Author: James Frank

The Stock Market Continues to Struggle – Week of March 10, 2025

March 9, 2025

Well, we now know what to expect with the stock futures starting tomorrow. Stocks will continue to fall heading towards what most economists claim will spur a recession if not turned around. But at least one person in Washington, Donald Trump, doesn’t care what happens. He is such a big loser, and has lost millions in his lifetime, he can only get numb, but he’s not broke, not like many of us regular folks, thanks to the man who what going to fix the economy.

Last week, the Dow Jones industrial Average fell 2.4% in trading. The S&P 500 index lost 3.1%, the Nasdaq composite plunged 3.45% and the small-cap Russel 2000 sold off 4.05%, both hitting five-month lows.

The futures will be down tonight going into tomorrow because the European exchanges always seem to reflect what’s going to happen in the U.S., as their markets open and close first each day. With clocks advancing 1 hour ahead as they did 2:00AM this morning, UTC is now just 5 hours ahead of CT instead of 6. Today, Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick said that he expects 25% tariffs on steel and aluminum to go into effect as scheduled this Wednesday, prior to a slew of tariffs scheduled to be enacted on April 2.

At the moment, the Dow Jones futures are not looking good for Monday March 10th. So far, the DOW will appear to open at least down .5%, with the S&P500 futures down by .6%, with the Nasdaq 100 down by .7%. I will make a prediction prior to opening of the DOW just before the markets close in Europe in the morning.

Trump’s right hand man in crime, Elon Musk hasn’t had a great week. Two major things have happened to Musk. One of his space rockets blew up after takeoff and fell down to earth in a show that looked like a big fireworks display. The second major thing is Musk’s stock on Tesla.

The Tesla stock (TSLA) dives 10.35% to 262.67, in its seventh straight weekly loss. Ever since Musk teamed up with Trump, he has lost millions in a very short period of time. Thanks to Donald Trump and his tariffs on Canada, our northern neighbor has just slapped a 100% tariff on Tesla, so it don’t look like Musk will be selling many of his electric cars in Canada any time soon. As I have been explaining to my readers, tariffs effect the purchaser of the product being tariffed.

So Trump’s Tesla that may normally cost $50 thousand dollars now costs Canadians $100,000.

Talk about shoot themselves in the foot, this is a prime example of it Way to go Donald Trump and Elon Musk!    

THE FREE-FALL CONTINUES!!!

Trump Continues to Push Agony on Investors – More tariffs on the Way

March 8, 2025

Yesterday, I watched the stock markets intentely during the opening bell and at closing. There were millions of dollars changing hands, and the brokers seemed not to know whether to buy or to sell.

The markets seem so volatile. And yes it was. Why? Mainly because of Donald Trump’s tariff threats. Just before closing 2 nights ago, Donald Trump halted tariffs on Canada and Mexico, because I believe he finally saw the writing on the wall.

According to J.P. Morgan the following is very true…

If you know what to do in times like this, then you can survive. First, you must remain focused on ensuring your portfolio withstands uncertainties without derailing your near-term needs and long-term goals. A resilient portfolio is properly diversified and tailored to your long-term plan.

Friday at the final bell, the DOW closed at 42,801.72, which was a .52% increase in volume. That was a win. The DOW gained 222.64 points today. It opened at 42,503.07.

The stock market in general has had a pretty dismal performance in the last 3 months, but for the year, it is bearly hanging in the green with just a .61% gain from Dec 31, 2024. During the entire year of 2024, the markets were in the green at 10.53% from the previous year. So far, compared to 2024, this year is just a disaster. And it’s not even the end of the first quarter of trading for the year.

Trump finally cancelled his tarrifs on Canada and Mexico at least for a month until April 2, which was responsible for the slight gains today in the DOW. If he would stay away from taraffs and let the markets recover, the markets will stop spirling and inflation will ease.

But unfortunatey, that is not what Trump plans to do. He is an absolute sicko. When he found out that his 25% tariffs were going to tank the U.S. economy, now he has decided to go another route. His main goal seems to be to inflict “pain” on the American people.

He is ‘hell-bent’ on punishing Canada, our closest neighbor and friend. God only knows why. No other president, Democrat or Republican would be so foolish than to threaten neighboring countries with tariffs. So after just a single day of recoup of the DOW that ended in a positive note today, he has decide now to put new tariffs on Canada, now aiming a 250% on dairy products with Canada, which he claims is a reciprical tax on what Canada has been doing with exports to the U.S. regarding dairy products.

Out of the 5 trading days each week, this week there were just 2 days of uptick results but 3 days with a nose-dive in results with the DOW.

So what’s coming regarding tariffs now?

