https://www.howestreet.com/2025/05/expect-stock-markets-to-rally-over-short-term-mark-leibovit/

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U.S.-China Trade Deal Sparks Rally On Wall Street

Stocks moved sharply higher during trading on Monday, more than offsetting the modest weakness seen in the previous week. With the strong upward move, the Nasdaq and the S&P 500 reached their best closing levels in over two months.

The major average saw further upside going into the close, reaching new highs for the session. The Nasdaq soared 779.43 points or 4.4 percent to 18,708.34, the S&P 500 spiked 184.28 points or 3.3 percent to 5,844.19 and the Dow surged 1,160.72 points or 2.8 percent to 42,420.10.

The rally on Wall Street came following news of a U.S.-China trade deal that drastically reduces the massive tariffs on each other’s goods.

The White House said the agreement calls for the U.S. and China to each lower tariffs by 115 percent while retaining an additional 10 percent tariff.

The U.S. will retain tariffs imposed in response to the fentanyl national emergency, resulting in an effective tariff rate on Chinese goods of 30 percent.

In previous tit-for-tat moves, tariffs on U.S. and Chinese goods had spiked as high as 125 percent and 145 percent, respectively, which Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent had described as the “equivalent of an embargo.”

The White House said the 34 percent reciprocal tariffs on U.S. and Chinese goods will be suspended for 90 days beginning Wednesday, May 14th.

Both nations also agreed to establish a mechanism to continue important discussions about trade and economics, the White House said.

“While the trade spat has only been dialed back for 90 days, it’s a major breakthrough as far as investors are concerned,” said Russ Mould, investment director at AJ Bell. “The fact the two countries were talking was already a major win given they’ve been at each other’s throats during the first and second Trump presidential terms.”

“Some people thought the best-case outcome from the weekend’s discussions would be an agreement to simply keep talks going,” he added. “Therefore, to have reached an initial deal so quickly and one that rolls back tariffs by a large amount is a pleasant surprise.”

Sector News

Semiconductor stocks turned in some of the market’s best performances amid a broad based rally, with the Philadelphia Semiconductor Index soaring by 7.0 percent to its best closing level in well over two months.

Substantial strength was also visible among transportation stocks, as reflected by the 7.0 percent spike by the Dow Jones Transportation Average. The average also reached a two-month closing high.

Computer hardware stocks also showed a significant move to the upside, driving the NYSE Arca Computer Hardware Index up by 6.5 percent.

Networking, biotechnology and banking stocks also saw considerable strength, while gold stocks were among the few groups to buck the uptrend, moving sharply lower along with the price of the precious metal.

Other Markets

In overseas trading, stock markets across the Asia-Pacific region moved mostly higher on Monday. Japan’s Nikkei 225 Index rose by 0.4 percent, China’s Shanghai Composite Index advanced by 0.8 percent and Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index soared by 3.0 percent.

The major European markets also moved to the upside on the day. While the French CAC 40 Index jumped by 1.4 percent, the U.K.’s FTSE 100 Index climbed 0.6 percent and the German DAX Index rose by 0.3 percent.

In the bond market, treasuries moved sharply lower in reaction to the U.S.-China trade deal. As a result, the yield on the benchmark ten-year note, which moves opposite of its price, surged 8.2 basis points to a one-month closing high of 4.457 percent.

Looking Ahead

Trading on Tuesday may be impacted by reaction to the Labor Department’s report on consumer price inflation in the month of April.

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Rich Dad Poor Dad author warns ‘biggest market crash’ in history is happening now

Robert Kiyosaki, the outspoken author of Rich Dad Poor Dad — has issued yet another urgent warning: “The biggest market crash in history is now happening now.”

In a post shared on X, Kiyosaki didn’t hold back. “I hope I am wrong… but as I forecasted… the biggest market crashes in stocks, bonds, and real estate… are about to happen in the very very near future.”

The bestselling financial author first predicted a catastrophic collapse in his 2002 book Rich Dad’s Prophecy. Now, with volatility rising, he believes that warning is playing out in real time.

Kiyosaki’s solution? He’s been steadily investing in what he calls real assets: “This is why I have been investing in gold, silver, and Bitcoin.”

He predicts silver, currently trading at around $35, could “explode 2X in price” and hit $70 by 2026.

Kiyosaki said he expects the Federal Reserve and the U.S. Treasury to turn to their old playbook when the crash deepens — printing more money. And that, he says, could be disastrous for the average American.

“If the markets do crash… odds are the Fed and Treasury will print trillions in fake dollars… increasing M2 money supply which will probably cause massive inflation,” he said.

“Simply said: I do not trust the Fed and Treasury. They will turn on the FAKE MONEY PRESS.”

He added, “I trust gold, silver, and Bitcoin to protect me from the coming massive inflation… caused by the loss of purchasing power of FAKE money… which is why I have been warning for years, ‘Savers are Losers.’”

Kiyosaki has been on a roll with market commentary in recent weeks. He previously predicted Bitcoin could hit $200,000 this year and eventually surpass $1 million by 2035. On April 20, he told followers he was buying silver again, calling it “the biggest investment bargain today.”

His advice to followers remains consistent: hedge against a collapsing dollar with Bitcoin, gold, and silver — and stay away from traditional savings.

“I want you to get richer… not poorer. Take care,” he concluded.

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Supreme Court Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson, who this week condemned the attacks President Donald Trump and his allies have made against judges who are blocking the administration’s policies, failed to take historic precedent into her comments, according to Harvard Law professor emeritus Alan Dershowitz on Newsmax Friday.

