Who knew that Trumptopia is as "good as it gets". All this time I've been calling it hell on Earth. It all depends on what type of yacht or discarded flotsam you're standing on. New rule: Clueless billionaires are not the official spokesmen for how great things are going in the world today. What serious journalist thinks these are the people to survey about the quality of life?
Only in a total fucking Idiocracy:
MAGA is not the only enduring myth right now. The other total delusion that just won't die, is the American Dream fantasy. Once again, it takes a billionaire to set the record straight. Because who would know more about achieving the American Dream than the .0001% who actually made it. The average American's chances are on par with winning the Powerball lottery.
"Warren has proposed a 2% wealth tax on people who earn more than $50 million and 3% on earnings above $1 billion. In exchange, she has put forth a slew of education proposals aimed at reducing inequality, making education affordable and providing greater access to special needs students"
Cooperman told CNBC last week that if Warren is elected the stock market is likely to fall by 25%"
Last year, the stock market fell -20% after Trump cut taxes massively for the rich using borrowed money. So you're telling me that unwinding that theft will only cost an additional -5%? With logic like that you have to wonder, how did this jackass make all his money?
"On September 21, 2016 the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission charged Cooperman and Omega Advisors with insider trading"
The new American Dream - felony.
In any case, as I say everyday, the Trump wealth tax is going to cost a lot more than that. Especially when today's robber barons realize they are not getting another bailout. And Trump's base realize they will be visiting him in jail.
The amount of confusion and delusion at this juncture, is unprecedented. And for good reason - the algos are having a great time monetizing skepticism, while today's cabal of Mad Men are having a field day monetizing useful carbon. Anyone who says that "fundamentals" are behind this rally, is smoking crack.
"Why are stocks rallying?"
"Slowing growth"
"I never thought of that"
"Asia Pacific shares jumped in early trade, as latest figures showed that South Korea’s economy continued to slow"
The real reason Asian shares jumped:
Investors, meanwhile, look ahead to the European Central Bank meeting on Thursday.
In between the trending moves in the market, which only occur a small part of the time, there is ample opportunity for bullshit artists to sell competing narratives. And make no mistake - in today's Disney markets, in which consideration for valuations is the sole impediment to ROI, the name of the game is solely about conjuring up the best imagined realities.
One of the best at this game is Jim Cramer, who has the unique ability to come up with a new narrative every single day. He's an amnesiac (monetary) crack addict, the equivalent of an idiot savant when it comes to making up imaginary narratives. He is in his element right now explaining how collapsing earnings are a buying opportunity.
"Caterpillar disappoints and roars higher...The stock price declined quickly at the market open, bottoming under $131 per share, before closing at $135.34.
Then he makes up some bullshit reason for the u-turn rally, when it was 100% short-covering by bears who had been pressing into the announcement.
Industrial stocks such as Caterpillar are emblematic of the head fake taking place right now. The most beaten down stocks are "leading" the market. Because the right shoulder is ending:
"Buy, buy, buy"
Semiconductors are another source of mass delusion. These stocks have seen the worst earnings declines of any sector this quarter, which has led the permanently optimistic Wall Street to believe "the worst is over".There's so much horse shit, there has to be a pony in here somewhere.
Texas Instruments just posted its largest profit decline since October 2008:
"Semiconductor bulls assumed the chip bottom was near, but industry bellwether Texas Instruments poured cold water on that narrative"
Analysts were perplexed and stunned over the weak guidance"
4Q guidance showed no indications of a bottom, as the revenue outlook was much worse than expected,” he wrote on Tuesday. “TI sees no stabilization, as guidance indicates demand is getting worse.”
If this is the beginning of another leg down in fundamentals with many technology stocks near year-to-date highs, chip investors are in for a rough ride."
"Is a leading tech sector about to send the broad market a key message? In our opinion, the answer is 'yes.'
