Some HUGE winners, as shrapnel sinks others.
Overnight there were whiffs of financial mayhem. Wednesday morning in Tokyo, when it started sinking in that Trump was winning, speculators dumped stocks, and the Nikkei ended the day down 5.4%. The Asia Dow was down 3%. Then in the US, Dow futures plunged 750 points, over 4%. Nasdaq 100 futures plunged 4.5%. Futures for the CBOE Volatility Index – the “fear index” – jumped 40%. The Mexican peso plunged 11% to a record low of 20.3 pesos to the dollar at one point, its worst drop since the Tequila Crisis of 1994. Stocks in Europe were down, gold jumped, oil plunged.
And America woke up to this scenario. Short sellers were licking their chops. This was the scenario they’d prepared for. Serious money could be made in this so predictable crash.
And then what happened?
Gold, after having soared from 1,270 to 1,340, lost its footing and fell back to 1,270 before ticking up a smidgen. Oil did the opposite. WTI fell from $45 a barrel to $43.07 then bounced to $46, before falling back to $45.34. Yo-yo effect for both of them.
The S&P 500, despite the plunge of the futures overnight, opened indecisively, then rose, and closed the day up 1.1%. The Dow rallied 1.4%, to 18,589, just a smidgen from its all-time record of 18,636 set in August.
Construction suppliers smiled. Caterpillar soared 7.7% on hopes that Trump’s wall along the southern border gets built pronto and without too many questions, and on hopes of that a $1-trillion deficit-funded infrastructure stimulus package, initiated by Trump, will sail through the Republican Congress.
Dreaming of the Big Wall and the infrastructure stimulus package, investors plowed into construction suppliers: Vulcan Materials soared nearly 10% to close at a record high. Martin Marietta Materials soared 11.6%.
Student-loan servicers and lenders soared. Speculators figured that under the new regime, the US government will try to get out of the student loan business. Part of this will likely be done by offering taxpayer guarantees to lenders, in order to privatize the profits and socialize the (horrendously big) default losses.
Shares of Navient, the largest student loan servicer, jumped 17%; SLM (Sallie Mae) 18%, Career Education 18%, Bridgepoint Education 17%, American Public Education nearly 22%.
Big Pharma beamed. They’d been under pressure all year, from endless revelations of rampant price gouging, and now a “sweeping criminal investigation into suspected price collusion.” But today was nirvana. Speculators figured that a Republican government is likely to back off from cracking down on price gouging. Pfizer jumped 7%, Celgene 10.7%, Biogen 8%, Amgen nearly 6%.
The biggest health insurance giants rejoiced. Humana rose 3.9%, Aetna 4.7%.Cigna 5.5%.
Defense contractors had a fabulous day. Our Nobel Peace Prize winner had already been good to them with an endless series of conflicts and bombings. Now comes Trump who promised to balloon military spending further. The military-intelligence-industrial complex had a field day. Raytheon jumped 7.5%, Northrop Grumman, up 5.4%, hit an all-time high. General Dynamics also jumped 5.4%, Lockheed Martin 6%.
Scandal-plagued private prison operators skyrocketed. They’d been under enormous pressure as the government has started to shy away from them. But now they found new love in Trump. Shares of Geo Group jumped 21%, and Corrections Corp. skyrocketed 43%!
And the much maligned banks rallied. JP Morgan jumped 4.6%, Citi 3.4%, Bank of America 5.7%, and Wells Fargo, the most hated bank in the US currently, 5.4%. Clearly, speculators are hoping that the too-big-too-fail banks will get better treatment and easier conditions and more leeway and lower or no fines under a Republican government.
But some Big Tech stocks were not impressed. The Technology Select Sector SPDR ETF edged down 0.1%, much like Appel, Microsoft, Alphabet, Facebook, and IBM, all slightly in the red, though the Nasdaq rose 1.1%.
Other sectors were not so lucky.
The auto sector got hammered initially, and many stocks ended the day down, but not all. Ford fell 4% in the morning but then recovered and ended up 0.9%. GM, after dropping 4%, still ended the day down 2.4%. It too is in the grip of the US auto slowdown, particularly in cars. So today it announced that it would lay off 2,000 employees at two assembly plants, one in Ohio, and one in Michigan, “to align production output with demand for cars.” Ford made a similar announcement in October.
Automotive component makers got hit the hardest. Kandi Technologies, a Chinese company traded on the Nasdaq, crashed 12.4%. Delphi, former subsidiary of GM, dropped 6.5%, Lear Corporation 4.3%, BorgWarner 3.8%, Tenneco 2.1%, Ford’s former subsidiary Visteon 2.7%, as speculators were reacting to the notion of trade wars, higher tariffs, NAFTA renegotiations, and all manner of other Trump suggestions.
Hospital chains got mauled, unlike Big Pharma (see above). With the Affordable Care Act on the chopping block, HCA, the largest hospital chain in the US, plunged nearly 11%, Community Health Systems 21%.
Oh, and the gun makers got clobbered. Trump has the endorsement of the National Rifle Association, and with Republicans running the show, gun control measures will fade from any kind of agenda. Speculators think that Americans will feel less hard-pressed to buy whatever they can before the door closes, thus triggering a lull in sales. Smith & Wesson plunged 15% and Sturm, Ruger 14%.
The biggest titan of all took a monster dive. The 10-year Treasury note tumbled and the yield spiked 20 points to 2.08%, the highest since January. And the 30-year yield did this (chart via StockCharts.com):
For the bond market, it was a perfect rout. These people are worried about the deficits-don’t-matter stimulus spending that Trump has suggested he’d unleash, just when inflation is rearing its ugly head. Sharply rising long-term yields are going to be a real party-pooper.
In all, it was a tumultuous day, full of yo-yoing and knee-jerk reactions to real or perceived campaign promises and other perhaps wild speculations. Everyone was out there trying to make a quick buck in the uncertainty or dodging the falling rocks.
The Fed likes the word “credit.” It sounds a lot less onerous than “debt.” Read… This is How Consumers Turn into Debt Slaves
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Trump will pull another Regan, massive tax cuts, spend like a drunken sailor, double the national debt again while he sells off anything that is not nailed down. Let’s see, he is gonna rebuild the military and build the wall and rebuild the national infrastructure to 1st class Trump-style standards.
