Stunned.

 

Issue 5,777 

Blathering: 

 

What did one DNA say to the other DNA? “Do these genes make me look fat?” 

 

Nothing these days seems too silly to print. I just sit here and shake my head a lot in wonderment over what I read. What I see. What I hear people say.  

 

If you are thinking of buying new shoes and clothing remember as you look at the Tariff plan that almost all clothing and shoes sold in America are made overseas. So, Nike execs are tying on their favorite sneakers and running like hell. The tariffs on the major clothing manufacturing countries, China, Viet and Cambodia as 35%, 46% and 49% respectively 

 

Well, there aren't tariffs in baseball as this week the Red Soc have signed contracts totaling $230 Million. BTW, the average baseball player salary just passed $5 million/year. And they say nobody is watching baseball anymore.  

 

After this morning's stock opening, I may not be able to afford the ink I need to finish the Tids. Oh, wait, it’s virtual ink.  

 

The Question: 

Quick – Name Five characters on Cheers. I thought I'd use the word “Cheer” today. 

 

The Headlines. 

--Dow futures down 1,243, Nas Down 836m S&P Down 204 an Hour before Opening; Markets Open in range of Futures; Drop further by Mid-morning -- Dow 1,546, Nas 873, S&P 233. 

--US Sends Second Aircraft carrier to Middle East After Trump Threats to Bomb Iran; Tension Increasing; US also Sent Additional F-35 Fighters and Stealth Bombers., 

--Officials Warn of Generational Flooding in Arkansas and Missouri 

--Australia says, “Trump Tariffs Not the Act of a Friend.” 

--Myanmar Death Toll Rises to Over 3,000. 

 

One of te great hidden truths in society today is that there is always truth in the words of the opposition. But sides are too obstinate to look for it. 

 

Are these reciprocal tariffs accurate? The numbers looked odd to me when I read them last night. I’m not the smartest guy on teh planet but the “tariff’ numbers published on that chart looked extraterrestrial. Trump’s Tariff numbers show China at 64% and EU at 40 percent. But in reality, the Chinas tariff is 7% while EU is 5.2% according to the WTO. So, what we are seeing are harsh penalties that have been based on assumptions and created by dividing our trade deficit with a country by that country’s total exports to us. Say what? For instance, out trade deficit with Indonesia is 17.9 billion and their exports to us is 28 billion. A white House official confirmed that the Trump Council of Economic Advisors made the calculations and decided to include “assumed unfair trade practice and other nebulous “Cheating” factors. Very strange indeed.  

 

How can a stock market behave rationally when the data looks irrational. I'm sure we'll learn more today. So, I guess that is the beginning of returning the to manufacturing – manufatcuring tariffs for protection.  

 

What happens to frogs when they park illegally? They get toad. Yes, it is silly.  

 

The Tariff calculations seem to assume the reason for the trade deficit is tariffs and regulations. But in many cases the reason is products are being made for us overseas with cheaper labor. Or because of materials we don't have, or from industries we have given up on.  

 

This may be the worst Tids ever because it is too consumed by one subject. My mind is too scatterbrained to be intelligently devoted to one subject. 

 

Needless to say, the word “Uncertainty” has just become an even bigger word in the USA vocabulary. 

 

What do you get when you cross a polar bear with a seal? A polar bear. 

 

I was going to get a haircut and have lunch with friends today. After the market scalping, I’ll skip the haircut. Yes, I have friends. 

 

The Answer: 

Wei ll there was Sam Malone and Diane Chambers. And then Coach Pantuso, Cliff Clavin, Norm Peterson and Clara Tortelli. Then came Woody Boyd (Replaced Coach Nicholas Colasanto who died), Frazier Crane, Dr. Lilith Sterne and Rebbeca Howe who replaced Diane. I always though Shelly long was great paling against Danson and Rhea Pearlman’s Clara. But history says that her decision to leave Cheers to pursue film and raise her newborn child was perhaps the biggest career stumble in Hollywood history. 

 

It's a gloomy day outside today, but my flower I planted yesterday is still igniting a little brightness around the scene. Who's shopping for the flowers on Wall Street. 

 

How does the man in the moon geta haircut? Eclipse it. 

 

Yup. So, there you have it. A bad joke.