Weekend Update 10/06/2018 Trumped! Autos Next?

"We’re totally predictable. And predictable is bad. Sitting at a meeting like this and explaining my views and if I do become president, I have these views that are down for the other side to look at, you know. I hate being so open."  

Donald Trump.  The Washington Post, 2016

The G-7 meeting in Canada predictably ended in fiasco. In what has to be President Trump’s fastest U-turn yet, President Trump within hours backed out of an agreed very meek G-7 communique. With friends like President Trump, the G-6 and rest of the world doesn’t need enemies. For now, America speaks with forked tongue.

Below, the world now headed towards a trade war disaster. Bad things happen fast if Trump follows though on auto tariffs.

"I had some beautiful pictures taken in which I had a big smile on my face. I looked happy, I looked content, I looked like a very nice person, which in theory I am."

Donald Trump. Crippled America: How to Make America Great Again, 2015

June 9, 2018 / 1:51 PM / Updated 28 minutes ago

Trump torpedoes G7 effort to ease trade spat, threatens auto tariffs

LA MALBAIE, Quebec (Reuters) - U.S. President Donald Trump on Saturday threw the G7’s efforts to show a united front into disarray after he became angry with Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, and said he might double down on import tariffs by hitting the sensitive auto industry.

Trump’s bombshell announcement that he was backing out of the Group of Seven communique, made after he left the summit in Canada early, torpedoed what appeared to be a fragile consensus on the trade dispute between Washington and its top allies.

“PM Justin Trudeau of Canada acted so meek and mild during our @G7 meetings only to give a news conference after I left saying that, ‘US Tariffs were kind of insulting’ and he ‘will not be pushed around.’ Very dishonest & weak. Our Tariffs are in response to his of 270% on dairy!” the U.S. president tweeted.

In his press conference, Trudeau had spoken of retaliatory measures that Canada would take next month in response to Trump’s decision to slap tariffs on steel and aluminum imports from Canada, Mexico and the European Union.

“Canadians, we’re polite, we’re reasonable but we also will not be pushed around,” Trudeau, the host of the two-day summit in La Malbaie, Quebec, told reporters.

----Trump’s salvo capped a dizzying two days of controversies that began with his suggestion Russia be readmitted to the G7, then what a French official described as a “rant” full of “recriminations” against U.S. trading partners, followed by Trump’s denial of any contention with leaders at the summit and his description of their relationship as a “10.”

By ordering his representatives to back out of the communique, Trump appeared to be asserting his oft-stated aim of upsetting the status quo whether by pulling out of the global climate accord or the international nuclear deal with Iran or threats to scrap the North American Free Trade Agreement.

The communique, which appeared to have papered over the cracks that have surfaced in the G7, said the leaders of the United States, Canada, Britain, France, Italy, Germany and Japan agreed on the need for “free, fair, and mutually beneficial trade” and the importance of fighting protectionism.

“We strive to reduce tariff barriers, non-tariff barriers and subsidies,” the statement said.

Trump’s reversal, announced while he was en route to Singapore for a meeting with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, sent his G7 partners scrambling.

----French President Emmanuel Macron had labeled the summit a success before Trump’s Twitter posts, saying there was relief within the G7 that an escalation of the trade dispute had been avoided.

More

https://uk.reuters.com/article/us-g7-summit/trump-to-leave-g7-early-missing-environmental-talks-idUKKCN1J50H3

"[The press] used to think that I was really this horrible, flame-throwing, terrible tyrant. Right? Now I go on a television show, where basically what I do is I fire people, and everyone thinks I'm such a nice guy. Which tells you what a bad image I had."

Donald Trump. "Larry King Live," 2005

Up next,  outside of President “U-turn” Trump’s huge  ego, what really went wrong at the G-7 summit. Trump posited:

Let 1 = x.

Multiply by x to get  =  x squared

x = x 2 . {\displaystyle x=x^{2}.}

Subtract 1 from each side to get  x - 1 =  x squared - 1

x − 1 = x 2 − 1. {\displaystyle x-1=x^{2}-1.}

Divide both sides by x - 1

x − 1 x − 1 = x 2 − 1 x − 1 . {\displaystyle {\frac {x-1}{x-1}}={\frac {x^{2}-1}{x-1}}.}

x - 1 divided by x – 1  =  x squared - 1 divided by x - 1

Which simplifies to

1 = x + 1. {\displaystyle 1=x+1.}

1 = x + 1

But, since x = 1, 

1 = 1 + 1 = 2. {\displaystyle 1=1+1=2.}

1 = 1 + 1 = 2 !!!

And with that miraculous result President Trump left for Singapore to tackle North Korea, while the remaining six dwarfs scratched their heads. But after this G-7 meeting, who will bother to sign anything with President Trump again?

Finally, why is President Trump targeting the UK at all?

Why Trump is targeting G-7 nations on trade

By Jeffry Bartash

Published: June 9, 2018 4:49 a.m. ET

President Trump has threatened Canada and France with higher tariffs if they don’t ease up on what he considers unfair policies, sparking fresh worries that a simmering dispute over trade will boil over and damage the world’s leading economies.

The president clashed with Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and French President Emmanuel Macron in an extraordinary series of tweets ahead of meeting of G-7 leaders in Quebec. The G-7 consists of the U.S., U.K., Canada, France, Germany, Japan and Italy.

The U.S. has run huge trade deficits for years through both Republican and Democratic presidents. In 2017, the trade gap in goods rose to a nine-year high of $807 billion (the deficit was a smaller $552 billion if services are included).

China accounted for 47% of the U.S. trade deficit in goods in 2017, but the G=7 countries were responsible for another quarter. Germany ran the biggest trade surplus with the U.S., followed by Japan and Italy.

The U.S. runs smaller deficits in goods with France and Canada, according to government figures. 

The U.S. actually posted a small surplus with Canada in 2017 if services are included, largely reflecting how much Canadians spend when visiting the 50 states.

The U.K. is the only country with which the U.S. ran a goods and overall surplus.

How the dispute all plays out is anyone’s guess

More

https://www.marketwatch.com/story/why-trump-is-targeting-g-7-nations-on-trade-2018-06-08

How large a role does pure ego play in your deal making and enjoyment of publicity? "Every successful person has a very large ego." Every successful person? Mother Teresa? Jesus Christ? "Far greater egos than you will ever understand."

Donald Trump.  Playboy, 1990

The monthly Coppock Indicators finished May.

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All three slow indicators moved down in March and April and continued down in May. For some a new bear signal, for others a take profits and get back to cash signal.