That should be good for another 8 trillion over the first 4 years at a minimum. Happy days…..
No way Ted Cruz & the Tea Party will allow Trump to spend like a drunken sailor.
If he does it will fracture the Republicans Party.
Trump has some hard decisions to make.
No, “deficit spending” for the Tea Party and the Republicans is a code word for social safety net spending. They’ve never had a problem with buying military hardware on the national credit card – it provides a good excuse to, say, sell off all the federal lands and other properties to well-connected speculators… and, of course, cut spending on welfare, Medicare, etc.
The conservative wing of the republican party died on election night. The reelected republicans only got one more ride on Trump’s coattails. The real story of the republican victory is that the republican electorate is really in the moderate center, hence the large majority.
He’s aim is reduce debt how he goes this is already on the cards
Easy to deal when you know how to deal
He’s a shrewd businessman not a politician big plus
He’s a straight from the hip guy I have all the confidence that America will be a better place with him at the wheel
He’s not a guy to mess with or that to manipulate now he’s the most powerful man on the planet , with the most powerful system at his disposal
He is neither a shrewd businessman nor a straight from the hip guy.
“he is gonna rebuild the military”
Sounded like the restart of the cold war has been delayed until after Trump leaves office (however short that might be), and foreign governments will be asked to shoulder some expense of providing military security.
I have to think you must not live in “Flyover Country” where towns have been drying up and blowing away, most likely you live on East or West coast.
No discussion of national debt during the election. When attached to jobs, it will take major political guts to oppose it. The popular vote has spoken, they want jobs.
Better we spend it on jobs rather than waste it on a grossly swollen and wasteful military. If they need more loot, let them cough up some of their “lost” six and a half trillion.
There is NO MONEY TO SPEND ON ANYTHING and the government cannot and does not provide private sector jobs at all. It can only waste money with government jobs and those government jobs are now around 10 million more than all of the jobs left in manufacturing in the USA.
Last year the US government deficit was more than $1.4 trillion which increased the federal debt to more than $19.5 trillion and it continues to soar.
Maybe you’re right. But I cant see the NWO globalist giving up yet, still trying to find out what their next (and perhaps final) step will be. What’s for sure that their plans will include a weakened Trump. If I only could be a fly on the wall at the Open Society Foundation.
You can bet that hundreds of billions of dollars more will be poured down that military spending rat hole. Trump is talking about naming the ultimate bloodthirsty neocon warmonger as Secretary of State. This guy makes sabre rattling Hillary look like a pacifist:
“Donald Trump spoke Thursday on the “Hugh Hewitt Show” about his secretary of state selection, naming former U.N. Ambassador John Bolton as his potential secretary of state.
Trump was reluctant to name anybody now because of the heavy scrutiny they could face. Hewitt then asked about Bolton, and the GOP presidential nominee said he is a serious contender.
“I think John Bolton’s a good man,” Trump replied. “I watched him yesterday, actually, and he was very good in defending me in some of my views, and very, very strong. And I’ve always liked John Bolton. Well, we are thinking about it, Hugh. I will say that. We are thinking about it. I mean, the negative is what I told you. But we are seriously thinking about it.”
“This is What Happened to the “Trump Crash” ”
Someone said they were scared by corporate controlled media and thus voted all Democrat b/c they were convinced the sky would fall otherwise.
Instead, The bond market collapsed today in what could only be described as a resumption of free market capitalism and the ending of financial repression.
Stocks are sold, not bought. Yesterday a Trump Presidency was being sold as a continuation of the Great Depression.
China continues to sell U.S. credit because trump will default on Jan.21?
Ah… to paraphrase a Line from “Apocalypse Now” I love the Smell of the Fed’s ‘Plunge Protection Team’ in the Morning….giving a good Spanking to all those Vile Unpatriotic Stock Short Sellers and Conspiratorial Over-Confident ‘Gold-Bugs’….lololol aloha,and thanks for reading
The Plunge Protection Team will need major funding following Trump’s inauguration on January 20. Will there be a halt to billion dollar, ten second short sales in the metal futures market after January 19? Obama et al are covering their ass for now, hoping to get out of town without additional mayhem.
Looks like the Trump presidency is probably going to slow the sales of firearms from record highs without even firing a shot or the common jibber-jabbering about but not actually passing a law?
I did the simplest thing. I sold the Peso and got out once I got my 9.5% in one day. Sitting very pretty.
Among those touted for top economic positions are Steve Mnuchin, a former Goldman Sachs executive frequently mentioned as a possible Treasury secretary, and Wilbur Ross, a distressed asset investor ie. an asset stripper.
The conservative columnist Lawrence Kudlow, a former official in the Reagan White House who once worked as chief economist at Bear Stearns, is another senior member of the campaign team.
I expect Volcker to be called upon to hold Donalds hand in some capacity
A crony corporation’s paradise.
Methinks the voters who pitched for Trump because Hillary was too cozy with Wall Street are in for a rude surprise. This is going to be like the Bush Administration with the corruption cranked up to 11.
5 trillion dollar thumb drive in the top desk draw of the president of the n.y. federal reserve banks mahogany desk.
Trump will not lead behind. Maybe that is what people are afraid of ?
Look up the meaning of “Art” and “Deal.”
It’s a brave new world — we need to be braver now then ever before.
The national debt is just about 20T. One day the bubble will burst. It’ll be interesting if it happens while the republicans are in control of the house, senate and presidency. They’ll have a hard time blaming the democrats.
Before we get any further.
The bond market is many times larger than the stock market and it is this credit market were money is produced to build walls and infrastructure and presidential credibility?
The stock market functions as a pass thru mechanism were the elites drain the capital as dividends and options before discharging any excess monies to common stock owners.
Recent election results have created a panic in China as government officials worry that president trump will default on U.S government debt jan21 after the transfer of power?
Yes, and if interest rates rise, the cost to carry this 20T will rise.
The 2016 fiscal year ended 30 September. Revenue collected by Uncle Sam was 18.2% of GDP as stated by the CBO. Total spending was a drop under 4T, revenue a bit over 3.5T and the budget deficit to add to the debt was nearly a half a trillion dollars.