In a YouTube video, Trump again blamed the prior administration for dairy product tariffs, which he claimed under his watch during his first term. A single day doesn’t go by where he doesn’t try to justify why he initiates tariffs. If it isn’t for the country he blames, he blames Biden.

He claims because of the tariff, it is impossible to sell dairy products along with lumber into Canada. He stated that Canada has been…

“ripping us off for years on tariffs for lumber and dairy products.”

He claims that…

“Canada will be met with the exact same tariff unless they drop it. That’s what reciprical means, and we may do it as early as today or we will wait until Monday or Tuesday, but that’s what we are going to do. It’s not fair, and never has been fair. “

His reciprical tariff on Canada – 250%.

It seems that every hour Trump threatens with a new tariff, or holds back or delays. He’s now also threatening to tariff steel and aluminum imports next week.

So how are the markets going to handle that? It doesn’t take a rocket scientist on what’s about to happen. Well, the markets won’t be stable enough next week to handle Trumps latest tariff threat.   Now that Donald Trump couldn’t keep his upcoming tariff plans under a hat, the investors will have a field day with trading next week, and there will be more devestating losses throughout the week. But mark my words here. Trump is weak and is a coward. He will cave again when he sees where the markets are heading next week.

In April, there are tariffs that loom from the European Union, on autos and reciprical tariffs. Then later on this year, there will be tariffs on copper, timber, lumber and semiconductors. Not to mention the tariffs that were threatened today on dairy products from Canada. 

So there is so much uncertainty in trade policy at the moment, and the Trade Policy Uncertainty Index is going through the roof at the moment. It started to go crazy during his first term, and now again in 2025, more than ever. The markets don’t have a chance in hell to stablize and there will be no time in the near future where people can SAFELY invest in the markets. If you are a risk taker, there will be lots of risks you can take, but many more that you shouldn’t. For the normal investor if you bank your returns on the U.S. stock market from day to day, it is not a good bet to go that route.

So the downturn will continue in the markets next week. I’ll post a report on the Dow futures on Sunday Evening, and we can get a glimpse before the opening bell on Monday on how the markets will begin with trading which should be very volitile for the next week.

Trump will make concessions, like the weak man he is, that’s after people will loose millions thanks to his tariff policies. Then, he will just initiate another tariff, because he is very good at what he does best, and that is to inflick “pain” on the American people.

Again, I ask my Republican friends. What do you think now of Trump in his ability to save the economy. Friends, it’s cratering, and sooner than later we may be in recession territory. You will know when that time comes. The news folks will be talking all about it. But by then, it just may be too late.

Canada, Mexico, China, Japan, and the European Union are not waiting for Trump to change. They know that global trade must go on, with or without the United States, and they will trade without America if they have to.

Trump Posts One TRUTH ON TRUTH SOCIAL, The Rest are LIES

March 7, 2025

Here is what Donald Trump just posted today on Truth Social…

Wow..  What a statement.   If it were anyone else writing it, you would believe it. The only thing I can say is “What an ignorant S.O.B”.

Let’s pick that statement apart, shall we…

He starts with a ‘Truth’ on Truth Social. Now that’s a first. Can you believe it, Donald Trump is telling the truth. Yes, Russia is ABSOLUTELY “pounding” Ukraine on the battlefield right now”. They were today, yesterday, and every day since he was president, and even before by some 3 years or so. Ukraine is in ruins. Is he stating ANYTHING that we don’t already know? The answer is ‘NO’ but now he’s admitting it. Why because he is nothing but a failure regarding negotiating peace. He claimed the war would be over on ‘Day 1’ of his presidency. And the American people fell for it. He never once invited Ukraine to the peace table, NOT EVEN ONCE. Again, what a coward Donald Trump is.

So now he wants to consider large scale Banking Sanctions and TARIFFS on Russia. Wow, this guy is actually sick. Just because he fails miserably on pushing tariffs on Canada and Mexico, now he uses his most beloved word again, “TARIFFS”. He’s been in office for 3 months now, and he’s finally saying something on the order that he wants to PUNISH PUTIN. Can anyone believe that? I don’t. Trump is a liar and a fool. Trump IS a disgrace to America, and to Democracy.

Then to complete his statement, he says that he is “considering large scale Banking Sanctions, Sanctions, and Tariffs on Russia until a Cease Fire and FINAL SETTLEMENT AGREEMENT ON PEACE IS REACHED.”

The end of that sentence is something that Donald Trump will burn in HELL for. He says this, indicating that they need to come together to come up with a mutual agreement. I thought that was ‘Marco Rubio’s job’ I thought it might be the Secretary of State’s job. Trump has been discouraging this ever since he gained control of government.

