Here's our summary of key economic events overnight that affect New Zealand with news that is not good. Markets are suddenly gripped by extreme fears of where the world's largest economy is heading.
But first up today we can report that the overnight dairy Pulse auction has seen milk powder prices fall. The big fall expected for WMP didn't happen but it was a retreat all the same. The small fall expected for SMP actually came in more pronounced than expected. Both shifts have ended the recent run up in these prices although they probably don't necessarily end the higher trending. Neither correction was enough to unstitch that at this event. But uncertainty is back all the same.
US data releases overnight remained resilient. The US retail impulse, as measured by the Redbook survey, held strong, unchanged and up +6.2% from the same week a year ago.
The next Richmond Fed factory survey moved up a bit but is now showing an expansion, its most since October 2023. This was a better result than anticipated and in complete contrast to yesterday's Texas survey.
The Dallas Fed's services survey eased back, but is still expanding although the trend has turned down mainly because the outlook uncertainty is rising.
But none of this data trumped the fast-rising doom mood in the US. The latest Conference Board survey of consumer sentiment was particularly negative. Its reading of consumer confidence registered the largest monthly decline since August 2021. Although other similar surveys like the PMIs and the University of Michigan one showed the same trend, this latest one was worse and has just compounded the negative mood.
Risk aversion sentiment is gripping financial markets today. Wall Street is lower, the US Treasury bond prices are surging (yields falling), yield inversions are returning, and the USD is rising, in the normal reaction to a risk-off mood. Everyone from consumers to the financial market professionals know the US is going the wrong way with its public policy.
And we should probably note that the Tesla share price is down more than -8% so far today, down -14% in a week and down -20% since the start of the year. The "move-fast-and-break-things" strategy isn't proving to be a good business practice.
There was another US Treasury 5yr auction today and the well-supported event delivered a yield of 4.07%, lower than the 4.29% at the equivalent event a month ago.
Elsewhere, Taiwanese retail sales are on the rise, up +5.3% in January from a year ago in a strong showing, much better than expected. Meanwhile, Taiwanese industrial production growth eased, but only back to the levels expected.
South Korea's central bank cut its policy rate by -25 bps to 2.75% yesterday. This was as expected. It is their third cut since this rate peaked in January 2023 at 3.5%. Their cutting cycle started in October 2024.
In China, exports through Hong Kong fell to a one year low in January, and a sharp retreat from December. This is the weakest growth in exports activity after sharp reversals for exports of electrical machinery, and household appliances.
In Australia, regulator ASIC is warning of the risks of investing in private markets, a growing trend recently. The opacity of valuations, liquidity and governance has them worried.
And as the Aussies get ready for a probably May election, it has been standard to expect the ruling Labor Party to lose, mainly because incumbents are losing elsewhere. But a new poll suggests a change may in fact not happen there. No doubt they are encouraged by the German election where essentially the center held.
The UST 10yr yield is at 4.31%, down -10 bps from yesterday at this time. The key 2-10 yield curve is little-changed at +22 bps. Their 1-5 curve is now at only +3 bps and much flatter. And their 3 mth-10yr curve is now completely flat, facing inversion again. The Australian 10 year bond yield starts today at 4.41% and down -7 bps from yesterday. The China 10 year bond rate is now at 1.77% and down -4 bps. The NZ Government 10 year bond rate is now at 4.60%, down -2 bps from yesterday.
Wall Street has opened its Tuesday session with the S&P500 down -0.8% at one point, down -0.3% later. Overnight, European markets were little-changed, except Paris was down -0.5%. Tokyo ended its Tuesday session down -1.4%, Hong Kong fell -1.3%, while Shanghai slipped -0.8%. Singapore slipped even less, down -0.3%. The ASX200 was down -0.7% in Tuesday trade. But the NZX50 took another beating, down -1.8%.
The price of gold will start today at just under US$2894/oz and down -US$48 from yesterday.
