| Kensington Review |
24 April 2024 |
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Cogito Ergo Non Serviam |
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Latest Commentary: Trump Prepares to Surrender on China Tariffs -- The White House is preparing to hoist the white flag on its trade war with China. It is currently signalling that it no longer has the stomach to continue. After the CEOs of WalMart, Home Depot and Target told the president to his face that shelves would be empty in two weeks thanks to his trade war (Forbes is the source), Mr. Trump blinked. There is now talk of reducing the ridiculous and obscene tariffs on Chinese products to levels that are merely ridiculous. The Chinese government will simply sit and wait while the administration starts making concessions. It will pocket them and ask for more. It is a diplomatic rout, and the whole world knows it. [24 April] Tesla Has Disastrous First Quarter -- Tesla, Inc. (TSLA-NASDAQ) issued its required 10-Q filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission yesterday. This is a document that must be filed every 90 days to keep the market up-to-date on the company's activities. This particular filing made for grim reading for those long Tesla stock and bonds. While assets improved by $3 billion compared with the last quarter, just about every other number showed a decline in the fortunes of the firm. The explanation in the Management Discussion and Analysis section read more like a list of excuses. The most important thing unsaid what that this will not end in the second quarter. [23 April] GOP Congressman Wants Hegseth Out -- The Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth is completely unqualified for the job. Sad, but there it is. He seems devoted to sending texts about military operations as they are unfolding, and doing so using a commercially encrypted app called Signal. In other words, it can be broken rather easily by government tools. He also seems to like bringing his wife to top level meetings where she has no need to participate. He has fired his closest advisors only a couple of months into the job. He never should have been confirmed. Finally, a Republican Congressman, one Don Bacon of Nebraska, has said it is time for Mr. Hegseth to find a different job. [22 April] Pope Francis I, 1936-2025 -- His Holiness Pope Francis I died earlier today. The tributes have poured in from around the world, and speculation on his successor has naturally begun. While his legacy will not emerge for some time (as legacies always do), the church he leaves behind is rather different from the one that chose him to lead. His was a pastoral papacy, and the expectation is that the next pope will be inclined to follow in this approach. There is a body of thought that believes the church will now move right to placate its more conservative factions. As usual, this journal takes the view that if one knows who the electorate is, one can tell whom it will elect. [21 April] Fed Faces No-Win Situation on Jobs, Inflation -- The Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell has been speaking today about the future course of American monetary policy. Given the tariffs the president has ignorantly imposed, the Fed fears that its dual mandate of low inflation and unemployment is becoming virtually impossible thanks to the coiming stagflation. Chairman Powell said in so many words "We may find ourselves in the challenging scenario in which our dual-mandate goals are in tension." That is another way of saying the Fed can fight one or the other at a time, but not both. Reading between the lines, the Fed is going to fight inflation first, and that means no rate cut anytime soon. [17 April] © Copyright 2025 by The Kensington Review, Jeff Myhre, PhD, Editor. No part of this publication may be reproduced without written consent. Produced using Ubuntu Linux.
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22 Years Online Volume XXIII, Number 69
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