconsin.

Fincantieri Marinette Marine is a United States subsidiary of Italian enterprise Fincantieri, one of the world’s largest shipbuilders, the shipyard was established in 1942 to meet America’s growing demand for naval construction.

The Trump Administration’s contract to build up to ten new guided missile frigates worth nearly $5.5 billion, will secure the future of the shipyard. Fincantieri plans to invest $130 million in upgrades to the facility, add approximately 1,000 jobs and projects that the investment will create 15,000 additional jobs in the Wisconsin and Michigan supply chains.

[Transcript] – THE PRESIDENT: Thank you. Thank you. Yeah, it’s a good song, isn’t it though? Lee Greenwood.

And thank you very much. I’m thrilled to be here with you on this incredible summer day in Wisconsin on the edge of the beautiful Lake Michigan — that is beautiful too; I know it well — with the legendary workers of Marinette Marine. And you now have a lot of contracts because of the United States government. You’re going to — you’re going to be so busy. (Applause.) You’re going to be so busy. I know you went through a little bit of a hard time; not anymore. Not anymore. Got you covered for years.

(more…)

Jumpin’ ju-ju bones… New home sales jumped a whopping 16.6% in May, blowing past the estimates of a 2.9% rise.  The May increase in sales is nearly 13 percent higher than the same month one year ago.

Home sales are a key indicator of economic health because purchases of homes requires (1) income, a stable job; and (2) an optimistic financial outlook from the buyer.

Sales of new single-family homes jumped 16.6% in May from April, to a seasonally adjusted annualized pace of 676,000, the Census Bureau reported Tuesday. The median economist estimate was for 640,000, according to Bloomberg data.

In addition to a larger-than-expected monthly surge, May sales were nearly 13% higher than a year ago. As the US economy reopens, people are flocking back to the housing market in droves — the rosy sales are a rebound from three months of declines ending in April. (LINK)

(more…)

In the economic balancing act toward China Larry Kudlow represents the good cop, Peter Navarro represents the bad cop and President Trump navigates the market responses.  Neither person is factually in conflict with the other; the nuance is in the expression and each person has a role to play.  Sometimes teeth, sometimes not. It depends on need.

Last night trade advisor Peter Navarro noted the U.S. position with China and trade is still in a state of serious conflict.  This is accurate, and a more confrontational posture has been expressed by President Trump.  Today Larry Kudlow moderates the Navarro position to lessen the Wall St. concern over a looming decoupling.  It’s all a dance.

The need for nuance becomes clear as we watch Stuart Varney pushing the Wall Street concern angle on behalf of U.S. multinationals. The administration does not want to spook the stock market while they deal with a China confrontation. WATCH:

.

Kudlow represents the panda mask. Navarro represents the eagles claw. President Trump advances or retracts each position as he controls the market response.  The objective is a slow, steady, smiling decoupling that doesn’t unnerve anyone… but the direction is always toward the decoupling.

President Trump is delivering the proverbial economic death by a thousand paper cuts.

(more…)