Oil prices are down -US$2 at just under US$69/bbl in the US and the international Brent price is now just under US$73/bbl.
The Kiwi dollar is now at 57.2 USc and down -20 bps from yesterday. Against the Aussie we are unchanged at 90.3 AUc. Against the euro we are down -40 bps at 54.4 euro cents. That all means our TWI-5 starts today just on 66.9, and down -30 bps from yesterday.
The bitcoin price starts today at US$87,309 and down a massive -7.7% from this time yesterday. Bitcoin has dropped about 20% since Trump’s January inauguration, as initial optimism over his crypto-friendly stance fades. Bitcoin wasn't the only crypto to drop. Volatility over the past 24 hours has been very high at +/- 4.8%. And those who jumped on the $Trump memecoin have lost nearly everything. The market cap for that spruiked 'product' is now only US$88,000. Apparently there is a limited supply of suckers. Who knew?
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119 Comments
President Trump is a reactive President. How he reacts to negative vibes so early on will be interesting likely because they will simply represent a falsity in his mind. Yet there was a display of petulance and falling confidence when the Democrats quit the decrepit Biden for the doomed Harris and got a good bump in the polls which turned out to be meaningless. very difficult to predict anything on the present stage setting except that mostly, it will remain unpredictable.
Great word salad to start the day Foxy? How about Trump's wrecking ball causing havoc...he has lost control and has no idea what he is doing....like a petulant child with many chips on his padded shoulders
he has lost control and has no idea what he is doing.
I think he knows exactly what he's doing. Make people's heads spin while you enact your real intentions.
You give him way too much credit...
Underestimating the God Emperor has got us where we are today.
Never thought I'd see a WH40K reference on this website!!
You give him way too much credit...
And you're viewing his behaviour through the eyes of a relatively sensible mind.
I don't think he knows exactly what he is doing, but the people behind him pushing his buttons do
Agree. His memory/mind is deteriorating fast. When he announced the tariffs on Canada and Mexico - he said of the current trade agreement that it was such a bad agreement - who would sign that? When it was him that signed that after having re-negotiated NAFTA during his last administration..
https://www.huffpost.com/entry/trump-usmca-nafta-tariffs-canada-mexico_…
The world understands this - cognitively, he's not in charge.
The world understands this - cognitively, he's not in charge.
It's probably still a bit too soon after Joe Biden to regurgitate that talking point.
Why? Reality to hard to handle Brocky?
Because he was the sitting president and was forcibly rolled by his own team because of severe cognitive decline?
That's how word salad Kamala got inflicted on the world without a proper selection process.
It wasn't that long ago - has a recent update erased your memory banks?
Because he was the sitting president and was forcibly rolled by his own team because of severe cognitive decline?
So what is Musk..a master puppeteer..
It saddens me to see that you have sunk to peddling wild conspiracy theories.
Musk is extremely good at cutting through bullshit. That's why the left hate him so much.
I don't think that's the reason. Unless your 'bullshit' term extends to cover things like legal rulings, checks and balances on power etc.
Musk is the king of bullshit. The right are just waking up to it while you're still in dreamland.
How dare you say that about such an amazing man.
No one can take other people's ideas and concepts and hype them like Musky.
Musk is a living Onion article "world's richest man pays people to play computer games for him so he can pretend to be good"
Ayup. You can't take anything someone who puts so much effort into manufacturing a persona seriously - likely the inverse of what he says is true.
Perhaps its now a prerequisite to being President?
Why does that matter? If anything, the fact that it is clearly possible to have a President struggling with mental decline is supportive of the claims.
Trump's only possible rebuttal is he's always been logically inconsistent and incoherent...but again, Biden has always had his little verbal stuff-ups.
Very similar people in some ways, until it comes to little features like respecting institutions and treating opponents like human beings.
