6/ unsurprisingly it turns out that call option volume (call options are bets that stocks will go up) rose ~1,000% in the moments immediately preceding Trump's announcement that he was going to suspend his tariff policy.

i would consider that extremely conclusive proof that someone on the trump team is engaging in large scale insider trading based on their knowledge of what trump is about to say about tariffs and yet somehow I doubt that the #SEC is going to get to the bottom of who is responsible.

4/ we already know that trump thinks nothing of abusing presidential powers in exchange for cash because he just pardoned a bunch of his donors (e.g. Nikola Motors scammer Trevor Milton) and dropped charges against all his new crypto biz partners (e.g. Justin Sun, a16z).

enriching his supporters w/insider trading opportunities is the same kind of mafia style "repayment"

perhaps trump’s donors were so loud in his ear complaining about all the money they just lost that trump decided to shut them up w/an opportunity to profit on history's largest (not an exaggeration!) insider trading opportunity.

or consider a scenario where #TeslaTakedown has put #ElonMusk financially on the ropes and badly in need of cash. does trump strike you as someone who wouldn't help a fellow grifter out if doing so only cost him some well timed tweets & market chaos?

3/ what’s different about this rally as compared to previous bear market rallies is that price moves right now are being driven *entirely* based on the moment to moment proclamations of a mad orange king drunk with power.

trump can easily (and IMHO just did) use this power to xfer massive amounts of retail suckers' money into the hands of Trump donors/friends/insiders etc. w/just a few steps.

[11am] privately inform donors you'll be announcing the cancellation of tariffs at 3pm

[11:01am] donors buy stonks

[2pm] tweet "GREAT TIME TO BUY", transforming donor trades from "insider trading crimes" to "trades based on public information"

[2:01pm] retail MAGA apes & other trump team members (republican congress, officials, etc) "buy the dip"

[3pm] suspend tariffs

[3:01pm] whole world apes in, mkt goes , insiders' profit massively from their trades.

https://x.com/unusual_whales/status/1910033260975165836

"Recessions also give political cover to Trump, Musk, & Republican efforts to reduce labor and environmental standards.

Also, remember the business cycle. A recession early in Trump’s term is politically better for Trump & his Republican allies than a recession later in the term.

I believe Trump’s plan is for a recession in 2025 so that he and his billionaire buddies can ride the wave of a recovery in 2026 — just in time for the midterm elections."

#Trump #tariffs #recession #billionaires
/6

"What’s really going on with the economy? I believe Trump and his billionaire buddies — the American oligarchy — have a plan. ...

A recession is not necessarily bad for Trump and his billionaire buddies. America’s oligarchy depends on periodic recessions.

Recessions are opportunities to buy up real estate, companies, and shares of stock at bargain-basement prices."

~ Robert Reich

#Trump #StockMarket #tariffs #recession #billionaires
/5

http://www.smirkingchimp.com/node/113500

#ChuckSchumer added: “We know that Donald #Trump doesn't think things through. We know that whatever hits him for the moment he does. But on something so vital like the whole #economy of America, the amount of #money people have in their pockets, in their livelihoods, on something as vital as this - yes, it leaves you agape at what he is doing & how much damage he is causing. And how little he cares. He thinks it’s a game.”

#Senate #Democrats just held a press conference on #Trump's #tariff announcement & his admin's policy.

Sen Kirsten Gillibrand said: “Because of this #chaos, this #incompetence & this carelessness, he has wiped out trillions of dollars from the #US #economy.”

Standing alongside her, Senate Minority Leader #ChuckSchumer said: “You can't undo the damage. The #TrumpSlump is upon us now, & whatever he will try to do in the future does not undo the damage.”

Illinois Senator #DickDurbin, the No. 2 #Democrat in the #Senate, warned that the negative impacts of #tariffs would persist far beyond a 90-day period.

"The chaos, uncertainty, & real damage of the #Trump Tariff Tax will not disappear in 90 days. Bottom line: the President has created a global mess at the expense of American families & businesses,” Durbin said in a statement.