But don’t worry readers, because Nobel Laureate Paul Krugman assures us that the national debt is a good thing!
Trump is not beholden to the GOP. No, the GOP is beholden to Trump. He won in spite of the party. Trump will have command of the field and any republican opposition will be toothless compared to the anti Obama behaviour. We’ll have to see of course, but I hope he really goes ahead with the big deficit spend. The country desperately needs projects like infrastructure to both boost the economy and set it up for any future prosperity going forward. All this will mean the deficit will be paid for in real worth, and not financial dealings.
We shall see. I suspect that Republicans in the House and Senate have a much different concept of who is in charge.
Asia has been a fun ride.
Shanghai dropped like a stone due to the Trump Crash but then not merely rebounded but set a new 2016 record. Granted, the glory days of 2015 are long gone, but it was still good business.
The Nikkei 225 went into even fuller panic mode (partly because, the horror!, the yen strengthened a tiny bit) but recovered its losses in a matter of hours and is now testing 17,400.
Which leads to all sorts of interesting questions about the algorithms that now run financial markets and by extension monetary policies worldwide, as everywhere it’s aimed exclusively at inflating asset values and hence provide that elusive “wealth effect”.
Caterpillar stocks rebounding after years of crummy financials and truly horrific sales figures without any fundamental change on the premise Trump will build a wall is the poster child for everything that’s wrong today.
The Chinese have been building shopping malls, apartment complexes and overpasses since 2009 like there’s no tomorrow and until May 2014 Australia, Brazil, Chile etc were digging coal, iron ore and other minerals out of the ground at a frenzied pace to feed China’s construction and export boom. Yet Caterpillar has been unable to profit from this: in fact it has seen its market share shrink even in well established markets such as Europe.
What makes people think even the remote possibility of a wall on the US-Mexico border will change things?
Hypothetical question: Do you suppose Comey tipped off a few Wall Streeters via disposable cell phones right before he announced no charges against HRC on Sunday evening, 6 November? On Monday, the Dow opened up 1.5% from Friday’s close. There’s money to made with this info.
That’s the usual one million dollar (in gold coins) question which can be asked in many similar situations.
I won’t say anything about Comey (who’s bound to have a lot of explaining to do over the next few months if he wants to keep his job) but similar rumors have circulated over the past few months about both the People’s Bank of China and the European Central Bank, namely that “somebody” was tipping off selected traders on the eve of crucial announcements or other news involving these two institutions.
A very interesting phenomenon that was noticed during the Summer of 2015 was that some traders in Shanghai seemed to be very apt at planning their moves around the activities of the so-called Plunge Protection Team, the PBOC-orchestrated fund whose sole scope was to avoid a SES meltdown by buying selected stocks. It takes a lot of skill and luck or inside knowledge to unerringly do that.
Something similar was afoot on EMU stock exchanges before the ECB member banks started disclosing exactly which corporate bonds they have been buying, sometimes on the primary market. And while it was easy to guess the Bundesbank would be buying VAG bonds to help the embattled, partly State-owned carmaker, who could imagine they would be buying K+S bonds?
Somebody apparently did, and got rich as a result.
Some ideas for the new Administration. Student loans should be ‘guaranteed’ by the school receiving the tuition. No reason why schools with large endowments could not fund their own loans and schools without their own funds would have to post a bond to guarantee repayment.
Foundations. A charitable foundation should be required to disperse its assets within 20 years of the bequest. They are not a permanent jobs program for foundation managers 50 or 100 years after the donors death. Why on earth is there still a Carnegie or Ford foundation?
Unit 472
Excellent comment! Perhaps this will also decrease the number of Phd’s in Fogging Mirrors for Mortgages. I see a massive switch to engineering degrees.
Probably cause a massive drop off in students enrolled in graphic design degree programs. Engineering requires hardcore mathematics such as the entire Calculus sequence, Real Analysis, Probability, Linear Algebra and probably some that doesn’t come to mind right now.
Ed, Ed, Ed,
Stop dissing all those liberal arts majors. The biggest problem in tech right now is that all those engineers know nothing except engineering. The one bright spot in tech is video gaming, a big money maker. If you take a critical look at a successful video game, you will be awed by two things, the GRAPHIC ART and the MATH it takes to create the product. I would also include the scripts which need to evolve endlessly to entice the players.
If all you know is engineering, it is not enough. Ask MF Global how that worked out for them.
They could do better than that. Tuition k-16 should be free. If Germany can do it so can the USA.
Do you have ANY IDEA how much regular Germans with regular jobs pay in INCOME TAXES, VAT, Solidarity Taxes, Church taxes, etc. etc.? I didn’t think so. It’s confiscatory. (if you run a business it’s a different story).
Your proposal will be to just borrow/print the money instead of raising taxes. Printing wealth is so easy. Just one thing: if a state pays for expenditures with printed money, the currency ends where it is in Argentina and Venezuela. It becomes useless. The state can longer borrow cheaply in this useless currency. It now has to borrow in foreign currency, which is a preparation for the next debt crisis.
And all wealth denominated in that currency evaporates very suddenly.
And this would just enable US universities even more to raise tuition and bleed the rest of the country dry.
YES: “Student loans should be ‘guaranteed’ by the school receiving the tuition.” (or at least a big portion of it).
The campaign spend was close to a 100 billion dollars!
From initial images nobody got anything of substance except the corporate donors and a handful of angry peaceful rabble-rousers
Don’t touch that dial!
Does images on TV make you E.D. friend’s?
Thanks for the article, Wolf! I was trying to make sense of it, and you came with very logical and insightful explanations as always. These are some perfect examples of narratives driving or destroying promises (debt for those who make them, credit for those who believe in them).
This man, his campain, his narrative and the reasons why people elected him are so similar to what Berlusconi was and did in the past in Italy that to me it is like living this thing again. I really hope for you and for all of us that he is not an exact copy and that he won’t corrupt your beautiful country as B. did to ours
Trump and the Republicans in Congress will be engaged in a full scale war with each other by July 2017.
Don’t worry. This country is already corrupt. Same with yours with or without Berlusconi.
” Sharply rising long-term yields are going to be a real party-pooper.”