If Trump starts falling up/down the stairs of Airforce one, falls of his bike (or for Trump can no longer play golf), or starts getting lost and falling over on podiums like Biden did then perhaps we can start comparing the physical and mental decline. As it stands you would think Biden is 10-20 years older than Trump in terms of physical and cognitive/verbal ability.
And I’m not particularly a Trump fan boy (I was hoping for somebody/anybody other than Kamala and Trump as candidates) - but Biden was completely cooked and in no state whatsoever to be President and the fact the Dems tried to hide that was to me and completely loss of credibility in the integrity of their party. In comparison Trump seems youthful.
Pretty rude of you to bring up stairs which Trump has a known fear of. But yes, he's a Very Brave Boy and sometimes manages them unaided.
I used to think Trump Derangement Syndrome was a fallacy but the longer this second term goes the more I’m realising it may actually be real.
He seems to cause people to irrationally lose their minds and become full of hatred.
People don't tolerate the intolerant, for good reason.
Trump has shown enough health concerns to have his own wiki page on it, that isn't short.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Age_and_health_concerns_about_Donald_Trump
Plenty of people wanted Biden to step down because of his health, that is why it happened. Sure, the political backers tried to talk around the fact, that is what politicians do.
Both men were/are too old to be in office.
Yes can we please have some younger candidates as the next election.
Can we also get rid of the likes of Mitch McConnell (83), Bernie Sanders (83), Nancy Pelosis (84) etc.
If you haven’t achieved what you wanted to by 80 publicly (perhaps even 75), what the hell have you been doing? Why should tax payers be funding your political dreams when you are 80+. It’s nuts.
Yes can we please have some younger candidates as the next election.
Isn't it easier to treat democracy like Netflix, and just complain about the choices rather than actively involve yourself?
The fact we have such a lack of new blood even putting their hands up should be of concern.
Aye, and this IMO can be attributed to community involvement having been a necessity in the days of old vs today where everyone can stay inside all their life and get food delivered, entertainment online, and social interaction is now more of an abstract occasional skill for many vs a normal part of daily life.
He seems to cause people to irrationally lose their minds and become full of hatred.
If you've ever had to be embroiled with an actual narcissist for an extended period, you'd understand. It's like living in upsy-downsy land.
America gets to have one encroach on multiple areas of their lives.
Agree. The way the Dems denied what was in plain site was an insult to most of us. Trying to tell us what we were looking at was not what it seemed was just nuts.
A bit like those who said Musk didn't do the Nazi salute, twice?
I don’t recall Hitler saying ‘My heart goes out to you’ after doing his Nazi salute (as Musk did) but then again I wasn’t actually alive at the same time as Adolf.
Hitler said a lot of things that could have passed for empathy, while also murdering millions of people.
And the art of public relations has come a ways in nearly a century.
Well if Musk starts exterminating Jews in gas chambers down the line I’ll admit that you guys were right with your warnings about his hand gestures.
In the mean time i think you’re massively overreacting - but will apologise wholeheartedly if I’m wrong and you are right that Musk is in fact the reincarnation of Hitler.
I'm not saying Musk is a Nazi.
I'd appraise him as more of your garden variety arse-hat, who likely wouldn't piss on you if you were on fire.
What's your opinion of Steve Bannon's salute?
You must have missed Musk actively promoting Germanys far right party up on the big screen at one of their conferences. Quite spooky really do you know how many futuristic movies have been made along that very theme. That party came in a close second in the election, highest vote for them ever since WW2.
One of the most charming fellows you could ever meet. Well that was Herman Goering’s retort to one of his interrogators at Nuremberg pointing out that Adolf was a psychopathic mass murderer.
Is that one still being peddled around the leftie echo chambers?
He has set a trend Brocky...you need to get out of the RSL more often - Bannon gives Nazi salute at CPAC, President of the Czech Senate "unhappy" that Czech MEPs were there
I wonder how Musk will react going forward. DOGE and X appears to have accelerated people not buying Teslas in Europe and the Aussies sueing on phantom braking! Will Elon float Starlink. Starlink is now making billions, and an IPO right now may be on the cards for Elon..
