Set your clock - must be the weekend - New Tariffs imposed

Someone wants the Fed Chair job

TACO FAFO and more...

More muddy AI cover art

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 Warm-Up
- Must be the weekend - New Tariffs imposed
- Someone wants the Fed Chair job
- TACO FAFO and more...
- More muddy AI cover art

Markets
- YUGE move for markets
- Tariffs reinstated by Appeals court - for now
- Hope for a spending bill - SPENDING BILLS
- Retailers still worried - apparel stores not happy

More tariffs
- President Donald Trump told U.S. steelworkers on Friday that he will double tariffs on steel imports to 50%.
- “We’re going to bring it from 25% to 50%, the tariffs on steel into the United States of America,” Trump said during remarks at U.S. Steel’s Irvin Works in West Mifflin, Pennsylvania. The president said the steep tariffs would “further secure the steel industry.”
- “At 25%, they can sort of get over that fence,” Trump said. “At 50%, they can no longer get over the fence.”
- Shares of mining company Cleveland-Cliffs popped roughly 22% following the announcement, while Steel Dynamics jumped more than 13% and Nucor was up more than 12%

Tariffs
- Court Strikes them down - something we discussed a bit on the legality of tariffs in the way they were impose to begin with
- Appeals court reinstates temporarily
- Did you see Howard Lutnik? Like putty in Trump hands, saying how Trump will win, he always wins, he is such a winner, no one can negotiate like Trump - on and one in a press conference.

Economic Downtick
- The U.S. growth outlook was downwardly revised to just 1.6% this year and 1.5% in 2026. In March, the OECD was still expecting a 2.2% expansion in 2025.
- “Global GDP growth is projected to slow from 3.3% in 2024 to 2.9% this year and in 2026 ... on the technical assumption that tariff rates as of mid-May are sustained despite ongoing legal challenges,” the OECD said.
- It had previously forecast global growth of 3.1% this year and 3% in 2026

Big Month
- NASDAQ up 9.6% for May
- S&amp;P 500 up 6%
- Some calling it a Bear Market Bounce
- Valuations getting toward top end again
- Breath is poor again - BIG Names pulling most up
- Tech was big driver in May
- Best month for S&amp;P 500 since November 2023

Someone Looking to Be Appointed
- Kevin Warsh (Brown Nose Warsh) Says Fed Officials Shouldn’t Be ‘Pampered Princes,’ Defends Trump’s Criticism of the Bank
- Leading name for the next Fed Chair
- defended the president’s right to criticize the central bank, saying the Fed is too big and politically exposed.
--- He is showing how political it can be with this kind of populist view

Inflation Report
- PCE moved to 2.1% on April (lower than expected)
- Core inflation also was at 0.1% for the month though it was higher on an annual level at 2.5%.
- Consumer spending, though, slowed sharply for the month, posting just a 0.2% increase.
- The savings rate surged to 4.9%, the highest in nearly a year.
- Food prices fell 0.3% on the month while energy goods and services increased 0.5%. Shelter costs, which has been one of the most stubborn inflation components, increased 0.4%.
-- Put all of that together - consumers are pulling back

New and Old Acronyms making waves
- MEGA (Make Europe Great Again)
- MAGA (Make America Go Away)
- TACO (Trump Always Chickens Out)
- FAFO (Fuck Around and Find Out)
----It is used to capture the financial market's volatility and chaos that Trump's policymaking process has created

Dell Earnings
- Dell Technologies reported fiscal first-quarter earnings that missed Wall Street expectations, but the company beat on revenue and offered a stronger-than-expect...

DHUnplugged #755: Smoking Mirrors