Are External Issues Stifling The Economy?

40 thoughts on “Are External Issues Stifling The Economy?”

1. It's Obama's fault, because history only started in 2008. Everything that happened before that has absolutely no bearing on where we are today.

2. Your blatant political bias is a waste of my time, and I am therefore unsubscribing. Eventually the American electorate will wake up and realize that it is people like you that caused all the problems in the first place.

3. All Obama has done by signing the debt agreement is ensure a smooth(er) ride into the next elections. I bet the voters would not have spared him if this happened within 6 months of presidential elections. Where will it stop? S&P has not downgraded the rating to AA-...the first time to happen since USA got AAA rating in 1917. The country survived the biggest crash of 1929, World Wars, recessions but did not survive the modern politics. Its time to kick start the economy.....but not by some non-productive stimulus but by bringing manufacturing back to the county by reducing taxes and regulations.

4. Adam,
   Try Glass-Steagall, NAFTA, GATT and the huge deficit that Cheney/Bush left us after eight years.... Adam, it is now 1930 all over again and the same morons and the same idiot moves that caused the Crash and Depression are about to do it again... Read Kondrotiev.... The Ultra wealthy have now monopolized most of the media outlets and the only news we are getting these days is Left wing attack garbage.... Remember the media regulations that Reagan removed in the 1980's? Obama inherited this mess and it is going to get worse before it gets better...... The Right wing morons have created the "perfect storm" just as the did in the late 1920's...
   Mike

5. these comments certainly cover a wide spectrum of opinion. they make me think altho the struggle to suceed is viable only if in the end you can help your fellow man to better himself erwin

6. Keep up the great posts Adam, we need to expose
   the people who are destroying our great country.

   Ron Paul is the only true american who is
   running for president in 2012, the other
   candidates are puppets of the "elite".
   (bilderberg group)
   If you want more of the same vote for a
   democrat or republican in the next election.

7. Taxes have been used to reward your buddies and punish your enemies by politicians since their inception. Why do you think the tax codes are so complicated? So, we need to start a program that rewards those creating jobs and punishes those that ship jobs offshore.

   Good, bad or indifferent, we have the opportunity to make switching from our oil based economy over to a natural gas based economy a national priority. The manufacturing, installation and sales of products to make this change happen would create the jobs we need. Conversions of automobiles and filling stations to handle natural gas, the conversion of burners in heating plants, both industrial and residential. The facilities for handling liquefied natural gas, storage and transportation, just keep thinking of all that would be required. The tax code could encourage, but also there would be enough in the way of pork in a project of this dimension, I would think, that would get the attention of politicians on both sides of the aisle. Perhaps a way to engineer jobs in the USA instead of off shore.

   We need to turn around the concept of shipping jobs off shore.

8. Be greedy when the market is scared!
   Be fearful when the market is greedy!

9. I have to disagree with you P Wagner, the dregulation of the last ten years actually was more regulation in disguise. If you worked for a bank you would understand they were forced to make more loans to certain individuals or else they were not given permission to grow from the regulators. Key word is given permission sounds like regulation to me. The real problems were never solved unions have been given more and more power especially if the union is on the taxpayer side of the equation since this has been one of the biggest strains on our economy. How can we grow when the money being made on the private sector needs to go to the public sector which is growing at a ferocious pace. The math is not very hard to figure out the problem is that we need to look at the bigger picture and what is going to be best for future generations not the current. The fact of the matter is that if we care about our children we will start giving up a bunch now!

10. The private sector is the only one who will create jobs and expand productive capacity.

11. It looks like the US Treasury has been busy at the poker table raking in all the chips from the stock and commodity markets to fill the new gap in the debt ceiling.

12. We need the DDD to fix the economy

    Deflation, Defaults, and Death to government

13. I live near Toronto and own a small manufacturing company with 7 employees. The corporate tax rate is a non-issue for me as it is so easy to show a loss thanks to all the other taxes.

14. I agree with Comment by Brian Gronnebeck; I did not sign up to listen to you ill informed rants. If you're going to keep it up, please provude a mechanism to refund (pro rated of course) my subscription. If I want to listen to crap, I'll turn on Glenn Beck or Rush Bimbo.