In respect with not much respect Trump is pleasing those who voted for him. It seems they don't care that the US voted alongside Russia and North Korea yesterday.
I’ve read a few book on Musk - including the latest by isaacson (one of my favourite writers).
Im not sure if Musk would be that concerned if Tesla were to fail now. He has achieved what he wanted to which was to force global large car manufactures to transition to battery/EV.
He might actually be relieved if he no longer has to deal in that space be can focus his efforts on other areas.
Tesla is still about half his net worth, might sting a little to see that go to zero.
Nothing a little grifting with Trump can't rebuild though, I'm sure.
He hasn't needed Trump in the past. Their are plenty in congress who are paid to do his bidding for Tesla and Space-X contracts.
The US State Department’s procurement forecast for the 2025 budget includes an item called “Armored Teslas” worth $400 million.
I’m not arguing with you MFD! I don’t think Trump or Ellon are perfect or even necessary good human beings - I just don’t seem to have the hatred for them that you appear to be showing here in the comments section today.
If you hate them and what they are doing just make sure that doesn’t fill you with hate. This is what seems to be happening to those on the political left - they are becoming filled with hatred of two men.
As Jesus said love thy enemies - if your dislike for what they are doing fills you with hate then it means they are influencing you in a negative way - it is probably want Trumps want - to bring out the hatred of the left so he can say to his followers ‘see I told you those people on the political left are nasty and hateful’
Well, I wouldn't use the word hate at this point. The pair of them are throwing so much mess into the system so quickly it is very difficult to interpret exactly what is happening and there are serious concerns that they will ignore the rule of law. If that happens it is extremely concerning - I do not trust them to do the right thing if the various constraints fall to the way side (nor would I have trusted the Dems in that situation).
If I'm wrong and they are just finding the legal lines that they cannot cross, and future elections operate as normal, then I (and many others) have overreacted.
I am certainly self-aware that some of the talking points sound like the noise coming out of MAGA over the last 4 years and I hope I'm not becoming de-coupled from reality in the same way. I am always open to evidence that goes against my current beliefs.
Trump and Musk are the disinfectant the West sorely needed.
You don't have to like them, just sit back and admire their work knowing they are making the world a better place. Watching the likes of Starmer, Macron and Trudeau be humiliated and bullied in public is priceless. Already the Ukraine conflict is winding down, Europe is being forced to increase it's defence spending to where it should have been. The sheer waste of USAID etc being revealed.
I'm centre left and think these guys are doing a great job. I had to endure Biden and Harris who together had the collective iq of a carrot. Musk is on the spectrum, he really doesn't care what you think. He is worth our GDP, but yeah you get on the internet and criticise him LOLZ.
Why did Musk pretend to be good at computer games if he doesn't care what we think?
He has achieved what he wanted to which was to force global large car manufactures to transition to battery/EV.
Most of them are retreating from their EV aspirations.
China was always going to be the big mover here.
I’ll let you guys be right - let’s hope Musk fails terribly in all his endeavours, including Tesla.
Tesla doesnt need or have to fail.
It just needs to be priced like an automobile company, and he's in the pooper.
Indeed. There's a table floating around on reddit illustrating that Tesla produces ~1% of total automobiles, but has a market cap larger than the sum total of all the companies producing the remaining 99% lol.
Musk doesn't care about the environment, he specifically created the hyperloop project just to stop a high speed train system happening.
He suggests we terraform Mars in case Earth is made inhospitable. If we could terraform Mars, we could sure as hell fix Earth much easier and faster. And the basic idea of putting a colony on Mars any time soon is far beyond stupid.
He forced out the original founders of Tesla (he didn't found Tesla), and shot one of the founders car's into space, just so they couldn't have it. Such is his pettiness.