Where was Ukraine when Trumps delegation went to speak to Putin. The president of Ukraine was not even invited. Why? So that Putin and Trump could come up with such a concocted statement such as the one I’m discussing here. Trump never planned on sanctioning Russia.

He states “To Russia and Ukraine, get to the table right now, before it is too late. Thank you.!!!

Why would he say that even if it were his true wish? Oh my God, it’s because he knows that Russia is now taking advantage of the fact that Trump himself has decided to stop sending weapons to Ukraine so they cannot truly defend themselves. This was his tactic from the beginning. And now that he realizes that the people of the United States knows that Trump actually supports Putin, making this statement clears Trumps name. Really?

President Trump is not only a coward, but an ignorant one. He thinks we don’t know what he’s doing. He’s trying to get Ukraine to come to the table on Russia’s terms. He wants President Zelinsky to concede, give up all the land that Putin has taken from him and then call it a peace. And at the end, Trump will finally get to take FULL CREDIT for it, saying that if it weren’t for him, there never would be peace. Really !!!?    TRUMP IS AN IGNORANT AND COWARDLY MAN.

And one final note. Trump doesn’t think that people are looking at the stock market now that he’s lifed tariffs from Canada and Mexico. Well the traders on Wall Street don’t buy Trump’s lies. The market continues to fall. Right now the DOW is teatering at being at the even mark. There will be ups and downs in the market all day today which everyone knows will happen, including Trump. Noone trusts Trump. The American people have lost their faith in him and so has the world.

 

Donald Trump is a WEAK COWARD !

March 6, 2025

You might get the impression by the title of this article that I’m a little upset. Well, you are right.

Trump backed down again,  and of course I’m glad that he did, just one month after he backed down the first time over tariffs. I’m not mad because he backed down. I’m mad because of the chaos he has personally created, the pain that people have already suffered, and now he can stop the pain by HIS choosing, when he didn’t have to inflict it in the first place. He thinks he is more than a king. He thinks he is God. He feels he has the right to play with our lives at his whim. That’s why I am mad. TRUMP IS EVIL.

The second thing I’m mad about is because the U.S. Congress is allowing the president to initiate tariffs, when in fact POTUS does not have that power. It belongs to Congress and ONLY Congress can initiate a tariff. So why are we going through this? It’s because Republicans control all three branches of government so they continue to be silent and let Trump do his damage because they themselves are also COWARDS.

Wall Street was the greatest example today that has caught on to Donald Trump’s tactics and what it would take to get him to back down from tariffs. Trump watched the stock market intently today, and just 20 minutes from closing, he makes the announcement that he is suspending his own tariffs. But by then, it was too late. Does Wall Street know that he means that he won’t initiate them again?  The markets still crashed. Well they don’t have to guess, because in his announcement, he stated that he was suspending the tariffs until April 2nd. No big deal right? Even though it just so happens to be a few days before TAX DAY. That is and will be ANOTHER stupid and cowardly move by president Trump if he implements tariffs right before tax day, or ever for that matter.

Wall Street knows that Trump is a pathological liar. When it comes to economics, Trump doesn’t understand a thing. So why did he back down? For one thing, the actual definition of a tariff forced him to back down. SO HE REALLY KNOWS WHAT A TARIFF IS! It doesn’t hurt the countries exporting to the United States, it hurts the American consumer who will use those products. It hurts people who purchase imported goods. That’s who it hurts. When the stock markets started to tank because of tariffs today, and millions of people and major businesses were being immediately effected, Trump backed down and now every country in the world knows that Trump is a COWARD. He stopped the tariffs just one day after he implemented them. It was important for him to inflict “pain”. Donald Trump labeled himself a coward when he initiated tariffs that he knew would hurt the American people and that he couldn’t posibilly continue with them, long term. He now realized that he can’t keep them in place in short term. Everyone knew that Trump would back down. And on April 2nd, he will back down again, but maybe a miracle will happen and he won’t initiate tariffs at all. He knows that the only citizens that will be most effected, especially by our closest neighbor of Canada will be the U.S. citizens. Will he ever apologize for implementing “PAIN” on the American people? Trump doesn’t even know what a simple apology is. He should be on the side of Americans, Canadians, Mexicans, Ukraine and people within Europe. But he’s not. He’s on the side of Putin. All democratic countries are outraged.

So why in his right mind does Trump continuously hurt his citizens? He takes pleasure out of it. He thinks it’s right that his people have to experience “PAIN” as he stated more than once and even indicated this admission in his ridicules 99 minute speech to a joint session of Congress last night. He rambled on and on in the longest speech to joint members of Congress, EVER. He always has to do everything more, including the ability to inflict punishment on his people.