15. Dont Try to blame the debt on the present President, he inherited this problem from the republican party, make no mistake about it. We know for a fact whos at fault.

    You can continue to lie to the public, but the truth is well known. Republican party will never get into office, with all their hate and lies.

    They have tried to everything to throw this country into debt and give corporation everthing they wanted,but the truth is that the corporations are all about greed. Not helping Americans.

    PS Try telling the truth for once in a while.

16. Adam,
    Please keep up the rants.
    EVERYONE needs to understand what is happening to this country.
    Dina

17. Some great comments, Adam.
    I agree with you 100%
    Dina

18. And here's John using the obama talking point that it's all Bush's fault.
    Is there anything more predictable than these wacko libs who stuck us
    with this loser and now want us to appreciate all the fine work he has done.
    John, try to understand this....Pres. Bush contributed to the current
    economic morass but Pres. Obama was hired to fix it and he has failed.

19. Adam,

    While I respect your technical analysis of the market, I don't appreciate your political rants and find them a very poor business decision. Why would you want to alienate any of your subscriber base? Continued political rants such as this today will only serve to erode my confidence in your ability to analyze the market in an unbiased manner.

20. The rant was warranted, and I agree with it. I live in South Florida, my town has been hit by the housing crash, and then the oil spill. I've gotten to watch what happened to the stimulus money in my community, the county government found very creative ways of spending it, most of which involves another layer of county and state inspections for the local businesses, and another layer of hassle for homeowners. Before Rick Scott got elected, Florida was planning on using stimulus money for a department of septic inspections, so everyone with a septic tank would have to pay the state 500$ every three years to get certified.
    That one got squashed, (something about inspectors winding up in the septic tank) but everything put in it's place is just as dumb, intrusive, and winds up being a way of collecting money from those people and businesses that still have some. I could also rant!
    I think MarketClub is great, the 1 o'clock updates are really helpful, and I listen to them everyday. I've been a member for a while, but trading is finally starting to make sense to me.
    Thank you for saying to sell off gold and go short last night on ino tv, I watched the show, thought it made sense, did it, and my account is better for it.
    So thank you for all of your hard work, I pay attention, and I'm making fewer really stupid trades.
    Yours,
    Jenne

21. While I respect your technical analysis of the market, I find your political rants very unprofessional and a very poor business decision. Why would you even consider alienating any of your subscriber base? I am paying for your professional expertise in unbiased market analysis and nothing more. One more of these political rants and I will really begin to question your ability to deliver.

    Respectfully,
    Judy

22. You should post this on FaceBook so that more people can read your thoughts! You are right on!

23. Not to mention 8 years of a government in bed with the those it was supposed to regulate

24. doubt I would pay for the advice of anyone whose bias is so plain. I want someone who knows and analyzes facts - really you rationally believe 16 months to turn around a disaster with a Congress that will stall and block everything is realistic? Pretty pathetic and partisan analysis - really other than your personal desire to never be taxed or pay for our defense, roads, schools (who needs education as it could lead to people seeing though slogans and unsupported pitches), police firemen, health and benefits for the young people we sent to war - nah - they didn't need body armor or working vehicles - stop the partisan garbage - if you have real advice to give - then do it based on the real partisan stalemate that exists and not your hatred of a guy who frankly should be more partisan, because he will never get any real cooperation out of your buddies.

25. if you were left with impossible and created 8 trillion survival dollars to set up a huge comeback after this market dumps with no spending reps said no more spending ok see how you like talking about something you know nothing about !! top management in govt are super smart !! you will see after the market hits depression levels then print the market to 20,000 for there is no solution just put off and enjoy the stock market whoever is printing at election time will win !! bob

26. Why is the US no longer the greatest corporate opportunity to invest and create jobs?

    1) Taxes
    2) Wages
    3) Currency
    4) Regulation
    5) Monopolized markets
    6) Protectionism
    7) Government Debt
    8) Private Debt
    9) Infrastructure
    10) All of the above

27. Stick to the trade triangles and leave the politics out. I don't visit here for your political views, I come for some market education. Your entitled to your opinions of course but lobbing inflammatory grenades serves no educational purpose. The "Shrub" (junior Bush) took us over the cliff and this administration has been trying to clean his mess. If you really want to make or recommend a change, then remove the ridiculous option in the Senate to have a Filibuster by "stated intent" and not actually having to "Filibuster" as in "Mr. Smith Goes to Washington." This created the need for a veto proof (60 vote majority) to pass any legislation, which has constrained any ability to actually accomplish anything.

