Good morning. Stocks are relatively flat so far this morning as investors continue to contemplate (and maybe tire of) the continuing tariff situation being played out between Washington and … well … what seems like everyone. Fourteen countries recently received a tariff letter on duties scheduled to rise on August 1st, with the admonishment that any retaliation would result in these rates going higher still. But in a defiant move, China … which is indirectly affected due to transshipments … promises retaliation if these tariffs are put into place the beginning of next month. For now, the Chinese threat seems as if it is being met by investors with a yawn. One of the reasons the tariff game is not seen as monumental … for the moment at least … is markets are still near record territory which, I believe, is surprising quite a few people. Just this morning Goldman Sachs announced a boost in its end-of-the-year forecast for the S&P (joining BofA which also recently did the same) … and while a target 6% above where the index sits right now might now seem like much … we only have 6 months left in the year. It seems that every day people are discovering new things that can be done using Artificial Intelligence (“AI”), but not everything is positive. Per a story below, someone … or some group … impersonated Secretary of State, Marco Rubio, in a call to a host of politicians … including foreign ministers, a governor and a congressman. As many are aware, these “deep fakes” have gotten quite good. Recent stories have been told of people falsely believing relatives are in trouble (having received a panicked “call” from them) and have sent money. You can only imagine someone receiving a fake call from the head of a company, asking for material information, and then investing based on the response. Yes, AI is quite promising … but quite worrisome all the same. In a bit of good news … very good news … TSA announced fliers will no longer be forced to remove their shoes while going through airport security. You might recall that this was put into place following the attempt of the “shoe bomber” back in 2001 in a failed attempt to detonate a pair of sneakers. I am quite excited about this development … as there are few things as embarrassing as removing your smelly shoes with a row of people behind you trying to hurriedly toss their stuff onto the carousel. I think my shoe removal phobia stems from the time I removed my shoes only to find a massive hole in my sock. Darn it. Have a great day, Joseph G. Witthohn, CFA Have any questions? Please contact info@teamemerald.com
|
Call Us: +1 (800) 722-4123 
Back