Did you notice that he didn’t mention Medicaid and Social Security even once? Again, that will be in another post. Why not? But I’ll briefly touch on it here. Because he didn’t want to say publicly in that speech what he planned to do with those programs.  It’s right out of the 2025 Republican playbook. But it’s no secret. He wants to cut the funds from both programs, and let’s not forget about Social Security. Just before the speech last night, he mentioned Social Security and stated that there would be no cuts. Like I said, Trump is a pathological liar. If he had his way, he would take funds from Social Security and believe me when I say that he will try. Mark my words., or prove me wrong.  If Social Security is still around in another 6 months, your benefit will be drastically reduced, and at the same time Medicaid may not exist, with many slashes to Medicare. Costs for everything concerning medicine, services and anything medical will go up. But of course, Donald Trump just doesn’t care. He has the government take care of his medical needs at taxpayers expense of course.

Regarding imports, let’s talk about  an import that Americans take advantage of every day and cannot live without. I will also discuss this in detail in a later post. That would be about COFFEE. Do you realize that not one ounce of coffee is every grown here in the United States? Really! Think about if the American people couldn’t make a cup of coffee in the morning because we could no longer import coffee. What would happen to Starbucks in the United States and Starbucks World Wide?  Do you know that Starbucks employs almost 500,000 people world wide. People working to support coffee products total into the millions of people. No coffee, lost jobs, and lots pissed off people. There would be massive layoffs and business closings if we didn’t have that simple luxury of coffee. That’s what you would have. But Trump’s idea is that America should not be buying a single thing from another country. Not even coffee beans. He wants America to be completely self sufficient. That would be great in a Perfect World, but we all know that this is not the case. Every country in the world except North Korea, including Russia is involved in international trade, but Donald Trump doesn’t want that, because he wants everything his way or no way. He’s doing a super great job trying to isolate the United States of the America from the world. He’s trying to play God, but what he is demonstrating is that he is a Coward, not a leader that anyone can respect. He thinks he needs to be in the news each and every day. If the news is not about him, it’s not important. Even his Republican base is abandoning him because his policies and his actions are affecting them too, not just Democrats. Many voted for him, and now he’s taking their jobs. Why would he care? He will never run for re-election under the present rules in the Constitution unless he gets the ability to change the Constitution in his favor. And he is such an autocrat that he will try to do that at the end of his term, unless he finally gets tired enough as being the oldest president of the United States. After all, the way he is thinking, because the Chinese President XI now to be  China’s permanent president just because he said he wanted to and has decided never to step down, Trump thinks he can do that too. Who cares what the Constitution says, because Donald Trump doesn’t care what’s in the Constitution. Will anyone stop him. Yes, tough times are ahead, but Americans need to push through all this nonsense and in four years, welcome in Democracy while hopes are up that the Democratic countries around the world will accept us back with open arms.

Final Stock Market update March 6, 2025 – Removal of Tariffs

March 6, 2025

I have never been a great predictor for stocks, but even I must say that my conclusions of what’s happening in todays US Stock Market has been nothing less ‘right on’. Yes, I deserve to pat myself on the back at times, and for the last 6 weeks I’ve been more right than wrong.

So again, at the beginning of the day, the Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped by 400 points, by just looking at what happened throughout the night in Europe. And I was hopeful that the market would really pick up. Early in the morning, it picked up most of the value it had but then something happened, which I will detail later when I know what happened.

But in its present course, the market will end the day of more than 400 points lost. Just one more day to go and the week of trading will be over and the country will know that what I have been saying all this time is actually what is happening. Investments, savings, and so much more is being lost by investors, who only want the markets to do better so that they can do better, so that their companies and portfolios can grow.

Unfortunately, that’s not what’s on Donald Trump’s mind. Sometimes you wonder what the heck is on his mind. The markets have now officially closed.  The DOW lost another 1% of it’s value. The closing figure is 42,579.08. I can report what I have been seeing each and every day. What is interesting and especially evident at the end of a trading day, if the markets are doing well throughout the day, there will be a spike at the very end before closing. Likewise, if the markets are doing bad, and as of this minute in time, the stock market values of DOW will drop.

So what’s the fallout for today. For the Dow, it spiraled down another 516 points or 1.2% after falling 600 points earlier today. and other major markets, the NASDAQ and S&P500 both fell.

Obviously Donald Trump was aware of the stock market drops today. So what does he do? Our weak president now put on the brakes to Mexico tariffs and Canada Tariffs. But it’s a little to late for that. Canada is already dealing with new trading partners and Mexico said that Trump had until tomorrow before they would decide the tariffs they were going to put on the U.S.