“This is not new,” Dershowitz told Newsmax’s “The Record With Greta Van Susteren.” “Thomas Jefferson attacked judges appointed by John Adams much, much more ferociously. [Abraham] Lincoln attacked judges, indeed, suspended the writ of habeas corpus. Franklin Delano Roosevelt intimidated judges, threatened that he would pack the court, and that resulted in the switch in time that saved nine.”

Jackson, speaking at a judges’ conference in Puerto Rico Thursday, said that the attacks against judges are “not random” but are designed to “intimidate those of us who serve in this critical capacity,” reported Politico.

She also called the threats from the administration “attacks on our democracy, on our system of government,” and said they “ultimately risk undermining our Constitution and the rule of law.”

But Dershowitz told host Greta Van Susteren that Jackson has “no credibility unless she puts her criticisms in historical context” and goes after Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., for his comments about the judiciary or after other judges.

“Arguments between the judiciary and the executive are as old as our nation,” Dershowitz said.

Dershowitz acknowledged that he also says “rotten things about judges,” adding he’ll “continue to do so as long as judges do rotten things and don’t obey the Constitution.”

Judges are not above the law, he continued.

“The judge who sat on the disgraceful New York trial of Donald Trump for doing something that wasn’t even illegal deserves condemnation,” Dershowitz said, referring to Trump’s records case.

“The judge in D.C., who didn’t recuse himself, notwithstanding the fact that his daughter is deeply involved in deportation — these judges deserve to be criticized. I will continue to criticize them, as I have in my 60-year career.”

Judges, he added, “deserve acceptance based only on the quality of their opinions, not on the fact that they’re wearing robes.”

Dershowitz also argued that lawyers who won’t fight against judges are “cowards” who are afraid on behalf of their clients.

“I have been in courtrooms where judges have done horrible things, and the lawyers whispered to me, ‘Oh, my God, I wish I had the guts to stand up and tell him what I think,'” he said. “But judges take it out on lawyers who don’t treat them with the kind of reverence that they want to be treated with. So I’m completely in favor of judges being subject to scrutiny and to criticism.”

Dershowitz also said that Trump’s convictions in New York will be appealed, even though a sentence wasn’t handed down, and he believes it will ultimately reach the Supreme Court.

“He gave a sentence that was a nonsentence, but it’s enough to end the case and allow him to appeal,” said Dershowitz of New York Judge Juan Merchan. “The court may say, ‘Wait a minute. There was no sentence, so we have no jurisdiction.’

“I don’t think they’re going to do that. I think they’re going to handle the appeal. I think they’re going to reverse the conviction. And if they don’t reverse the conviction, a higher court will. This is the weakest case in my 60 years of practicing law that I have ever seen.”

 

https://tinyurl.com/yyfkya7c

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FCC chair Brendan Carr sent a letter to Disney CEO Robert Iger stating, “Numerous reports indicate that Disney’s leadership went all in on invidious forms of D.E.I. discrimination a few years ago and did so in a manner that infected many aspects of your company’s decisions.”

ABC News does not fall under the FCC’s purview, but ABC’s eight-owned and operated stations are, and it wants to review whether they have violated any FCC equal employment opportunity regulations.

In addition, the FCC will also look at ABC’s policy that at least 50 percent of characters in TV pilots be from underrepresented groups.

For its part, Disney, in a statement, said, “We are reviewing the Federal Communications Commission’s letter, and we look forward to engaging with the commission to answer its questions.”

This is familiar territory for ABC News, which has already come under scrutiny from President Donald Trump. Last December, the news division settled its lawsuit with the president for $15 million over comments that anchor George Stephanopoulos made on a March 10, 2024 edition of his Sunday show, This Week.

As part of the settlement, the network included an editor’s note in the online article accompanying the broadcast, which stated: “ABC News and George Stephanopoulos regret statements regarding President Donald J. Trump made during an interview by George Stephanopoulos with Rep. Nancy Mace.”

The Associated Press reports that Disney has altered some of its D.E.I. positions in recent months. For example, it has changed the language at the beginning of some of its movies from “negative depictions and/or mistreatment of peoples or culture” to “this program is presented as originally created and may contain stereotypes or negative depictions.”

It joins NBCUniversal and Paramount Global as media companies with ties to news operations receiving the FCC treatment since the beginning of the second term of the Donald Trump administration.

The FCC does not have direct jurisdiction over NBCUniversal properties. Still, the news division could be affected by the outcome of the investigation due to its parent company, Comcast, cable and high-speed internet business, as they fall under the regulatory oversight umbrella of the FCC.

NBCUniversal is also expected to finalize the spinning off of its cable units into a separate company in the next few months, which will require government approval.

Meanwhile, Paramount Global is in the final stages of its merger with Skydance Media and needs government approval, too. On top of that, CBS News’ Sunday night newsmagazine, 60 Minutes, is facing a $20 billion lawsuit brought on by the president, who alleges the news network engaged in “deceitful” editing of a 60 Minutes interview with former Vice President Kamala Harris.

Carr made an official request for the unedited interview transcript, leading the network to publicly release the transcript and video footage of the interview on its website.

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A YEAR OLD BUT STILL A GOOD ARTICLE

https://slate.com/business/2024/02/cnbc-investing-advice-bad-making-money.html

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https://www.youtube.com/@NewsmaxTV/featured

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THE CASE FOR ABOLISHING THE FEDERAL RESERVE

https://www.youtube.com/@NewsmaxTV/featured

COME ON, DAD. IT’S TIME TO EAT

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