President Trump and First Lady Melania stopped at Ramstein Air Base in Germany en-route back to Washington DC. The president took the opportunity to talk directly with key military generals and leaders aboard Air Force-One:
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It’s a little funny to watch this. The chicken little pearl-clutchers at Fox Business: ‘orange-man-bad tariffs‘ -vs- former Walmart CEO Bill Simon on strong holiday retail sales, global growth and the U.S-China trade reset.
The Wall Street business-pundits are pre-programmed, at an institutional dna level, to jump into the “tariffs are bad” talking points. Mr. Simon aptly dispatches them with a dose of reality from the Wal-Mart/Main Street perspective. [It’s kinda funny]
In 2017 total holiday sales were reported as follows:
2017 CBS – […] They had a lot of company across the country. Total retail sales this holiday season added up to a record $598 billion dollars — up $33 billion from last year. (link)
In 2018 total holiday sales were reported as follows:
2018 WSJ and CBS – […] Overall, U.S. consumers spent over $850 billion this holiday season, according to Mastercard. The figures suggest a stock-market swoon and partial government shutdown haven’t curbed consumer confidence and spending. (link)
See the issue?..
In all 2017 financial media reports $598 billion was the holiday spending total. And in all of 2018 financial media reports $850 billion was the total holiday spending.
That’s a difference of $252 billion more spent in 2018. An increase of 42%.
According to a report in Bloomberg News the U.S. is sending a trade negotiation team to Beijing on January 7th, 2019. If accurate this would be the first face-to-face delegation since President Trump and Chairman Xi outlined the structure for strategic trade discussions during the G20 meeting in Buenos Aires.
(Via Bloomberg) A U.S. government delegation will travel to Beijing in the week of Jan. 7 to hold trade talks with Chinese officials, two people familiar with the matter said.
Deputy U.S. Trade Representative Jeffrey Gerrish will lead the Trump administration’s team, which will also include Treasury Under Secretary for International Affairs David Malpass, according to the people, who spoke on the condition of anonymity. Neither the USTR nor Treasury responded to requests for comment. (more)
When President Trump outlined the preliminary terms for negotiations between the U.S. and China, U.S Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer was assigned the lead position for the contacts. Abassador Lighthizer has been very firm in pointing out the 90-day window for discussions, prior to enhanced tariff action, was not going to change. The deadline is March 1st, 2019, for a principle agreement, or the next phase of tariffs is triggered.
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President Donald Trump and First Lady Melania Trump deliver remarks to U.S. military during a surprise visit to Al Asad Air Base in Iraq.
During his remarks President Trump outlines his determination to remove U.S. military from Syria and to hold regional allies accountable to retain stability and security.
Additionally President Trump directly addresses the notion that any withdrawal from the region means a reconstituted terror threat that might strike the U.S: “if that was to happen, they would suffer consequences like never before.” “That’s not a threat, that’s going to be a fact.” … “If anything were to happen at all.”
…The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 5%, or more than 1,000 points, and recorded the largest daily point gain in its history. Meanwhile, the S&P 500 climbed 4.9%…. (more)
(Via CNBC) Retail is having its best holiday shopping season in six years, according to early data tracking consumers’ purchases.
Sales in the U.S. from Nov. 1 through Christmas Eve were up 5.1 percent to more than $850 billion, according to Mastercard SpendingPulse, which monitors spending both in stores and online via all forms of payment. Mastercard also said online sales during that time frame were up 19.1 percent from a year ago, in line with earlier reports that showed robust growth in e-commerce this holiday season.
Council of Economic Advisers Chairman Kevin Hassett appears on Fox Business news to discuss the impact of the Federal Reserve’s interest rate hikes on the Main Street economy and the state of the Wall Street stocks.
The key metric is to accept what’s happening around us. Fed rate hikes are hurting Wall Street (investment class). However, Fed activity is not yet impacting Main Street. This is because the two economic engines (Wall St. -vs- Main St.) are so far apart.
Speculation of President Trump heading to visit troops began early this morning as an overnight takeoff for Air Force-One was strongly rumored. Additionally the White House press room has been silent and POTUS Trump has been unusually quiet on his social media.
In a statement posted on Twitter, White House Press Secretary Sarah Sanders confirmed the visit in a tweet shortly after Reuters shared the photos of the president in Iraq.
President Trump and the First Lady traveled to Iraq late on Christmas night to visit with our troops and Senior Military leadership to thank them for their service, their success, and their sacrifice and to wish them a Merry Christmas. (Link)
Additionally, the Daily Mail has more pictures in Iraq.
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President Trump Twitter @POTUS / Vice President Pence Twitter @VP
Sarah H Sanders Twitter @SHSanders45
Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be thy Name. Thy kingdom come. THY WILL BE DONE, on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread. And forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us. And lead us not into temptation, but DELIVER US FROM EVIL.
For Thine is the kingdom and the power and the glory, forever and ever. Amen †