Trump: Tariffs On German Cars?

If they're going to slap tariffs on cars made by Germans it's because the government is trying to say we want a different outcome than the outcome that the free market is determining. In the free market Americans are choosing to buy these German cars, we don't want them to make that choice we want to alter the free market by artificially raising the cost of buying a German car relative to the cost of buying a different car. And now we have a different outcome not the outcome that would be determined by the free market but the outcome that is determined as a result of government intervention. (General Motors (GM), Ford (F), Tesla Motors (TSLA), BMW)

Markets: US Dollar, Gold and Interest Rates

If the Federal Reserve doesn't raise interest rates in June it is going to shock the markets. In fact I think the US Dollar is poised to decline even if the Federal Reserve raises interest rates. I think gold (SPDR Gold Trust ETF (GLD)) is poised to rise even if the Federal Reserve raises interest rates but if it doesn't obviously those moves will be even bigger because the markets are completely prepared for a another hike.

U.S. Economy: Recent Weakness Likely To Persist

The economic data that has come out recently including this week has been pretty bad on balance in fact the data that we're getting confirms to me that rather than being transitory the weakness in the first quarter is likely to continue.