David Reavill

It’s been a month since “Liberation Day,” the day that President Donald J. Trump announced that we would emerge from the oppression of foreign manufacturing. For years, the President declared, we’ve been “ripped off” by the Chinese and others who have moved American jobs to their shores, producing the goods and products that you and I consume daily.

Relatively few investors are day traders, yet most of the technical market indicators are computed daily. This leads to a very myopic perspective — it’s like driving a car with a microscope. You’ll eventually see the oncoming traffic, but it may be after you crash.

For over half a century, China has produced items that American consumers want to buy, from early, inexpensive toys and gadgets to today’s high-tech personal computers, smartphones, and advanced equipment and machinery.

For over half a century, China has produced items that American consumers want to buy, from early, inexpensive toys and gadgets to today’s high-tech personal computers, smartphones, and advanced equipment and machinery.

For over half a century, China has produced items that American consumers want to buy, from early, inexpensive toys and gadgets to today’s high-tech personal computers, smartphones, and advanced equipment and machinery.
 

For over half a century, China has produced items that American consumers want to buy, from early, inexpensive toys and gadgets to today’s high-tech personal computers, smartphones, and advanced equipment and machinery.

For over a millennium, the Chinese Merchant has been the most revered and feared force in the Far East. They are revered for their wide array of trade goods and products, but feared as agents of control and subjection. Throughout Southeast Asia, China exerted its political control over countries like Korea and Vietnam by first using humble Merchants to infiltrate each society.

What is apparent is that the price of many of the products and goods we rely on will have substantially higher costs, resulting from increasing tariffs. Or, in the most extreme cases, it may not be available at all. Potential shortages should be our primary focus.

It’s easy for Investment outsiders to underestimate the pressure to perform on
Wall Street. From the largest Mutual or Hedge Fund Manager (with the greatest
AUM) to the lowest regional Stock Broker, the demand to produce solid returns
year after year is intense. It’s the reason many financial professionals hang up
their careers prematurely.

Investors' concern is palpable. This week, stocks declined sharply, especially after Wednesday's rollout of President Trump's Tariff Program. The decline in the NASDAQ Index has been especially pronounced, which, up to now, has been leading the markets to higher prices. However, a careful review of this index shows that this week was merely the exclamation point of an ongoing decline.