Good morning. An interesting Bloomberg article this morning touts there are: “signs stock rally running out of gas.” Well, someone forgot to tell this to investors, as new intraday highs have been reached in both the S&P and tech-heavy Nasdaq. Sorry Dow … you are arriving late to the party. If you thought tariff battles were taking a break, you are certainly mistaken … as Reuters reports the European Union (“EU”) is hard at work deciding on retaliation for the proposed 30% tariff placed on it by the Trump administration. And if there will be an adjustment, it had better be soon as Commerce Secretary Lutnick said the August 1st “deadline for a deal” (my words) will not be changed. Keep in mind that the EU is made up of 27 countries. It is doubtful that each will have the same view on retaliation … especially since a few of the countries already take in more U.S. goods than they export. One other point … made in a Business Insider article … is there is one country that might benefit from all this stuff … Canada … which is now being seen as a less volatile trading partner than the U.S. I was listening to a few business news channels over the weekend and found one comment on Bloomberg especially interesting … as the speaker (I missed the name) told of “AI” being a powerful force for decades to come … not years … decades. It is tough to disagree … as it already seems to be part of almost every business plan discussion. There was even an item out this morning in the Wall Street Journal claiming that AI has already been playing a larger role than companies have been letting on … having replaced some of the workforce. But one area where it is already just starting to take a toll is in food delivery … and this will improve as time goes on and kinks worked out. Frankly, I have a problem already with food … as I like doing things online … yet ordering forces me to use different services … even if I am picking up my food and not having it delivered (and somehow this increases the price). I have actually started orders and then cancelled when I realize I am paying more. Heck … all I want to do is order my pizza, get in the car and pick it up. What do they want me to do? Speak to a human? On a final note … also concerning food … have you been to a supermarket lately? Prices for meat are going through the roof … and promise to worsen. Complaining about eggs? Hah! That is child’s play compared to the increase already seen as you shop with the hopes of tossing a steak on the grill. I have been eating some of those “fake beef” items where the claim is they have made, “plants taste like meat.” Well, to me that seems like a bit of a stretch … as I feel you can always taste the difference. And with the fewest number of cattle and calves on U.S. farms since 1951 (source: U.S. Department of Agriculture) we may have to depend more on top importer Canada. Oops. I forgot about the Canadian tariffs which, so far, have not been placed on beef. Let’s hope they leave this one alone. There is certainly a lot at steak. Have a great day, Joseph G. Witthohn, CFA Have any questions? Please contact info@teamemerald.com
|
Call Us: +1 (800) 722-4123 
Back