A series of very strong internal economic evaluations today from the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) and the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) show the Main Street economy is perfectly positioned with maximum benefit to the U.S. middle-class.
First, despite two years of doomsayer predictions from Wall Street’s professional punditry, saying Trump tariffs on China would create massive inflation…. It Ain’t Happening!  Overall year-over-year inflation is hovering around 1.7 percent [Table-A BLS]; that’s a low inflation rate.  Rate has firmed up now with less month-over-month fluctuation, and the rate remains consistent.   [See Below]

A couple of important points.  First, unleashing the energy sector to drive down overall costs to consumers and industry outputs was a key part of President Trump’s America-First MAGAnomic initiative.  Lower energy prices help the worker economy, middle class and average American more than any other sector… Except ‘food at home’.
Which brings us to the second important point.  Notice how food prices have very low year-over-year inflation, 0.5 percent.  That is a combination of two key issues: low energy costs, and the fracturing of Big Ag hold on the farm production and the export dynamic:
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Fox News host Neil Cavuto is well known for broadcasting an hour long infomercial for the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and Wall Street daily.  White House manufacturing and trade advisor Peter Navarro interrupts Cavuto’s multinational talking points to explain a Pro-U.S. trade initiative that will help level the playing field.  Things go downhill….

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Amid new reports of U.S. companies initiating a rapid exodus from China, President Trump has announced the delay of the next round of tariff increases on Chinese goods from October 1st to October 15th.

U.S. Company Survey – More than a quarter of the respondents – or 26.5% – said that in the past year, they have redirected investments originally planned for China to other regions. That’s an increase of 6.9 percentage points from last year, the AmCham report said, noting that technology, hardware, software and services industries had the highest level of changes in investment destination (read more)

President Trump apparently senses the diminishing position of Chairman Xi.  The status quo, U.S. disinvestment, has put Beijing into a weakening position.  As the president noted today during remarks from the oval office, Xi’s belt-and-road (aka ‘bribe and loan’) supply chain program is collapsing.
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The Beijing/Wall Street lobbyist Robert Zoellick has taken an attack posture on behalf of his U.S. corporate clients and their investments in China.
White House director of trade policy Peter Navarro appears on FOX Business’ Lou Dobbs to rebuke Zoellick and Beijing claims about Trump’s trade policy:

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Acting Commissioner of Customs and Border Protection (CBP) Mark Morgan holds a press conference to update on the status of ongoing border security and immigration enforcement.  [Video and Transcript Below]
Border arrests fell to roughly 51,000 in August, a more than 60 percent decrease from 133,000 arrests in May, which was the peak of the recent surge. [CPB Press Release] However, Commissioner Morgan emphasized that Mexico must continue to do more to secure the border.  Morgan said Mexico has taken “meaningful and unprecedented steps” to stop migrants passing through its country, “but they need to do more.”

U.S. and Mexican officials are scheduled to meet tomorrow to discuss ongoing efforts and expectations from the Trump administration to continue avoiding tariffs. President Andres Manuel Lopez-Obrador deployed thousands of troops from a newly formed National Guard to intercept migrants and keep them from reaching the U.S. Southern border.  AMLO does not want to face U.S. tariffs on Mexican products.
[Transcript] ACTING COMMISSIONER MORGAN: Good morning. And thank you all for being here today.
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Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin appears for an interview with Maria Bartiromo to discuss the Trump administration’s efforts to return privatization to Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, the state of the U.S. economy, U.S. trade talks with China, USMCA and government spending.
Ms. Bartiromo is very concerned about retaining the wealth position for her friends on Wall Street and the Asian investment needs of U.S. multinational corporations.

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The South China Morning Post has an interesting article highlighting that July’s export results from China were likely skewed as U.S. companies proactively made purchases to take advantage of Beijing’s currency devaluation in combination with filling inventory ahead of the U.S. holiday needs.

Additionally, August export results from China show an actual drop in exports, falling 16 percent year-over-year from decreased U.S. orders:

Shipments fell by 1 per cent in the month after growing 3.3 per cent in July in dollar terms, and below the 2.1 per cent growth expected by analysts in a Bloomberg poll. Imports in the month dropped by 5.6 per cent, leaving a trade surplus of US$34.84 billion, according to China’s General Administration of Customs.

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White House Director of Trade and Manufacturing Policy Peter Navarro appears on Fox News to discuss the current status of the U.S-China trade discussions and the USMCA.
Ms. Bartiromo points out how U.S. multinationals are holding back further investment in Asia due to ongoing President Trump tariffs.  Mr. Navarro points out there is no uncertainty if U.S. companies would invest in Main Street USA.
However, the Wall Street multinationals do not want to give up on their Asian investments and bring U.S. manufacturing jobs back to North America.  Hence the conflict between Wall Street/The Big Club and Main Street/President Trump.

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As Navarro noted, the narrative about October talks between the U.S. and China are driven by the collaborative financial interests of Beijing and Wall Street multinationals in an effort to create the image of something that doesn’t exist.  Prepare accordingly.
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Democrat president candidate Elizabeth Warren has made a campaign promise that is quite remarkable:

The consequences of such policy are not esoteric; they are very real and very serious.  Who would immediately benefit from Warren’s policy: Russia, China, Iran and Venezuela. Who would suffer, Americans.  Here’s how…
Within the first 24 hours of Elizabeth Warren’s presidency she is promising to dramatically raise the price of Oil and Natural Gas.  This will:

• Immediately hand Vladimir Putin hundreds of billions worth of enhanced Russian energy exports.  A windfall of economic growth that will mean Russian policy expansion globally.
• Support the regime of Venezuelan dictator Maduro who relies on oil production and pricing to keep his socialist government in place.
• Expand the influence of China; and increase the value of Beijing’s investments in Russian energy and 49% state in PDVSA (Venezuela).
• Immediately help the Iranian economy; enhance the stranglehold of power by the Mullah’s over the Iranian people; help fund terrorist actions globally, and specifically create terrorist attacks in Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Libya and Israel.
• Return U.S. policy and strategy back to a position of dependence on OPEC nations; so we can expect more U.S. military involvement in the middle-east (as above).

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The Gordian Knot of Brexit is based on a Parliamentary ruling class within the U.K. government who will not accept Great Britain leaving the European Union.
The elitist Members of Parliament (MP) have passed a law requiring Prime Minister Boris Johnson to forever stay in the EU until an agreement for terms of exit are reached.  However, the EU doesn’t want the U.K. to exit; so the consequence of the MP law is to ‘remain’ in the EU forever.  This elitist scheme has created the knot; and the majority of the British people -those who voted to ‘leave’- are insufferably bound within it.

In one approach to cutting the knot Prime Minister Boris Johnson has requested a national vote for government leadership on October 15th.  With a scheduled round of talks with the EU set for October 17th, a Boris Johnson election victory would create the needed momentum toward a hard-brexit (no deal) on October 31st.  Britain would, finally, be free.
However, the MP ruling class, those who say they know better than the people they are supposed to serve, know such a popular vote would upend their schemes – and likely lead to many of their alliance being removed from office.  So the elites will not support a national election that would lead to their own defeat. [More knot building].
A second knot-cutting tactic implied by the Prime Minister, is to ignore the insufferable law –recently passed and pending signature– and proceed toward a ‘no-deal’ Brexit on October 31st.
This approach could lead to the British Parliament being forced to vote against the Prime Minister (no confidence); and would set up a replacement election, which Boris Johnson wants anyway.  Actually, no-one is quite sure what will happen on this second knot-cutting avenue… no map available.
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