Add to the Stew

 News ------ News ---------- News --------------- News -------------------- News*

Dear Reader, as you know from our pieces, at times we refer to our unpublished book that we feel will help America, and possibly the world. You see that we do not clutter our page with ads. Money is a means and not a goal. We seek to make life better. With that said, our founder, John Lipareli has his first book published - to make a name for himself that could help get his political and economic work a reality. You can buy at Amazon Books. It is called, "The Legend of the Afghan Hound." It is general and family reading. Kids 9 to 15 will love the action adventure as well as pet lovers and history buffs. The sweeping saga begins in ancient Egypt in a time of anxiety and war and ends in Bethlehem with hope and love. Adults will be attracted by the theme of "love in action." By that I mean the sacrifices that we make for each other. It is a Christmas classic and makes an excellent gift. Please, support his work. Thank you. 

Market Recipe

The Bulls love cheap money. It is the spoon that stirs the stew. They want their ingredients known. This is to say, no volatility. Finally, the meat of government spending and regulations that support their investments.

President Trump has conducted his time to make them happy while he tries to balance government spending to keep the deficits manageable. We stated we believe in tariffs, but in an intelligent way. You put extremely high tariffs on selected sectors; not a one size fits all. Our deficits took years. They cannot be corrected overnight. If our political parties were more for us, they would work together no matter who is in office. They aren't. The long view is how to address tariffs and our deficit. 

One Ingredient

Anyway, the news by the president with chips and trade with Taiwan is encouraging. Their leading chip firm, Taiwan Semiconductor (TSM) is amazing when you realize that their new chip is 1/1000 the size of a human hair. How does anyone make something so small and yet, so powerful. Is this the real reason why China wants to control the island? The costs are very high. They make a ton of money. However, they put a lot of it back into research and their product. They estimate that they will spend between $52 and $56 billion this year. That is a billion with a capital "B." It is no wonder that competition in this field is so difficult. The costs are through the roof. 

Another Spice

President Trump is calling for banks to lower their credit card interest rates, especially on late fees. The 10% cap is more than enough profit, but these greedy, greasy cooks always want more. Immediately, they claim that they help poor people and they cannot afford to offer them credit with a 10% cap rate. LIARS! The banking industry made $762 billion in profits from credit cards. They just want their profits. Meanwhile, the president also wants lower mortgage rates. He knows if the interest rate fell to 5%, there will be a lot of homes sold. We don't care if people will say this is for his ego claims about the best economy. Home ownership makes for better communities and standard of living.

Recipe Book

Some cooks refer to cook books. We are disturbed about one survey revealed last week about our stew. The report stated that 60% of corporations are preparing to lay off workers in 2026. The reason is the cook book recommends AI to finish the meal. Automation is taking the cook's job. Blackrock isn't waiting. They announced 1% or 1,000 pink slips. Large US banks continue to close branch banking locations. Chase is closing 66. TD is shutting down 51.  Wells Fargo is laying off 5,000. More to come?

Bottom line: We close our cook book and let the stew simmer. We do not see any trouble until mid-February. Peace.