Issues Under Fire: Stock Market Tanking? Another Government Shutdown? A New Nuclear Arms Race? WTF?
If the headlines have grabbed your attention, you'd be wise to tighten your seatbelt, hug a loved one and say a prayer or two. Think about it, Wall Street is having a WTF moment and nobody can say why or how long it'll last. The odds of Congress reaching an immigration agreement in the next 48 hours to avoid another government shutdown confrontation are about the same as you winning the next Power Ball Lottery. So, after reviewing the Defense Dept.'s memo announcing the U.S.' decision to expand and upgrade its nuclear arsenal, while at the same time calling out Russia, China, Iran, and North Korea as threats, it became obvious, what happens over the next few weeks could be explosive on so many levels. Time to focus.
To date, the Stock Market has been outperforming itself and nobody can say why. Not even Donald Trump, no matter how hard he tries to claim credit for it. But something happened over the last few days. And again, so far nobody can say what. This triggers uncertainty. While some market analysts are leaning toward an overdue market correction as an explanation, others are inclined to speculate rising interest rates and inflation could be the cause of the sharp and unexpected downturn. Either way, those with 401Ks and pensions should be concerned, especially since Congress is struggling to keep the government open. These two events converging could turn a crisis into a catastrophe.
A government shut down twice in less than a month due to Congress' inability to make the necessary compromises to keep the United States functioning will lower confidence, in the eyes of those considering doing business with America. After all, how can Trump tout America is open for business when it can't even keep the doors to the White House open? Remember, without a budget, the United States government has been literally living from one Continuing Resolution to another. A continuing resolution is like a PayDay Loan. It's how America makes ends meet when it can't agree on how to govern itself. And any country that can't govern itself has no business playing around with nuclear weapons. This brings us to our last and most pressing issue.
When Russia and China got the memo indicating Donald Trump was planning to modernize and expand America's nuclear capabilities, both reacted in near tandem condemning the move. China called the United States' nuclear weapons policy a return to a cold war mentality. Russia called the U.S.' new nuclear policies confrontational and vowed to respond in kind. And while the North Koreans have yet to react to the memo, aka The U.S. Nuclear Posture Review, Iran says the new policy is in violation of the International Nuclear Non-Proliferation Agreement, as it will only bring mankind closer to annihilation. In case you haven't noticed, we're witnessing a nuclear arms race in the making.
Bottom line: The only thing that could be worse than another government shutdown, while watching your 401K shrink before your eyes, is realizing a nuclear exchange by design or accident could happen at any time. Japan thinks so. Hawaii thinks so. And South Korea knows so. So, having an unstable, unsupervised, erratic ignoramus in the Oval Office claiming he has the world's biggest nuclear button on his desk, should put your fears in perspective. Podcast below.
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