Trump caved, just like he always does. The leaders of other countries now know what he’s going to do. They will always be one step ahead of him to keep him in check. This morning he stopped tariffs from those two countries on just the products the auto makers need to make cars in this country. After his not so teriffic speech to the joint session of Congress, the big three auto makers in the United States gave Trump an ear full.  So he backed down, just like the coward he is and always has been. But to keep chaos on track, he now moved the next tariff implement date to April 2nd. Now that’s just great Donald Trump. Right before tax day, just when everyone has to dip in their savings in some cases just like me to pay their taxes.  He thinks that will help the stock market and his rich buddies who invest in it. Maybe he’s right, but all indications say that the markets will continue to be very volitile until he elliminates them all together. When April 2nd comes around and Trump lets the tariffs kick in again, prices are going to soar in this country.

Don’t get me wrong, I’m glad that he did remove the tariffs,  but it shouldn’t have taken the auto makers to complain or the stock markets to plummit before he would listen to reason. So you may ask if I think Trump is a reasonable man, and of course I would say NO. He doesn’t know what ‘stands to reason’ means.

What’s his first 100 days so far look like. Well that’s a story for another day, but so far, it’s going to be pretty bad. Maybe the people will wake up. Maybe the Repubicans and my friends will wake up and admit that Trump is no good for our economy, after he ran on saying he was going to do so much to bring down prices. Did he say that the country will have to experience some “pain” first before things get better?

Where are we when it comes to “NO TAXES ON TIPS”? Where are we now about when Trump claimed that Social Security Taxes should be eliminated? I can tell you at this moment, Trump is nowhere on those topics. Congress hasn’t a clue on what they want to do. The one thing he kept his promise on was that America will ‘feel PAIN’ before things get better. Did Trump ever say that he was going to gut all the Federal programs and furlow so many Federal workers, gut Medicade and Medicare, which is what he plans to do next? He has the Republican votes to do just that in Congress in the near future, but will they wake up in time like John McCain did during the vote on Obamacare to save Medicade and Medicare? That would free up tons of money that he can use to be able to give a tax break to the rich. Then it’s Social Security on the block. Will it end? Hopefully it will end before everyone looses everything and he completely destroys our country.

 

Stock Market Update and Trump Tariffs

March 6, 2025

All the gains made by the stock market yesterday are gone, and market trading for the day is only half over.

Yesterday the DOW gained about 500 points, but immediately after the opening bell this morning, the DOW fell 400 points, because the European markets were falling throughout the night. There was a bit of reprieve around 10 AM and it looked like the losses were being made up around 1:30PM ET, but just short of the even high mark from yesterday, the DOW spiked downward again. It dropped down to 42,398 which is the worst mark of the day. But again, it is rebounding but indicators show that it will continue to drop more than rise. Soon the world will look at the United States as NOT the richist country in the world, as they already no longer admire us. Thank you President Trump!

All of this is unfortunate. People are loosing millions of dollars in stocks alone, as Donald Trump claims that we need to feel a little pain. Maybe a million dollars here and there is nothing for Trump or Musk, but it means someone’s entire life savings to the rest of us.

Years ago, I invested heavily in stock, and I lost my butt. I will never recover from that, as it was the majority of my retirement savings. It hurts me to see that what is actually happening is chaos created by one man and his selfishness, and his ignorance to leave what was actually working before, to just leave it alone. He is making the entire country experience what I had to. I know the feeling of loss. It never went away. The financial crisis of 2008 is nothing compared to what is about to happen if Trump doesn’t get off of his high horse and try to right at least some of the things he has done wrong. Unfortunately, what Trump has done already will be felt by Americans for years to come because noone would expect an immediate rebound if Trump decided to stop all Tariffs and mass firings of many working people of this country. All because he claims the country will have to feel some “pain” before things get better.

Trump has never felt real financial pain. He never lived on the streets. He never had to worry about having enough food to feed his family or try to find money to pay his bills. He is so corrupt that even with the fact that he has money, he didn’t pay all of his bills or his taxes. He was born afluent. His dad gave him millions of dollars and he floundered it, just like he is making us loose our money today.

Before Trump, we did not have our closest neighbor, Canada initiating tariffs on us. We never needed a wall to keep them out of our country. They are our friends, or used to be. Because of Trump’s tariffs, the country of Canada is informing its citizens not to use American made products, and the American made products that the companies already purchased from America to be distributed out to customers are being pulled off of the shelves, which means that Canada won’t pay the tariffs that Trump demands, they will just no longer import those goods. In the mean time, they initiated reciprical tariffs.

Canada has stated time and time again that they are not in favor of any trade war, and would never initiate tariffs on the United States like we are on them. Donald Trump needed to have that mindset. For heaven’s sake. They are our friend and closest ally by far. But he has turned all the citizens of Canada against the United States. Because of what Trump has done, now there is hardship on them. In a recent poll conducted by Canada, citizens say that they now dislike the United States. Our closest neighbor, now that is saying something.