But maybe not for us who live “under the radar” and make a little bit of supplementary income from interest on our cash (shudder!) accounts – checking, saving – and even cash-back credit (smile) cards.
Indeed! If banks raise their deposit rates….
My good ol’ Federal CU always does!
Find the comparative advantage, wherever you can …
My understanding is that QE put so much cash in reserves in banks accounts at the fed that they have no need to compete for deposits. Ergo, extremely low deposit rates.
Not certain if that is the real cause, but if so, there would be no reason to assume higher bond rates would lead to higher deposit rates.
Okay, one last comment for old times sake.
I’m sorry Wolf, but simply saying that it happened does not explain why.
Here’s the question:
If investors were so keen on a Trump victory and ‘fiscal stimulus’, why did the markets rise to near-records only after threatening to crash? – which was also explained on the basis of a Trump victory. How does the same phenomenon account for diametrically opposite effects? Sure, promises of fiscal stimulus may account for the surge, but don’t seem to account the fall.
Days ago, markets were up on predictions of HRC winning. Then down because of the return of the email scandal. Then up because that blew over a bit. Then the serious sag on election day because HRC was losting. And finally the surge on the Trump victory.
How did investors change their minds? What turned the herd? Are there two different sets of investors here – speculators vs. investors? Market manipulation? False narratives? Wishful thinking? Divine intervention? Satanic intervention? Fed intervention? Shadow bank intervention? Bipolar disorder?
Worse, there’s a fly in the ointment.
You can expect fed noises about raising interest rates on account of an anticipated economic ‘recovery’ – and even a relatively small increase could raise interest costs to unaffordable levels, presumably leading to The Big Unwind. Has the fed boxed itself in? Is it balanced on a knife edge, unable to move for fear of making things worse one way or initiating a crash the other way? Is a crash inevitable? Is a real economic recovery not actually possible, and if so, why are investors buying any of this?
I don’t mean to ‘defy’ you, but frankly you could use a contrarian once in a while.
Never mind. Last comment. Sorry. Bye.
My Dear Walter Map-
i was going to go to the gym early, but since i’ve been feeling your pain over there, and i just saw this post, i decided to sit and write you before i run my bath to go.
first, please don’t go anywhere. i love your humor, irreverence, passion, idealism struggle vs. your struggle with cynicism crushing your energy and belief in change and thus, MAGIC.
i’m here to remind you it’s REAL. all of it. there is a constant CONSTANT struggle with good and evil that will never ever cease.
and second: please don’t ever STOP defying ANYONE and EVERYONE. the sucking up over dealing with reality is what’s gotten us to this place.
i’m going to write to you as a Colored Girl:
i used to run away a lot. i was born to badasses and maybe the urge to always question and fight back and defy authority is in our DNA? whatever; don’t fight it. even as my own parents hated it in me, they were secretly proud.
for all of my “bad childhood” that friends and therapists told me was “so bad,” i’ve come to be eternally grateful for my life and how i am. i see things faster than others with cushy lives, because the safety of my life and hymen and idealism depended on it.
as a runaway colored little girl, i have seen the secret worst of humanity under the rocks, as well as the best of humanity.
at almost 50, i’m still struggling to deal with reality and manage my sense of optimism.
this is where the Colored Girl part comes in:
as a runaway colored girl, there was truth to what white people may not even know exists: colored folks giving each other the up nod in public places also were taught to take care of other colored folks and kids. at least back when i was a kid before crack and clinton killed community and imprisoned all our BAD ASS men.
the smartest of our people were put in jail left to figure out how to smuggle chainsaws up their rectums instead of helping their own.
and i was also taught, most importantly: we have the blues for a reason and we must be in the game for the long haul. for the next ones. slavery is not over (i found it chilling that the private prison industry shot its load when trump won). we must keep the long view and put our suffering in perspective and invest in the young uns.
so i will try and share this longer view with you to do with as you must as you struggle with your present and our future.
assimilated generic white folks seem to have a very short view that lends itself well to 2- and 4-year visions. compared to Irish i’ve known, or the Scotts, or the Welsh. they have a tribal pride that makes ME feel good and curious about their own customs, beliefs, details.
so stop thinking like an assimilated generic white guy. you’re more than that. everyone is. anyone is.
i write you because people with irreverent senses of humor are so important as we stumble forward and rediscover ourselves. it’s not enough to pay attention to the gloating over trump. it’s shallow and sugar-filled. just understand that it’s just relief at being paid attention to for a change because things have gotten so shitty for SO many people.
we can never ignore that. it’s at our peril. just like it is at home to ignore your family. everything rises to the surface eventually. literally or by how you must LIVE. nothing is ever hidden.
that’s why AI is bullshit and people like Petunia will smash bullshit projections ANY day. but we’re far from that. people want data points to feel in CONTROL. when we don’t control nada.
point i’m trying to make is this:
i think trump was an inevitability that i was “waiting for.” as the “bad kid” who is comfortable with living on the underside of bellies and i can swing when things “snap,” i am relieved AND horrified at the same time.
i think hillary and especially obama NEUTRALIZED everyone.
it’s not enough to tweet or rant from your sofa. now if you want to fight, you have to put your ass on the line like the Standing Rock Sioux stand off. and you also see why there will continue to be overwhelming force used to squash that shit toute suite.
but the upside is that we will get off those evil phones a little more and have to actually look our fellow humans in the eyes and have attention spans and not be so twitchy about trigger words and stuff.
