Wow!! Ziggyman should go out and buy a lottery ticket. I made a prediction on the blog Monday that by the end of the week there would be a retreat from the tariffs announced on “Liberation Day.” This was what I wrote, Trump is a narcissist and seeing his favorability numbers plunge from even MAGA’s; CEO’s starting to talk about what the tariffs are really doing for their bottom line; and GOP congress members talking about taking more control over tariffs, my prediction is that by the end of this week Trump will make some sort of announcement that countries have made agreements so he can decrease the amount of tariffs first established. It will be framed in terms of a big win for the USA and a result of the greatest move ever by a president after years of being screwed by all these countries. We’ll see. Today, Trump went on Truth Social and wrote, “…based on the fact that more than 75 Countries have called Representatives of the United States, including the Departments of Commerce, Treasury, and the USTR, to negotiate a solution to the subjects being discussed relative to Trade, Trade Barriers, Tariffs, Currency Manipulation, and Non Monetary Tariffs, and that these Countries have not, at my strong suggestion, retaliated in any way, shape, or form against the United States, I have authorized a 90 day PAUSE, and a substantially lowered Reciprocal Tariff during this period, of 10%, also effective immediately.” There have been multiple statements by White House officials over the past week that the president would not change his tariff policy and back down from the big and necessary reciprocal tariffs he imposed because he is tired of being screwed for too long by all of these other countries. I kept hearing from his team that “this president is a master negotiator and you will all see the ‘Art of the Deal’ in action.” Over the weekend, while your 401(K) was being flushed down the toilet and the president was golfing, he wrote, “WE WILL WIN. HANG TOUGH, it won’t be easy.” This was followed by “MY POLICIES WILL NEVER CHANGE.” On Sunday, Treasury Secretary Bessent said, “We’re going to hold the course.” Did I call it or not? All of this tough talk sounds great until reality gives you a gut punch and you suddenly know that you are f***ed because you have no idea what you are doing and nobody loves you no more. After needlessly causing all of this turmoil that was going to cause high inflation and lead us into a recession, the master made the right call today by chickening out. He gets to save face because he increased the tariff on China again, raising it to 125%. After being the arsonist he got to be the good guy and become the fireman. Now, if I was a conspiracy theorist I would say that all of this was a calculated move to put more money in the pockets of his buddies. The game goes something like this: 1) Make a big announcement about “Liberation Day” and tariffs being imposed on every country under the sun, including those inhabited only by penguins, 2) Show a ‘data driven’ chart of the tariffs being imposed with much higher numbers than everyone expected, 3) Watch the stock market drop like a rock, 4) Let things go crazy for a few days so you’ve got everyone’s attention, 5) Give the code to all your buddies so they know when it is time to buy back into the market, 6) Minutes after the market opens on ‘Game Day’ write “THIS IS A GREAT TIME TO BUY!!!” (the code), 7) Give your buddies time to buy as stocks continue to cave. About an hour before the market closes write on Truth Social that you are putting a pause for 90 days on the tariffs, 8) Sit back and watch the market shoot up like a SpaceX rocket, your buddies sell the stocks they bought at a bargain for huge profits, and you begin getting praise from all over the world for being the wonderful fireman you are to put out this blaze (which you as the arsonist created.) 9) The End.
There you have today’s story, my friends. It is a crazy, crazy world we live in. But hey, we now get to see what the next distraction will be to cause our bowels to go into an uproar. My prediction is that as the dust settles from the tariff and stock market chaos, the next chapter will be an assault on the judiciary like we have never seen before. And the Supreme Court and GOP congress members will be willing partners. We’ll see.
Time to run. I’ve gotta get down to the Shop N’ Go to get my lottery ticket and 6-pack of brew before the Blazer game comes on. Have a great evening!
Mountain Man Musings 