Musk pays other people to play video games for him, so he can pretend he is good at them. And he thinks he is so much cleverer than everyone else that they will not be able to tell that he doesn't know how to play the game during a live stream.
I suspect your book didn't go into these details, as it was an authorized biography. Musk gets most of his power from creating a persona of the modern Iron Man, that a lot of people desperately want to be true. So they believe him.
Good morning David and Jess.
Thank you for my time here commenting on Interest.co.
I appreciate all of you and the others writing here contribute to an honest and tough appraisal of our economy.
I enjoyed the welcome I received from other commentators when I braved up to begin writing instead of reading.
I will be a silent reader and presence from now on. Silvi.
The "move-fast-and-break-things" strategy isn't proving to be a good business practice.
Isn't the reality "talk-bollocks-and-underdeliver"?
Bitcoin has dropped about 20% since Trump’s January inauguration, as initial optimism over his crypto-friendly stance fades
Who'd have thought the big winners in Trumps campaign is going to be Trump and anyone fluffing him up?
It is all about money.
When the Europeans stop buying US arms Trump will spin faster than a penny.
They don't have much choice, in a lot of areas.
F-35s, Patriot Systems, etc don't have many viable alternatives.
You would be surprised how quickly that can change if a country or continent with a sufficiently skilled and educated populace, capital, and a manufacturing base, is faced with a national security threat, or even existential threat as large as the USA allying with Russia.
In a time with simpler military technology I'd agree. But the development and manufacturing time of cutting edge equipment is pretty long these days.
The Volkswagen Group now have spare capacity with their shuttered (or soon to be shuttered) plants.
Nice time to pivot to arms manufacturing instead.
Interesting idea !
Thanks, but not mine TBH. Done quite a bit in WW2 by both the UK and the USA (although more out of necessity that as a result of excess production capacity).
Back to their roots....
Precisely Pa1nter... quoted from Carol Roth re Trump's #45 admin…
“….the Federal Reserve was pumping trillions of dollars into the markets, helping to inflate stock valuations. Hundreds of thousands of small businesses were murdered in just a few short months—by government edict—while seven tech companies gained $3.4 trillion in market value.
If you were able to access capital—which is code for already being big or wealthy, even if you weren’t in some cases financially sound—it was plentiful and, for debt capital, available at historically low interest rates.
2020 became a record year for IPOs and for other capital-raising vehicles like special purpose acquisition companies. And some of this capital was likely used to compete with your local small businesses.”
For anyone out there with a short memory, Trump’s term ended in January 2021 – during his tenure the Fed balance sheet doubled in size in a 16 month period – from $3.7 Trillion to $7.4 Trillion. That was an all-time record by a country mile for any President in the history of the U$A. So too the total for his term – a 3 $3 trillion expansion for the 4 year period.
Remember that the term “balance sheet expansion” is the ultimate euphemism that substitutes for QE, money printing, and papering over a dysfunctional fiscal and monetary debacle that socialises all manner of toxic financial chicanery, when it is placed onto the Fed balance sheet.
It took until September 2008 for the Fed balance sheet to crack $1 trillion – that’s 95 years – during Trump’s term they managed $3.7 trillion in just 16 months.
Needless to say, the vast majority of this liquidity went straight into the pockets of the dancing billionaire brigade, and they are lining up Mainstreet for an even bigger heist during #47. The DTCC and Cede and Co. lie in wait for the Great taking.
I expanded on the Great taking in…
https://globalsouth.co/2024/01/30/the-western-train-wreck/
Of course, the legacy media is right behind these crooks in helping them to ply their trade.
How does this work? – oh, that’s right – because humanity gave these thieving private banking cartels the right to create money out of thin air and to charge the working class trillions in unearned rent – and what do they do with their booty? – they buy up every asset (including the legacy media) on the planet they desire that’s not nailed down.