(i can dream)
i’m horrified because i don’t CARE if climate change is a “scam,” as i think sodomizing the planet just because you CAN isn’t a holy way to honor everything alive–ESPECIALLY the world we live on.
but the long view reminds you that there are set backs that are sometimes lateral moves and advances are often setbacks. we’re in a time when nothing means what we assumed, and so we have to be quiet to hear and see and feel the complexities.
i’m not being pollyanna. hardly. but you don’t have the luxury of just bailing on this place because you’re hurt. you can go and be depressed and sad with drawn curtains. be there! don’t lie about the despair.
but feel it and know it will pass and you’ve been given this life, which is holy, and you need to honor all that is beautiful and funny and idealistic about YOURSELF by finding some way of DEFYING what you see as death moves.
i love that Wolf doesn’t shut down anyone who fucks with him because he knows it’s just a test and he’s used to dealing with cantankerous fucks, apparently, because that’s who he attracts and he handles us all very well.
some of the shit i’ve written here has me embarrassed and ashamed at times, but i have to OWN it, even if i do all i can to avoid coming across my own words–even when they’re bland. i get self conscious at being myself all the time because i’ve got a habit of going out wide open, with my own ribs drying vulnerably on everyone’s back fence.
so your pain and frustration and despair is REAL. but i get tired of the binary gloating/suffering because if no one’s happy on the other side, you can’t hold onto what you’ve got for very long or without a lot of work to suppress.
please DO defy. where you MUST. not just out of frustration. save it for where you need to put your energy for a long time because this is a long game.
america’s been like this since the beginning. it has been built upon “othering” people. slavery, imperialism, colonialism, classism, racism…
i had no idea it was all still so bad. i’d been in my own over-worked world for so long, it wasn’t until i lost everything that i finally SAW more of reality. and ending up here on this site is still a part of my edification.
i still get headaches about REALITY.
so you will, too. but don’t fall for the binary paradigm of simple evil and good. things are more complicated.
i am relieved that things are finally flipping because we are no longer neutralized. the sixties never really even STARTED to me. leaders got assassinated and before anything new happened, the 70s came in with a lot of creepy me me me disco silliness.
i know because us kids were feral and left on our own while our world saving parents were off at meetings or some shit.
so the way i see it, things are about to pick up again.
even and especially because of the Standing Rock Sioux tribe.
people have had it.
so go ahead and spend a few weeks FDOB, “face down on bed,” as the amazing film maker Stephen Sayadian once called it to me. and there are levels of FDOB… the worst being FDOB with no sheets.
funny people, teh FUNNIEST people, are irreverent and tenacious. they can laugh off a broken heart and go back in… but i’ve seen too many hit the wall. we’re where we’ve never been before…
the darkness is SCARY as fuck..
but that’s why it’s time for those who do the tango with death and darkness, to come out and tell of the light and god on the other side of breaking through.
it’s REAL.
and there is no state of perfection we will ever reach. the population is too huge and the resources are dwindling and teeth are bared. it’s a constant balance to care about your neighbor having a job without butt fucking spotted owls and shooting wolves for sport (sorry, Wolf).
but when we lose you funniest ones with broken hearts, i feel like i’m seeing another brother get put in jail to waste his talents and power here.
i write YOU because that’s my job now. i missed everything being ambitious. just like the hillary folks who’re dumbfounded that this could even happen. my job is to love where and when i can. it’s not to GET something from someone anymore. to have them make ME feel good.
my job as someone who’s still here from living a feral life under the rocks, when i wanted to die so many times, now i’m firmly HERE for however long my blood runs as a person. i’m here to GIVE some longer colored girl perspective.
the Irish have been fighting not to be colonized and not be considered “dogs” for hundreds of years.
this WORLD is still reeling from old long ago sins. we americans get so short sighted with our cute little elections.
i don’t know where we are. where we’re going. i only know that as an artist, a real one, our job is to tread into the unknown. that involves a lot of FDOB moments because there’s no one elder to look at so we can sleep through the night without panicking.
Rollo May’s book, THE COURAGE TO CREATE, talks a lot about treading into this unknown darkness, and how it takes a musculature to withstand NOT KNOWING but going with what your intuition and gut tells you. but that means you have to LISTEN TO YOURSELF, too.
get off the internets for awhile. fuck us all. just go back to the reality of the birds.
realizing different levels of REALITY and having my own holograms break was like having a series of staggered strokes to me.
this is why James is holy to me. he was never afraid. never committed me to an institution as that was my new ambition when i knew if i had to be a fucking maid, i’d end up on death row for killing the families i’d have to clean for. so instead of ending up a ravaged hooker under an overpass, i wanted to be drooling on drugs and forgotten til i died a merciful “natural” death.
but i’m still here and my JOB is to reach out to souls in pain like you.
you’re NOT alone. in real life the broken hearted who’re past bullshit, find me. it’s why i still insist on being this bloody and open with my ribs splayed on walls EVERYWHERE. i get the best of people.
and it’s why my hymen was intact and i was never raped. because i’ve been alone with all sorts of psychopaths with bad intentions, but when you look a person deep in the eyes for REAL and listen to who they are…
well, that’s all most people really want anyhow. and then they can’t eat you once you’ve got a name and a personality.
so don’t make trump folks “other.” they are not monsters. they are US.
as a colored girl who’s traipsed on all sides of the tracks, that’s my biggest broken heart about ALL this. is that rich folks aren’t so fucking happy with all that shit and distraction and help cleaning their own dirty toilets.
the most interesting real people are the ones who’ve got nothing left to bullshit anyone about.
and i can already tell you’re on of those people. so i’d miss you if you totally bailed on this place. it is different. it is accepting of who you are. and i know your DEFIANCE is a huge part of your charm.
never tuck your penis or your soul between your legs to be accepted by ANYONE. fuck ’em if they can’t take a joke. and you’ve also saved yourself a lot of time being bled dry by “normal” people. so be as you are. as dramatic and emotional as you are.
but please do come back here.
with much affection,
Kitten
” there was truth to what white people may not even know exists: colored folks giving each other the up nod in public places also were taught to take care of other colored folks and kids.”
A white friend from rural Georgia taught me that, about 50 years ago when we worked together as patent examiners in the U.S. Patent Office. I was a white man from Detroit and knew nothing of the mores of colored folks.
Justice Clarence Thomas recently brought that truth to mind for me, during an in-depth interview on TV some time ago.
KL -you rock this blog. Wow!
“assimilated generic white folks seem to have a very short view that lends itself well to 2- and 4-year visions. compared to Irish i’ve known, or the Scotts, or the Welsh. they have a tribal pride that makes ME feel good and curious about their own customs, beliefs, details.
so stop thinking like an assimilated generic white guy. you’re more than that. everyone is. anyone is.”
But us unassimilated white folks find people like you to be kindred spirits. It’s an individual thing, Kitten, both in the beholder and the beholden. We look for the kind of excellent human quality you display in your heartfelt mini-autobiography. And we do take the long view, e.g: http://lenpenzo.com/blog/id22017-how-i-live-on-less-than-40000-annually-ralph-from-west-virginia.html
You have expressed how this white man feels about what city an/or institutional life might have done to this “non-performer, like everyone else”.
