Initial signs look good for US-Russia relations...

[lucidity]

This just appeared on rt.com

https://www.rt.com/news/366925-putin-trump-phone-call/

If we just get a cancellation of the war drums... I'll be happy.
(The policy will be reflected in the MSM coverage)

[pyrangello]

It about dam time this escalation stop, Escalation for what you say. I feel that before the election Russia was being poked daily with a hot stick , None of us common folk of the world want to have any war of any type, Frankly its just the opposite. But the Psychopaths and sociopaths in some operations around the world thrive on chaos which is so counterproductive. How about a new concept of de-escalation and lets focus on making peoples lives better by leaving less of a carbon footprint at the same time on the earth. I'll take discussion over bullets anytime, lets figure it out, Go Trump/Pence, find the path of peace especially for the syrian people and their country.

[A Voice from the Mountains]

From what I understand, since Trump won the election, Russia and Syria have already started bombing the hell out of ISIS. We all know that ISIS is a CIA creation just like al Qaeda.

It's amazing how much Trump has accomplished in a week, without even being the president. The stock market is up, TPP is dead, ISIS is collapsing and there are more border agents enforcing our immigration laws. And Canada and Mexico are both saying they're willing to renegotiate NAFTA. In just a week!

[Althena]

From what I understand, since Trump won the election, Russia and Syria have already started bombing the hell out of ISIS. We all know that ISIS is a CIA creation just like al Qaeda.

It's amazing how much Trump has accomplished in a week, without even being the president. The stock market is up, TPP is dead, ISIS is collapsing and there are more border agents enforcing our immigration laws. And Canada and Mexico are both saying they're willing to renegotiate NAFTA. In just a week!

The dollar is the highest in 13 years since Trump won, telling signs of times to come. I've been happy and very optimistic since the witch melted.

[lucidity]

And i notice that gold and silver prices have both dropped sharply in early November.
Here's gold:
http://www.kitco.com/charts/popup/au0030lnb.html

And here's siliver:
http://www.kitco.com/charts/popup/ag0030lnb.html

That's a sign that the capital markets are feeling safe and secure.

However... having said that, gold prices are now 'range fixed' by
the coordinated purchases and sales of various central banks around
the world.... in other words, the market is 'pegged'.. and not free.

[A Voice from the Mountains]

The downside to a strong dollar is that it'll make it harder for Trump to bring industries back into the US. An artificially weak Chinese yuan is partly why it's so cheap to manufacture things in China.

If they ever do bottom out and crash the dollar, and Trump does impose tariffs, then the US will become the new China and industries will move here en masse. I suspect that's maybe the main reason international bankers aren't doing anything to manipulate the dollar downwards.

Either way, with strong dollar or weak dollar, it's a win-win situation, just in different ways. With Trump at the helm I'm sure he will be able to exploit either scenario.

[lucidity]

The downside to a strong dollar is that it'll make it harder for Trump to bring industries back into the US. An artificially weak Chinese yuan is partly why it's so cheap to manufacture things in China.

If they ever do bottom out and crash the dollar, and Trump does impose tariffs, then the US will become the new China and industries will move here en masse. I suspect that's maybe the main reason international bankers aren't doing anything to manipulate the dollar downwards.

Either way, with strong dollar or weak dollar, it's a win-win situation, just in different ways. With Trump at the helm I'm sure he will be able to exploit either scenario.

There are a number of substantial problems with simply imposing import tariffs.... selectively... on China.

(1) Let's say the Acme company produces 'widgets' in China a ships them to USA and Europe.
Then Trump imposes a 45% tariff.
The very next thing that Acme can do, is relocate to Taiwan (which whom the USA has favourable trade deals)
or to Vietnam, or to South Korea, or Thailand.
For companies like Acme, the tariff would be effective, for only as long as it takes Acme to relocate.

(2) Most companies like Acme are actually US Corporations.
If you slam a 45% tax on them, they will fight Trump at home... via the media, via representatives in congress and the senate.

(3) China can play 'tit-for-tat' against American imports of things
like: management consulting, wheat, soya beans, etc...

It would be better for Trump to work _with_ the Chinese to figure out how to create some
arbitrary figure of American jobs - 2 million, 5 million etc.

Perhaps this would mean that _more_ Chinese investment goes into the USA, creating
businesses, manufacturing plants, etc.

Ultimately... the USA (and Europe) have done this to themselves by exporting
manufacturing jobs to Asia... (since the post war period). Germany, for example,
has done that much less than other countries... and remains the economic
power house of Europe.


maybe ...short term thinking... doesn't pay off in the long term.

[A Voice from the Mountains]

If we don't impose tariffs, but keep letting other countries impose tariffs on our exports, this imbalance is going to completely kill all industry in our country. It has a lot to do with why we've lost so much industry to China and Mexico already. There is no choice here. We have to match what China is doing, no matter how much moaning and crying we're going to hear. Hearing a bunch of whining is preferable to destroying your nation. "Tit for tat" isn't going to mean anything if we recreate our former industrial glory and flood the world with high-quality American goods again, like we did in the 1950's.

And this is not a short-term solution. It is a long-term solution that's going to cause short-term problems. Once manufacturing has moved back to the US and established itself, prices will go back down and stabilize and we'll have more jobs and job security here. Historically we have used tariffs exactly like this before all the "free trade" globalist scamming. At one point this country's income came primarily from tariffs.


Trump isn't even in office yet and his threats of tariffs are already having a positive impact:


Apple could make iPhones in US in future: sources

TAIPEI -- iPhones might one day soon carry "Made in America" labels.

Key Apple assembler Hon Hai Precision Industry, also known as Foxconn Technology Group, has been studying the possibility of moving iPhone production to the U.S., sources told the Nikkei Asian Review.

"Apple asked both Foxconn and Pegatron, the two iPhone assemblers, in June to look into making iPhones in the U.S.," a source said. "Foxconn complied, while Pegatron declined to formulate such a plan due to cost concerns."

http://asia.nikkei.com/Business/AC/Apple-could-make-iPhones-in-US-in-future-sources