Of course, the key people within the BRICS bloc are acutely aware that the plandemic and the sequel, the great poisoning using toxic gene-editing mRNA toxins, which Trump cheerled, was a direct assault on the BRICS/BRI juggernaut, and that Uncle Chao$ had realised that it posed an existential threat to Western military and financial hegemony.
#47 gave us a timely reminder that profligate spending will be the order of the day, perhaps dwarfing even #45 – the $4 trillion extension of the debt ‘ceiling’ was like a bull-horn that reverberated around the planet which surely none of us should miss.
We tend to think of Obomber and Biden as complete financial disasters – and they were.
But the figures don’t lie – there they are on the Fred chart – go into the FRED site and check out the 'Fed Total Assets' graph for yourself.
During the 12 years of Obama and Bidens undisputed bungling of the U$ economy, the Fed balance sheet grew by a total of $1.8 trillion – that’s + $2.4T under Obama’s 2 terms whilst during Biden’s term it was a negative -$600 billion (because of the subsequent QT).
Working this out on a yearly basis, under Trump, the growth was $750 billion per year, and under the other two crooks, it was a mere $15 billion per year.
During Trump #45, the balance sheet growth was exactly 50x that of the other two.
With Trump recently raising the debt ceiling by a whopping $4 trillion, it’s pretty obvious that he is laying the groundwork to be an even more reckless spender than in his initial debacle.
Trump was personally bailed out of bankruptcy on at least 6 occasions by the very banks that are his handlers – when it comes to bankruptcy, he has a proven track record – this is not going to end well.
At this rate, and by mid-year if not before, when Trump’s election platform serial lies are exposed, I would expect the entire country to be close to ungovernable. The BRICS bloc could hardly miss this, and they must be somewhat amused that the loser in the Ukraine debacle thinks they have any bargaining leverage whatsoever.
Meanwhile, they will consider dialog a plus, but how could they forget that this is with a predatory exceptionalist entity that has proven itself to be permanently unreliable and treacherous.
A takeover of power by the technofeudalists, with a proxy-president as their personal executive, is not going to end well. In fact, it could be even worse than the old Deep State puppetmasters that yanked on the strings from the shadows.
BTW way, IMO, David Chaston's final sentence summed this giant con up in a nutshell - this is the most outrageous example of monetising a political position in U$ history ...
"And those who jumped on the $Trump memecoin have lost nearly everything. The market cap for that spruiked 'product' is now only US$88,000. Apparently, there is a limited supply of suckers. Who knew?"
We need to be very careful what we wish for.
Colin Maxwell
Did anyone see Macrons face when that reporter asked Trump is Putin was a dictator like Zelensky after he call Zelensky one? Macron was just laughing at Trump... I was excited when he got voted in for peace but the way he's going about it in Europe and these tarriffs and just siding with Putin I didn't sign up for.
I saw Macron's face when Trump began yapping about going to see the gold and eating cats and dogs. Macron had real difficulty not laughing out loud..
My view of Macron has taken a leap.
Well that is OK. He is a frog.
On the private market investing it is a big thing in the US as I read. And where the Americans go the Aussies usually fall in line..mostly.
Tesla now offering $6000 in discount on Tesla Trucks as inventory piles up.
TA more investors thinking of selling
More investors thinking of selling
Each month with sponsorship from Crockers Property Management I survey residential property investors to see what they are experiencing at the rental market coalface. Key insights from our latest survey include the following.
- An increasing proportion of investors are considering reducing the size of their real estate portfolio.
- Concerns about the potential for house prices to rise have increased while optimism regarding the extent of interest rate declines has eased.
- Landlords continue to report difficulties in securing good tenants, but banks are perceived as being willing to advance funds.
- More investors are considering selling.
Good news - releases more homes available for FHB and in the theory of supply/demand (that was used by property bulls on the way up in prices) should see prices reduce further.
what a word salad....
- Concerns about the potential for house prices to rise have increased while optimism regarding the extent of interest rate declines has eased.