But I didn’t go to law school and become a patent attorney, as did most of my young contemporaries.
“I took the one less traveled by, And that has made all the difference.” – Robert Frost, “The Road not Taken”
An overwhelming truth: The choices available to me were available only with much greater difficulty for a badassed young colored person, even a colored male e.g. Clarence Thomas who was not badassed.
You’re making it “Your Way” – Frank Sinatra
You have expressed how THIS WHITE MAN feels about what city an/or institutional life might have done to this “non-performer, like everyone else”.
But I didn’t go to law school and become a patent attorney, as did most of my young contemporaries.
“I took the one less traveled by, And that has made all the difference.” – Robert Frost, “The Road not Taken”
An overwhelming truth: The choices available to me were available only with much greater difficulty for a badassed young colored person, even a colored male e.g. Clarence Thomas who was not badassed. You’re making it “Your Way” – Frank Sinatra
My dear Kitten Lopez-
I was just headin home after another 15hr day at work. But I had to just write you after reading this long post.. Wont be any long soak in the tub. Cause as a 53yr old white man I got children and grand children that need a lot of instruction & attention cause their sorry parents too busy worry about themselves and every single wrong on earth to be corrected.
I been beaten, robbed, dissed, cussed, and put down cause of my race (white). But aint a thing. Cause best man I ever know for 40yrs is a black man. He the only one in my whole life that I NEVER have heard speak a bad thing about another person-and he been through much as you or more-cause his hymen aint pure as yurs.
So these younger kids of mine just taught not to RESIST, but to obey, and take ALL the crap comin their way.. From society, other people, schools, classmates, teachers, cops any authority figure. Because Jesus Christ took it first. And I think his hymen is still intact too ! Cause hate & resentment will destroy your soul.
Walter,
It is not investing. It is a casino. Haven’t you been paying attention.
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Don’t go away, Walter Map. I’m sometimes a bit contrarian and/or repetitive/long-winded (about QE) , too. Because I feel strongly about my viewpoint. Not that big a deal to Wolf, I think. Although my lengthy posts on the matter do seem to have landed me in obligatory moderation :-).
Anyone who thinks they can predict the future is a fool and anyone who believes a politician is a bigger fool.
Well technically Trump is not a politician but I always say expecting an oligarch to disassemble the oligarchy is laughably stupid.
I just can’t quite put this all together in making any sense.
It would take much much larger deficits to fund this glorious plan of Trump. And unless the FED is willing to put much of this on their balance sheet, means that the other side of the ledger will be in demand which would drive up interest rates as in a shortage of capital to fund the deficits with.
The side effect is that putting lots of capital to work this quickly should cause higher demand for energy and materials and labor but we seem to have abundant labor even if it is idle and untrained for specific jobs. So we get costs rising but not overall incomes. The FED putting much of this on their balance sheets may not make much difference except that interest rates might not rise at first. The giant deficits will have their own negative effects. Krugman is an Intelectual Yet Idiot IMO.
We have a population that is already struggling to make ends meet. So HOW is this going to fix that? Higher interest rates and higher costs across the board are not going to make the public passively more impoverished? How much water can be squeezed from a stone?
Add in the agenda of taking away women’s right to their own futures and forcing them to have unwanted children plus I just don’t see Trump as a friend of the unions or the workers. His plan is to give his kind more tax breaks.. How’s that going to go over for the 70% of the people who didn’t vote for him.
I say that unless the rhetoric and direction of the newly elected Republican majority changes dramatically and soon that we will more likely see a very tumultuous future; The kind of future that is not going to be good for business or job creation. It takes peaceful customers with disposable incomes to buy shit they don’t need. A fearful impoverished populous hunkers down or explodes rather than buys.
Correcting my number there are 324 million people in the USA and Trump got less than 60 million votes.. As a percent of the population he was elected by a mere 18.5% of the population.. He did get about 33.3% of the registered voters.. Certainly not a mandate. And I believe a lot of them were just voting against HRC and her cabal…
You have to 18+ years of age to vote. And registered. So, maybe ~130M people vote.?.”..because an average voter turnout is around 50% of eligible voters actually vote.
Kinda gives those who vote a representative 5 to 1 say in things. Or at least the illusion of such. many incumbents won reelection. I’m not sure Trmp will be able to do too much.
Less than 60 million votes out of appx 200 million registered was what it took to be President.. Again, not a very substantial mandate especially considering how many just voted against the HRC cabal or against Obamacare.
Can the FED put another 5>8 Trillion on its balance sheet? Will it just absorb all the newly created Treasuries to fund tax breaks for the rich? Will the Republicans go forward in trying to cut back entitlements?
IF so, then things will not get better and most likely worse because it takes demand to keep the system running.
Since I seem to be the only native New Yorker, with a long view of Trump in the media, let me explain why I voted and supported him. It may help some of you, put him in context.
While Trump has always been one of the rich developers, he was never part of the really big Jewish real estate business in NY. Even in NY real estate he was considered an outsider. This may be why he wears the role of outsider well. A few days before the election, Maureen Dowd of the beloved New York Times, called Trump a bridge and tunnel guy. This is an elitist put down of working New Yorkers who ride the subways and tunnels into the city to work. Trump grew up in the outer boroughs. Ms. Dowd, an elite liberal, was unaware that most New Yorkers would consider her put down a good reason to vote for Trump.
Trump has always been in the media in New York. He pursued publicity and got it, some good and some bad. Due to his media exposure, he is not seen as secretive. I recall him on radio and tv always speaking his mind. He showed good common sense in what he said, even if not where he said it. Because he is so open, he is trusted, even by those that may disagree with him.
In business he has had public successes and public failures. He has not let his failures overwhelm him. He has always been seen as a good father, if not a good husband. He admits to his personal failures as well. Some of the public fights he has had with celebrities have benefited both sides, regardless of the harsh rhetoric.
Having never met the man, I can tell you without any hesitation, that he loves his city. He can be a real jerk, but when he says he wants to make America great again, I trust that he means it.
