Author Archives: Bok
Sears New Year Liquidation Sale
Sears chairman Eddie Lampert stepped in with a last minute $4.4 billion offer to buy the bankrupt company. CNBC says Sears advisers have until Jan 4 to decide if he’s a “qualified buyer.” “Only then could ESL take part in an auction against liquidation bids on Jan. 14.”
Stock Market December to Remember
Your 401 (k) Goes Bungee Jumping
It was the night before Christmas and the Dow Jones Industrial Average plunged 653 points. But the day after Christmas the bull bounced back for a record 1,000 point gain. Alas, the stock market December to remember continued as the Dow dropped 600 points the following morning. But not to worry. Late in the day the Dow made a record 850 point u-turn to finish with a 260 point gain.
Syria Pullout
ISIS J.V. Team
President Trump got off the phone with Turkish President Erdogan and announced he’s pulling the troops out of Syria. And Secretary of Defense James Mattis resigned.
Democrats and Republicans found common ground slamming the Syria pullout decision. They say the pullout sells out the Kurds and creates a vacuum that ISIS will fill. Same as when Obama pulled out of Iraq. (At least the Republicans say that.)
Pro Syria Pullout
But Reason’s Nick Gillespie and Andrew McCarthy of NR think Trump did the right thing. If we stay in Syria we’d have to choose sides in a war between Turkey and the Kurds. Erdogan’s nasty but Turkey is a NATO ally. Besides, we’re there illegally. Congress never approved it and that makes it unconstitutional.
Fed Grinch Steals Trump Christmas
You’re a Mean One, Chairman Powell
President Trump overheated his Twitter account trying to pressure the fed chairman. But it didn’t work. Jerome Powell was more than ready to to stand up to Trump by playing the Grinch and raising rates. Not only that he said he’d do the same thing two more times next year.
Fed Grinch
The Dow swooned and the president sputtered. But Bloomberg says the Fed did the right thing. Vox, however, not so much.
Meanwhile the stock market crater continues.
White House Safe House
Accidental President
I got the idea of a the White House as a safe house from a Holman Jenkins column in the WSJ. He doesn’t think Trump expected to win.
Winning was his colossal if propitious miscalculation. Nobody would care about Stormy Daniels if he weren’t president. His decades-long pursuit of a Trump Tower in Moscow would be a non-story…
Unfortunately, it will also occur to Mr. Trump now that his best move is to cling to the White House at all costs. That’s because under Justice Department guidelines he can expect not to be indicted as long as he remains in office.