A majority of Canadians who have property in the United States are selling their properties now. They want no part of the United States.

The sentiment in Europe is the same. Countries supporting the EU are making deals amongst themselves without any consideration from the United States, because they now feel that Trump has abandoned them and so they are out on their own. They will make all of their decisions without the United States.

Soon, Trump may decide to leave NATO. If he does that, his actions will hurt NATO greatly and make Putin of Russia very happy. But everything Trump has done since he has become president makes the Russian president happy. Case in point, Trump has stopped all military support to Ukaraine. All weapons and materials that were in flight to Ukaraine were stopped and turned around to return to the United States. Putin loved that. So what does Trump do. He decides to no longer share military intelligence with Ukaraine. So now, the war-torn country of Ukaraine has no idea what Putin plans to do next. Trump is punishing Ukaraine. He has taken sides with Vladamir Putin of Russia. Europe can no longer trust us. The free world can no longer trust us.

The Ukaraine president may cave into Trumps demands to stop the war. It’s been raging for 3 years now.  Trump claims that he is communicating directly with Russia in negotiations to stop the war, but NOT with Ukaraine involved in the talks. Why? Because Trump is a friend of Putin and not of the President of Ukaraine. So Trump expects that when he clicks his fingers, that the Ukaraine president will jump. Who in the hell does Trump think he is? If he thinks he is the leader of the free world, soon he won’t be. Trump is causing permanent harm to the United States.

 

 

Donald Trump and Elon Musk Now Targeting Social Security

March 5, 2025

Today we got a reprieve from the falling stock markets, as the Dow went up almost 500 points, thank God. But it wasn’t for what Trump said last night in his message to the joint session of Congress. Trump can’t help himself. He doesn’t know what to say and when to say what it would take to HELP the markets. Everything that Trump does causes pain to the American people, and recently he stated as such saying that the country needed to experience some pain before things got better. The reason for the stock market rise was because two of the 30 major companies that comprise the DOW had quarterly reports show minor gains. That is just one day out of the last 7. But for the last week of trading, the markets dropped over 1300 points, so the slight recovery that was experienced today what just what it was, a temporary reprieve from what’s about to happen. So instead of talking about the stock markets tonight, and the economy, let’s shift gears and talk about Social Security because I sincerely believe that Trump is targeting Social Security next.

It is possible with Trumps threatening reductions of the SS workforce,  they really want to cut Social Security? This is fact. It is at the top of Trump and Musk’s minds. It is possible that in a very short time under the influence of DOGE, the Social Security administration may cut up to 50% of its workforce, laying off more than 7,000 people. They will be closing down social security offices in red states and blue states. That is already occurring as offices throughout the country are already closing.

Trump’s partner in crime – Elon Musk, calls Social Security “One massive Ponzi scheme”. In other words, he is calling it fraud.

Then wouldn’t you know, Donald Trump in his Tuesday speech to Congress claims that he found “probable fraud” in Social Security.

So the following statement is what Trump actually said…

“We are identifying shocking levels of incompetence and probable fraud in the Social Security program for our seniors, and that our seniors and the people we love rely on.”

My questions now directly go to Donald Trump. If you found it, then where are the arrests?Where is DOGE when they are really needed. Where are all the people, and the fraud which you claim you are finding? Show me just one check written to a dead person.

Actually what is happening is that they are making this stuff up so that they can gut social security. If you found it, then expose it. Don’t threaten seniors and discuss interfering in the Social Security Administration that pays retirees the money that they rightfully deserve. But Trump’s actions worry ALL Americans. He is causing so much unrest with the American people. Trump’s end game – to divert Social Security funds to go directly to the rich, in the form of tax cuts, and another way to help reduce the National Debt. Why would any president do that. Your hard earned money cannot be used to reduce the national debt, but if you listen closely to Trump’s speech last night, you will learn that he claimed that he WILL balance the budget in his second term. With what, your Social Security money?  By providing massive tax cuts to the rich?

Trump is so full of S H _ T, that he can’t even pay his own bills, he can’t pay his own workers in all his past businesses. He filed for bankruptcy at least a dozen times. Trump Steaks.. Trump University… and the list goes one. It’s not so funny now that the country has to listen to a fraudster and a convicted felon tell the American people on how he will be helping them.

Back in October 2024, Elon Musk admitted that “Trump’s plan will collapse the U.S. economy, and says that it’s necessary for everyday Americans to experience “temporary hardship”.  That is what Elon Musk said. So back in October of 2024, they literally claimed that they were going to crash the economy, and now they are doing it. Now they got there hands into social security.