Concerns about falling prices have increased as it becomes clear interest rates are not going to fall as expected.....
Property industry is all about doublespeak.
Prices never fall/war is peace.
I couldn't help myself... sorry -David
- "Concerns about the potential for house prices to rise have increased" — This might be a strategic way to build urgency. By framing price rises as a concern, the writer could be nudging readers to buy now before prices climb further — a classic spruiker tactic to create a sense of FOMO (fear of missing out).
- "Optimism regarding the extent of interest rate declines has eased" — This could serve as a subtle push, suggesting that waiting for lower interest rates might not pay off — again, encouraging people to act sooner rather than later.
The overall tone might seem cautious on the surface, but for a property spruiker, the underlying message could be: Buy now — prices are going up, and interest rates might not fall as much as you hope.
Concerns about the potential for house prices to rise have increased
You're reading it wrong, he's writing on behalf of property industry who see house prices rises as positive. His survey revealed that: investors are concerned that prices will not rise.
Optimism regarding the extent of interest rate declines has eased
Similar with this. His survey revealed that: previously investors were optimistic that interest rates would fall, now they don't think they will.
It is edited in such as way because if TA comes out and says it plainly, the investors who are poor at reading comprehension, will become even more spooked. Remember he is paid by the real estate industry to promote the real estate industry's interests. He's run out of ways to polish the turd so now he's resorting to squishing it into the shape of a mars bar and hopes nobody notices.
He must be speaking at a lot less functions these days, it was his bread and butter....
He is trying to establish other surveys to replace missing revenue I suspect.
You are such a "doom-and-gloom merchant" for wanting to live in a country where young Kiwis can afford a proper home in a decent neighbourhood.
How dare you hold local investors to a higher standard, requiring them to put their capital in productive ventures that create better economic opportunities for Kiwis rather than chasing easy gains on brick-and-mortar and gradually drag the economy down?
And those who jumped on the $Trump memecoin have lost nearly everything. The market cap for that spruiked 'product' is now only US$88,000. Apparently there is a limited supply of suckers. Who knew?
In regards to crypto, for those who didn't hear North Korea committed the biggest money heist in the history of the world by stealing $1.5B worth of crypto from Bybit, I believe it was mainly ethereum.
I think that's the wrong Trump coin - the one launched just before the election is on a 2.6 billion market cap still
https://crypto.com/price/official-trump
But the chumps buying coins are not the point, it's all about the under the table corruption that a monthly coin issuance allows. There will be literal auctions for presidential influence every month for the next few years.
Was that the one where they laundered the money through casinos in Macao?
Actually, I can see it's not the same heist but it is the same group - The Lazarus Group.
Here's the story on their 2016 effort: The Lazarus heist: How North Korea almost pulled off a billion-dollar hack
I received this update today on a Kickstarter I backed. It provides an insight into logistics in the US.
I wanted to give you an update on the shipping, as there's been a delay at the port.
Our container of six(!) pallets of DRIVE books arrived at the Long Beach Port on Feb 11th...where it's still in line to be unloaded. Normally, it takes 3-5 days for it to clear customs, get unloaded, and get put onto a 30" truck for delivery at the studio. But as of now, we're 14 days out from arrival, and that still hasn't happened. It turns out, because of impending tariffs, every single company west of the Mississippi decided to rush their imports at the same time, so the Long Beach Port is stuck working through it's biggest backlog in 117 years.
whats the bet that most of those items go out the door with adjusted pricing and the difference is one off profit
Seeing inflation at work in real time, stealing consumers' hard-earned dollars.
A 30" truck is very small.
Hence the backlog ;-)
Looks like the fed’s preferred inflation measure (PCE) is set to show the lowest reading since June 2024 on Saturday. Along with president Musk laying everyone off, bond yields and equities dropping like a stone, weak oil demand, hopes of inflation suddenly taking off again might need to take a back seat. As time goes on the market will eventually adapt to reality and fed cuts will be imminent.
