Compared to this time last year, the prospects for markets and the global economy heading into 2020 are surprisingly bright. But look further ahead and you will encounter deep uncertainty...
" The brighter news needs to be caveated, as the overall rate of economic expansion signalled by the surveys remains well below that seen this time last year, "
Trump may have taken what wasn't broken, namely the tried and true strategy of ramping the market higher on daily speculation and "trade deal optimism", and "fixed it", in the process opening a trade deal Pandora's Box.
Once the dollar was freed from the discipline of gold, the repeating cycle of bank credit was augmented by the unfettered inflation of base money, a process that has continued to this day...
What is clear is that the Fed is making up strategies as it goes along, sacrificing long-term gains for immediate survival and instant gratification...
...if this $500 billion madness is needed just to get to January 14, what madness will be needed come January 15? Our guess: Take the current number and double it. Then double it again.
Roughly $120bn in goods face 15% tariffs as of Sep. 1, known as “List 4A”. Tariffs on List 4A will be reduced from 15% to 7.5%. This would represent a roughly 10% reduction in Section 301 duties on Chinese goods.
And now, the final blow... Stunned and disconcerted, central bankers see that they are achieving none of their objectives and are simply turning their economies into drug addicts...
"Ten former NFL players allegedly committed a brazen, multi-million dollar fraud on a health care plan meant to help their former teammates and other retired players pay legitimate, out-of-pocket medical expenses..."
We look to Larry Kudlow for color on what snapped in the first week of December, as left without an explanation the unexpected surge in claims is certainly an ominous inflection point for the state of the US labor market.