Elon Musk now has access to your personal files, and he is using algorithms and crawling around into EVERYONES Social Security files and claiming to have found enormous amounts of fraud, waste and abuse. That statement was made by Mike Johnson, the Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives in a recent “Meet the Press” interview, that massive fraud was found within the Social Security System. So if you claim it, prove it and this administration may be respected in the future.

Stocks Continue to Fall while Trump Lies to Joint Session of Congress

March 5, 2025

As was the case on Monday, Dow Futures are ahead, but just like on Monday, the stocks will again tumble. There is no stability, and with the tariffs in effect, the markets do not have a chance to level out. All they will do is fail. It is now March 5th, after Trump’s speech to a joint session of Congress last night,  proclaiming that he is doing what the voters wanted him to do, because he claims he had a mandate during the election.  One major problem with his speech was that it was full of lies.

Regarding the futures, the Dow Jones is up right at this moment by .46% or 195 points. S&P futures and Nasdaq futures each added about .7%. This is what is happening now. But the speech by Trump to a joint-session of Congress was disturbing.

During his speech, it was obvious that he was ad libbing during parts of his speech.  He obviously was trying to highlight his ambitious vision for America, which is what he wants everyone to believe.  The address was marked by interruptions with several Democrats, including Jasmine Crocket and Maxine Waters, walking out. Trump’s claims about the economy Social Security and tariffs were fact-checked revealing significant discrepancies. Then Alyssa Slotkin’s Democratic response emphasized the importance of the middle class, national security, and democracy, uring citizens to stay ingaged and hold elected officials accountable. The discussion also touched on the need for a focused response to Trump’s claims. Slotkin’s speech was one of the better Democratic responses.

Trump did not share or have prepared remarks shared with the media. He was obviously ad libbing when he was making economic decisions, when he said that the American people would have to bear with him, that there would be little disturbance, and that there will be an adjustment period. He was suggesting that the roiling that we saw in the markets is something that he knows he cause, but he knows people will not mind.  But what is actually going to happen starting today, prices will be higher on just about everything. His tariffs that he didn’t highlight in his speech, will cause misery to the American people. He ran on lowering prices, not raising them.

For the record, the worst inflation in this country was in 1980, and the economy left for Trump after Biden was considered worldwide as the best economy in the world. But instead, he implied that his economy of his first term was better than Biden’s single term in office. The best economy of the world was described that way in the ‘Economist magazine’ as the envy of the world

Trump then attacks Social Security. I’ve said this prior to his speech last night that Trump and Musk will eventually attack Social Security and when it is interrupted, it can fail. Trump is claiming massive fraud within Social Security and that there was overpayment in the millions, which for the record is completely false.

Trump claimed that the big three auto industries in this country love his policies, where in fact the CEO of Ford Motors, Jim Farley, said that Trump’s tariff policies would “blow a hole in the U.S. auto industry. Who would you believe, proven liar Donald Trump or the CEO of Ford Motors?

Regarding to support to Ukaraine, the U.S. has only committed about $125 billion to Ukraine’s defense, Europe has committed about $259 billion, the the president lied when he said that America has committed more more to Ukraine’s defense. Near the end of his speech he mentioned that last night before his speech to Congreee, Trump claimed that the president of Ukraine plans to do what it takes to end the war, including to give precious metals to the U.S. as partial repayment. He said that the president of Ukraine is now open to peace talks, and do whatever is necessary to prevent further bloodshed. After the White House meeting that ended in failure between the President of Ukraine and Trump, I hardly believe that Ukraine is ready to submit to the United States.

Trump claims that Joe Biden closed over 100 power plants, which is another outright lie. There were more utility sized power plants up and running in the United States when Joe Biden left office than when he achieved office.

Oil and gas production in the United States hit an all time record under President Joe Biden. Also, DOGE has never claimed that they have saved hundreds of billiions of dollars in savings. The largest items they have claimed to achieve as savings in the US budget have been debunked and they’ve been taken down. But even they don’t falsely claim hundreds of billions of dollars worth of savings. But Trump makes that claim, which is a total lie.

And then on top of all that he said, I can recall him making a spectacle out of praising a young man who thus far survived pediatric cancer, as if he as president had something to do with that. The fact is that DOGE cut amongst other things, funding for ongoing research into pediatrics.

Another thing that was immediately noticeable was when he mentioned that Elon Must is the head of DOGE. As noone would think this was really important since Musk seems to act more of a president at times than does Trump himself, but now the matter will end up in court, because Trump claimed to the court that Elon Must has no control of DOGE. So, it’s just another lie that Trump was caught in, as his statement in front of Congress was directly contrary to what the administration has overtly swarn to a federal judge about the leadership of DOGE. I’m hoping that the courts really put Putin in his place and criminalizes the organization.