I trust that he loves this country.
I voted for Bill Clinton the first time he ran, I’m still sorry. He defiled the country and its institutions and Hillary was always right there by his side.
Yeah. Those Jews, hey?
Real estate in New York City is a predominately Jewish business. Are we not suppose to notice? BTW, nail businesses everywhere in America are predominately Vietnamese, am I not suppose to notice that either?
Can this be the top. The peak in everything from white rule to HFT.
While everyone is transfixed on the WH the mother of all squeezes has started on the particleboards bypassing what is left of the wallpaper?
This short squeeze rally could be only half over and the start of much more uncertainty risk?
China flight capital phenomenon may only be half over and the government ministeries may be or soon will be in total panic mode? (The west could soon be forced to seek concessions regardless?)
Trump will first scold the foreigner for being so clumsy and force them to devalue in perpetuity!
Americans could have their wealth confiscated by a giant mobile magnet.
The bankers have made this a ripe world for the picking.
China de-pegs and all the dirty pegs come off?
Here’s something to think about until Donald Trump puts his hand on the bible, takes the oath of office to uphold the US Constitution and becomes, President Donald Trump.
Even though Trump has reached the age of 70, because he has not served in a federal political capacity that would have required him to be part of such decisions, to my knowledge he as never knowingly ordered the death of anyone, the invasions of other nations, etc.
Nor did he have to do what his predecessors almost certainly did– make promises to the Bilderbergers that if they would allow him to play president for a few years and have their names enter the history books, etc., they would do literally anything, including lying and murdering innocent people and breaking their oaths to uphold the constitution. You know what I mean — sell their souls to living Satans in order to become president.
So right now Superego Trump has a good opinion of himself and rightly so. More importantly, I’m sure that he’d like to KEEP that good opinion of himself.
Although I believe that 99% of people would kill under certain unusual circumstances, there are those who, when it came right down to it, would not. And I don’t think that we can know which is which, even of ourselves, until it comes right down to it. For example, there were Auschwitz prisoners who threw themselves into fire pits rather than continue to throw bodies into them. Some threw themselves against electric fences when they might have been able to take a guard or two with them before their deaths.
My point is that Trump may not want to kill people to the point that he’s willing to risk peace with the rest of the world and the earth-shattering political and economic consequences that that decision might have on the US citizenry and his own political future. OTOH, if, for example, he were to undertake to convert the war-based US economy into one based on peace, while at the same time continuing to “borrow” to pay the war corporations and the same number of employees, or hopefully even more employees, to make useful things rather than weapon systems, etc., that would be a game-changer.
Of course the irony is that Rs being Rs, they would not allow the US to become a “socialist” system. Bullets, yes. Bullet trains, no.
But even though Trump is as old and experienced as he is, because he has never had to face the ultimate reality of his own self in such a situation, Trump can not yet know what he is capable of doing under critically unusual circumstances — “moments of truth”. But, no doubt about it, he soon will, because Mr. Trump has got to decide if President Trump is going to continue the drone strikes, the global war OF terror, the regime-change operations that have caused an ongoing crisis of refugees, etc.
Trump, and Trump alone, will have to order those strikes and those acts and HE will be the one responsible for the deaths of innocent people, including babies, young children, elderly, pregnant mothers, the political and social upheaval in “friendly” nations who receive the waves of refugees, etc.
Anyway, we’ll soon know as much about President Trump as we do about O’bomb’em, Hillary, Dubya, Mr. Cigar, Big Dubya, Raygun, Tricky Dicky, Lying Lyndon, Bay of Pigs JFK and Francis Gary Eisenhower.
“… Trump may not want to kill people to the point that he’s willing to risk peace with the rest of the world and the earth-shattering political and economic consequences that that decision might have on the US citizenry and his own political future. OTOH, if, for example, he were to undertake to convert the war-based US economy into one based on peace, while at the same time continuing to “borrow” to pay the war corporations and the same number of employees, or hopefully even more employees, to make useful things rather than weapon systems, etc., that would be a game-changer.”
What happens when another nation-state is determined to go to war?
How could peace have prevailed in Hitler’s time? Where did Neville Chamberlain fail?
“What happens when another nation-state is determined to go to war?
How could peace have prevailed in Hitler’s time? Where did Neville Chamberlain fail?”
================
Open you eyes to today’s reality. Even since the demise of the Soviet Union, the US has been, and is now, the one and only industrialized nation on earth that is “determined to go to war”. George Kennan explained why this has been the case just a few short years before the end of the Soviet Union (and what he said has since been proven to be amazingly accurate):
“Were the Soviet Union to sink tomorrow under the waters of the ocean, the American military-industrial establishment would have to go on, substantially unchanged, until some other adversary could be invented. Anything else would be an unacceptable shock to the American economy.”
General Smedley Butler wrote a book called “War is a Racket” in which he explains the most important purpose for the US military — defending US corporate “interests” around the world. Ralph Nader mentions Butler and his book in the following video:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7NiQ38DW7gA
The above is why the US maintains so many military bases and troops around the world, which are described here:
http://www.globalresearch.ca/the-worldwide-network-of-us-military-bases/5564
What’s ironic is that Vladimir Putin and Xi Jinping and the rest of the Russian and Chinese governments are asking themselves the very same questions that you have asked……………. only their concern is not about Hitler’s 1930s Germany. It’s about Obama’s 2016 insatiable military-security-industrial complex in the USA and around the world, pressing up against their borders.
I think the U.S. has gone to war because of 9-11. Maybe we didn’t do it the right way, but we have been singled out for destruction by various political & religious parties. Because of this many Americans feel many threats both foreign and domestic. The gov’t has failed for 15yrs economically, socially, and politically. This can not be denied.
Great article, albeit yet again a depressing picture of how reactively Wall Street makes “investment” decisions.
I’m stunned at Trump’s 180 degree switcheroo on debt. During the campaign he proposed the US government adopt his own personal solution to indebtedness: stiff your creditors, force them into endless legal wrangling, then settle for pennies on the dollar. But today we’re heading back to Reaganomics where you cut taxes with one hand and pile up wildly expensive government-funded programs with the other. Art of the deal? Now that it’s other people’s money (meaning ours) debt is no problem.