Sounds very negative John - bad news for asset prices given how weak economic data is.
Correct. That’s why QE will need to continue in order to stimulate the economy.
In regards to the comments discussion around payment, one thing I would pay for is if commentators had to be linked to a LinkedIn account. That would add a ton of credibility to the discussion (for some at least).
Just trying to think how many highly successful business owners I know have/operate a LinkedIn account.
Not many, if any.
Hard agree. LinkedIn is a sad joke.
Not going to happen, at least not with a real linked in account.
Nothing stopping you from creating a new interest account with your real name and/or putting your own linkedin link in the bio section Mr Hugh Jorgan.
Ludicrous idea. There’s bound to be freezing workers and carpet layers out there with more credibility than some business owners. I’m a medical specialist with absolutely no interest or need to start a LinkedIn account.
And LinkedIn has to be the most cringe thing ever - they way people talk and praise each other on there 100% gives me the ick.
I think you completely miss the whole point of an anonymous forum. People get to present their views honestly without fear of losing their job if what they honestly believe and express on here is not the party line of their employer.
Translation: commenters dare to say anything because they don't have to be real or accountable.
Free speech is better than censorship.
Haha so you think that if people have to reveal who they are and who they work for will then be ‘real and accountable’ on this forum?! Haha you live in lala land Yvil.
No they will just dribble out their companys party line in fear of losing their job if they ever disagree with the narrative their company wishes them to project - ie one that is in the best interests of their employer. And as such they will never be real and accountable - they will just be a talking piece for their employer.
Being anonymous gives people the opportunity to say what they really think without fear of retribution from their employer or friends. You might be surprised by how many people go to work every day and never truely speak their mind or say what they really believe (including around their social circle) - they just say what their employer or group of friends want to hear. An anonymous forum lets them speak their mind without fear. Ie it may be the only time they are rea and accountable to their true selves.
(but I get your point - there are clearly a couple of troll accounts on here that should be removed - they exist only to trigger people without every really expressing relevant opinions).
You might be surprised by how many people go to work every day and never truely speak their mind or say what they really believe (including around their social circle)
Too true, and a reversal that is sorely needed in this world. Take note, if you don't have any friends that challenge you or show difference in opinion, they probably aren't speaking their mind either.
mmmmm linkedin gives a person credibility?? That is indeed as interesting take on social media.
https://www.transpower.co.nz/system-operator/notices-and-reporting/mark…
Somebody was asking why the electricity spot prices were so high for the time of the year. The explanation is in the report!
Milford sound has had only about 10% of expected rainfall for this time of year.
Yes it might have been me. There's more colour in the Gentailer reports out this week too. Lake levels are decent, but the flows into them are very low so operators are being conservative. That means more expensive generation has to pick up the slack which means fossil fuels.
Terrible results being reported, especially Meridian - may at least take the sting out of all that profiteering talk that was going around a year or two ago.
Not that we'd be doing any better at this point under Labour, but at least we might have had the NZ Battery project report being actioned and some light at the end of the tunnel.
And 2 new ferries
Is nobody going to bring up Luxon's car crash of an interview?
https://www.stuff.co.nz/nz-news/360594324/paddy-gower-mike-hoskings-tak…
Is he really the best orator/leader National has?
Worse National leader in living memory, and actually appears to be getting worse ...
You are younger then I thought
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jenny_Shipley
But it was a total car crash.... its why we listen to MH, some people goto the speedway for the crashes.
Hosking was doing everything he could to help poor Luxon. Telling him the answer to make him not seem weird.
But Luxon just couldn't take the hint.
It would be fun in an alternative world where Hosking wasn't pro-property Ponzi to watch him go after TA if he offered up that word salad from earlier. I remember the first time I saw Hosking I thought what an awesome interviewer but then I realised he only ever unleashes his skills on those he doesn't ideologically agree with. If he were more ideologically neutral he would be awesome.
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