 

The Stock Wrap-up for Tuesday March 4, 2024

March 4, 2025

No one should be suprised. This outcome has been inevitable, but it was preventable. The following note found on ‘The Daily Beans Podcast’ says it all.

I don’t say this lightly. All you have to do is look at the trending data from the U.S. Stock markets. The DOW dropped 680.23 points or 1.55% just today alone, because our president decided to activate tariffs he’s been threatening for the last 6 weeks. The S&P 500 dropped 1.22%, and the Nasdaq Composite shed 0.35%. The Nasdaq, which is tied closely to tech-heavy industry, dipped more than 2% at its lowest point and came within striking distance of correction territory, which is a term that refers to an index falling 10% from a recent peak.

So it’s happened. Since March 1st, the trend has been spiraling downward. The State of the Union Address comes tonight, and it will be very eye-opening on how Trump will portray the State of our Union. Before it even happens, I can assure you that his speech will be filled by lies. The Republican Senators will applaud him. The Democratic Senators will stay silent. Has even one Republican Senator helped even just one of their constituents. Find me the proof and I’ll believe it, but there is absolutely no proof that any Republican lawmaker who is following Trump, is helping ANY of their constituents.

Yesterday, the markets were signaling to the American people what was about to happen today. Many Americans have decided to run this out, but what will they have to loose to ride this wave of stock market sell-offs before they realize that it is going to affect them, even though they voted for this president.

Then, it will be too late. The question now is what is it going to take to prevent a further free-fall. It’s normal for the stocks to go up and down. That’s what’s great about our economy. But in the end, they should always go up more than they have been going down, and there is just no indication in the foreseeable future to say that the declines will reverse any time soon.

I know that this report is very glim and bleak, but as they say, “it is what it is.” These are the facts. We are now living a World Wide Trade War in this year of 2025, initiated by Donald Trump himself, for all of his rediculasly foolish reasons.  This situation should have never come about, but it has.

 

What has Trump done for Russia lately? What has Trump done to help Americans?

March 4, 2025

For starters, Trump’s actions directly benefit Russia. For example, he is limiting enforcement of foreign agents. He has disbanded the task force to fight foreign interference in elections. He has closed the Justice Department Kleptocapture Unit which was responsible for providing and initiating sanctions against Russia, and he has shut down the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID).

Last week, Trump ended U.S. support of the Ukraine Energy Grid. Trump is now siding with Russia in UN resolutions on Ukraine. He is advocating for Russia to rejoin the G7. Recently he held U.S. – Russia talks in Saudi Arabia as Ukraine was not invited, and Trump says he is looking forward to meeting with Putin once again.

Trump appointed Kash Patel as his FBI director. There have been mass firings at the FBI and the CIA and he has suggested breaking up 5 eyes intelligence sharing, that’s when 5 countries share their intelligence to help keep the world safe.

Does any of this seem to be good for America. The answer is an obvious NO.

The United States is no longer acting as a democracy. Donald Trump is not acting as the leader of the free world. Donald Trump is now siding with a dictator, and he is willing to allow his dictator friend Putin to completely destroy Ukraine and make the land part of Russia.  If Russia is successful, I would predict that Putin will now call his country the Soviet Union once again. And I do not believe that Putin is finished with his aggression after he concurs Ukraine with the help of the United States. If that were to actually happen, the United States would deserve the same fate as Russia did years before. The United States should be kicked out of the G6.

NATO is the only thing standing in Vladimir Putin’s way to take over the world. The United States is proven to be weak country, and will now implode within with Trump tariffs that will affect Americans. Trump indicated that he may even pull out of NATO, which would be a direct blow to the security of the United States and to the rest of the free world.

So this is what he has done on the foreign front and what he’s doing to Americans directly. But I expect so much more damage  to be done within the country which all begins with the tariffs that have gone into effect just today against Canada, Mexico and China.

There is one thing that not to many people are taking about. But they soon will if my prediction of the future becomes reality.

Before I state this idea I believe will come fact, please understand that this is only my idea and my vision for the immediate future of America.

I PREDICT A TOTAL FAILURE OF SOCIAL SECURITY WITHIN 3 MONTHS. That’s after Trump completely wrecks the economy in this short period of time. I hope I’m wrong. Immediately after, a recession will follow.

Yes, many people will laugh at this statement saying that I’m crazy for making it. But what if I am right?

There are so many disgusting things that Trump has done in the first 6 weeks of his 2nd term as president, that it’s hard figure out what is worse than the other. The fact is that he has done nothing for the American people, except for them to loose jobs and a sustainable living wage. All because he claims he wants to eliminate waste starting with the government, and he doesn’t care who he hurts in the process.