Trump’s infrastructure spending may (MAY) be an exception to greater long-term indebtedness.
Eisenhower’s “U.S. Defense Highway” legislation (now known as the “Interstates”) has been seminal in the economic growth of our country.
Trump has a bigger advantage than any other president he’s a rich successful business man .
Up and down for years
He’s 69 years of age he dident need money
He’s visión is for his family and friends and his country ,
The Us is lucky to have chosen this man or maybe it was supposed to happen it’s going to be interesting in the way it’s progress will span out
You have to admire him as it’s not every day you get a presidente who is not a political figure
So from the start he’s fresh non corrupted manipulated puppet which has being controlling the states for a long time
I felt like my head was going to explode as I read comment after comment. I’ve got CNN chattering in my ear and the comments, though different in in tent were setting up a cognitive dissonance wave. I thought good grief the man hasn’t done ANYTHING yet. Then I hit Kitten’s appeal to Walter and I relaxed and said she’s got this. Petunia has the same impression of Trump that I have, so today I don’t have to say a word. I have two feral people in my life and they both love me. And now I’ve got Kitten for as long as she chooses to stay. Everyone who is a regular with the Wolfpack deals with Chaos without breaking a sweat. They are going to need us when all hell breaks loose. We’re a pack of alpha males and females with no submissives. It is fitting: as Nietzsche said, “You say you are my followers, but what matter all followers?”
Your gut feeling is what matters one shouldn’t be influenced by exterior comments or forces
Look from the outside in instead of the inside out . 16 years of lies unessary waste of American workers money wasted on useless foreign conflicts put the same efforts in getting the workers jobs give them some pride and spend the money on American jobs ( MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN ) there’s a cost it’s change you have it now appreciate and work with it
i got teary eyed when i happened upon your post this morning. i didn’t need to write back. i just let the feeling embrace me all morning. but now i’m listening to KPOO where they’re replaying rants against Kaepernick for not voting and my disgust at the so called liberal elite liberals is to ask, “who the fuck’s the nazi???” because this is so out of hand.
James and i were already irritated at the HYSTERIA that is going through this town. i asked, “why are they not shocked and embarrassed for not paying attention to OTHERS, when they’re supposedly about happiness and justice for everyone???”
it was jibing with all the rhetoric.
i’m not clear enough to know what i’m saying or even thinking right now, but i wanted to also say to you–and Petunia–if she happens back here if she notices the comments ticker went up—
but i’m TOUCHED at the politeness i’m actually SEEING from “the other side.” the winning side.
i wondered at first when Petunia posted WHY she voted for trump, then i realized, “she wanted to explain her side so people would better UNDERSTAND.”
she was trying to ameliorate their pain and lack of understanding…
but just like certain people didn’t see it coming, they don’t care about what or why they missed it, and they are turning on EACH OTHER.
i already felt turned against, black balled, in my writing career. for questioning the misogyny i see in this exodus from being a woman and the self hate inherent in cutting up your body parts to be someone else. there is no room for dissention.
i’m only valued as a colored girl when i agree with them.
so i wanted to say that i see your pain of dissonance as empathy and i’m already onto asking, “why do you not care about others’ pain?”
i get it. i get it. i get it. more and more.
yes. we ARE the same. but i already got THAT.
a woman came into the gym in horror and told me a white guy in a white truck drove through the castro quietly waving his RED CAP. i waited for the punchline.
but he never yelled a thing. he just waved his cap. red cap.
and the condescension has been turned off trump supporters and has turned inward at each other for not “schooling” others or WHATEVER…
my point is:
thank you for being gracious winners, as i see it. there is a lot of over-reaction and fear that actually enrages me because that wasn’t there when i, and others, were losing our shit for real.
you are being elegant. and Petunia- thanks for explaining that. i was born in the city but haven’t truly BEEN there for decades and while i didn’t vote for him, i had the same shrug.
he felt more like he actually walks on the streets than hillary and you’re right about him always being the shmuck. the outsider.
anyhow, this isn’t binary. my reaction isn’t simplistic, either. i’m just saying that thanks for the elegance here, and kindness, when i’m seeing the supposed people who’re terrified turning into total unmasked assholes.
but THIS is what we wait for, isn’t it? i am. i’m relieved. but i thought the OTHER side’s masks would be the ones that were down.
never assume you’re seeing what you think you’re seeing.
life is funny.
things have gotten interesting. my work has just begun.
i have to go and write supportive letters to a few of the young men under my love and care. they are likely to get impaled by all this fucking fascist thinking going around.
people are afraid, enraged and are eating their own now.
how people react under pressure says everything about reality.
Petunia… you were SO right about college and the group thinking. i had no idea that “diversity training” could become so openly fucking fascist and evil and monotonous.
the human mind and the myriad of ways it can fuck ANY beautiful holy or good thing up… it’s astounding.
anyhow, to those of you who “won” but are frightened at these reactions… you are right to wonder at how they could not even SEE you all these years.
i get it. i get it. i GET IT.
and we’re only at a remedial level of understanding…
the liberals are likely to make their own worst nightmares come true simply in refusing to understand how or why this happened.
it’s NOT your fault. it’s not even your candidate.
this is always deep, deep shit. like when you go over to a friend’s house for dinner and realize grandpa’s shtupping the kids in the basement just by a look.
they never saw you and never could. a lot of people have their heads so far up their own asses.
i’ve got my work cut out here at home… must go write my men and help protect them from all this well-meaning goodness.
these are people who think helmet laws are a good idea so you can save yourself from yourself and have a cop with guns come and write you tickets or threaten violence or bench warrants if you don’t comply and wear the bicycle helmet.
i’m GLAD i was feral in the ’70s
yes, Julian the Apostate… that’s what i noticed here, too. the secret alpha watering hole.
(smile)
thank you and hang in there. it’s bigger than party lines. this is human. don’t fall for the hype. you’re beautiful. your reaction was love. that you fucking CARED. that’s a lot more than i can say for these so-called “good” people.
(smile)
x
AMAZING REACTIONS!
Wolf you should be so proud of what a great environment you have created. Despite this being such an incredibly divisive election, I cannot remember a single flame on this blog.
THANK YOU!
Thanks. I’m very proud of our commenting community.