"He doesn't seem to be a human being, he just looks like a machine, he doesn't have any compassion," Vicente Fox told CNBC's Hadley Gamble.
The chart of the week is this one:
Speaking of trusting the inhuman, H&R Block has a new training module called the "So you got fucked by con men module":
"This year, agents also underwent “empathy training,” which included a “refund surprise training module”
"The new training included listening to a scenario where a client who received a $1,500 refund last year learned that she owed $575 this year...“Imagine how it would feel if you saw a really big tax bill; you’re not used to owing any money, and now you owe $1,500. And not a lot of people have that laying around”
"The new training included listening to a scenario where a client who received a $1,500 refund last year learned that she owed $575 this year...“Imagine how it would feel if you saw a really big tax bill; you’re not used to owing any money, and now you owe $1,500. And not a lot of people have that laying around”
"Or in the case of a smaller refund, agents are advised to say something like, “The smaller refund might be a shock this year, and I understand that, but the good news is that this money was actually in your paycheck"
But customer service training can only cushion the blow from an unexpected tax bill just so much. Michelle, a Long Island mother of two who asked to withhold her last name, was blindsided when her accountant revealed that she and her husband owe $3,000 this year – the first time that they have ever owed the IRS – after getting $8,000 back last year. “He was kind about it and offered us a cup of coffee,”
"Furious taxpayers are sharing their stories on social media in threads such as #neverowedbefore"
Speaking of misplaced trust, the vertical casino rally into the 90 day trade war deadline is no longer based upon an end to the tariffs but merely not an escalation:
The U.S. market was bid on Friday on these collapsing expectations, but Asia rolled over this week:
"China’s producer prices slow for 7th straight month, raising deflation fears"
