Good morning. Markets are on the rise at the moment, but what will captivate investors this afternoon will be news coming out of the Fed. While it is expected the Fed will keep rates steady, full attention will be paid toward comments surrounding what may lie in store for the months ahead. Will the Fed continue to express concern over tariff-caused inflation? Or will Jerome Powell announce things are better than was anticipated … with tariffs … so far … having no effect? One thing is certain. The President doesn’t like interest rates being this high and went so far as to give the view that we have a “… stupid person at the Fed,” telling a crowd that he would do a better job if he was in charge … and said dropping rates by as much as 21/2% should be one consideration. Of course, one major item at the moment continues to be the situation in the Mid-east. While the President said Iran is interesting in talking, Iranian media broadcast an ominous message yesterday with the statement there would be a “surprise” that the world “…will remember for centuries.” Okay … even if this is fluff … that comment itself is pretty scary and a reminder that things can change on a dime in this crazy world. And before I forget … Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick claims that almost 70,000 have registered for the “gold card” … allowing a fast path for permanent U.S. residency … made of real gold with Trump’s picture emblazoned on it … at a cost of $5 million each. I am not sure if that is correct for, by my math, that’s $350 billion dollars! Something seems a bit off … but the cynic in me could very well be wrong. I just saw an interesting note for travelers to or from JFK. If you’ve driven to the airport lately (guilty!) you know there is construction all over the place. Well, it appears it might get a little worse … but at least something is being done about it. The JFK AirTrain connects passengers with the NYC subway system and will be cutting prices in half (to $4.25) from June 30 through Labor Day. It seems many public transit systems have lowered price … but you do have to shop around. An example is taking Amtrak tomorrow night from New York to Philadelphia. The 8:30 PM train is $95 and the 10:05 PM train is $65. But there is a train at 9 PM with a fare of $15. Wow! Sign me up! Again, it is quite important … and worthwhile … to shop around. On a final note for today, I noticed the Taliban (last story below) has now made playing chess … watching chess … or even owning a chess board … illegal. I know the Taliban has a checkered past … but making chess a crime? I mean … do they consider it pawn-ography? Have a great day, Joseph G. Witthohn, CFA Have any questions? Please contact info@teamemerald.com
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