    Oh and lest you forget, a good chunk of this mess was created by your buddies on Wall Street. For a little light summer reading, check out Cohen's book on Goldman Sachs!!

28. hi

29. Where's the ''shared'' sacrifice ??
    Since the mega-corporations are now ''persons'' via the Supreme Court,
    they should pay their fair share of the taxes.
    And if Warren Buffet pays less percent of his income in taxes then his secretary,
    the millionaires and billionaires need to pay their fair share too.
    Social Security is not part of the debt problem, in fact it has lent $2+ Trillion to the Federal government.
    Why should firefighters, teachers and sanitation workers have to sacrifice theirs jobs,
    pay and benefits if the corporations, millionaires & billionaires get off scott-free ??

    If we eliminate government waste & fraud,
    stop the continual wars of foreign occupation
    (it costs $1.3 MILLION to keep ONE soldier in Afghanistan for 1-year)
    then we'd have plenty of money to create a temporary WPA program
    until the private sector gets going again.

    The fall in tax revenue was caused by the Great Recession which was caused by the Banksters on Wall Street, so let them chip in a few bucks in taxes since we bailed them out with out tax dollars.

    If the theory is that rich people create jobs with their millions and billions,
    then eliminate ALL their tax breaks except for ONE,
    that being a tax rebate
    for every permanent, full-time job they create.

    Stay tuned sports fans, it only gets more interesting. . .

30. Love it.

31. Hi Adam,

    Hope you don't mind some constructive criticism of your thesis from a financial economist.

    The US economy will remain weak for some time due to the necessary deleveraging of personal borrowers (directly and via the house market) and at all levels of government. This is unavoidable! There is no Laffer curve, tea infusions or fairy dust to help the next few years not be poor( as your long term Nasdaq chart indicated)

    Corporates know that and that is why they are holding huge cash balances in most cases . Tax cuts won't affect that policy until the worst of the deleveraging is out of the way.

    Any tax cuts will require greater expenditure cuts( House of Reps will make sure of that) , so making the short term effect of any tax cuts net negative for some time.

    Graham
    PS If your piece had started put by saying that the cut in payroll taxes needs to be extended, you might have more on your side.

32. steve warshaw
    The longer term investor are supposed to react to the monthly, not the weekly.
    Adam's text has been spot on, advising panic at 1250.

33. Did anybody notice that marketclub trade triangles would have gotten you out at:

    S&P: 1295
    DOW: 12296

34. ok so wait a second Brian, are you saying every corporation is a big business? Last I checked you can create a c-corp or an s-corp as an individual.

    Tax rates need to be cut DRAMATICALLY for the real job engine in the US, which is small business. In fact, I say if you're business grosses less than 20 million per year, Uncle Sam should cut your taxes to $0 for the next 3 years. Imagine the HIRING and EXPANSION an extra 34% cash influx would have on these businesses!

    The stiumus bill DIDN:T stimulate the economy. Do you think this economy is stimulated? REALLY? Last I checked all of the stimulus money hasn't been spent yet. It's pretty clear that program isn't working. Stimlus from the federal government can only work if they have cash on hand, IE a surplus.

    In case you have forgotten, jobs bills don't work. period. What, is the federal government going to re-re-re train you to do your job better? PUHLEASE. What government institution have you been to that is run at high efficiency by super talented managers? Oh, none? wow, what a concept.

    You go ahead and cancel your Marketclub membership; I'll buy an extra one.

35. I agree with your comments, and I'm a right leaning conservative. The only point I would like to make is that the fed should never have been given bullets. In fact, why do we need a federal reserve bank at all? It seems to me the dim whits in the fed have created a monetary policy that had destroyed the value of our currency.

36. Adam never said we don't need any regulation; he would be the first person to tell you that we need the Glass Steagal Act back. I'm certain he would tell you that Fannie / Freddie should have never been allowed to be leveraged at 40 or 50 to 1. There is however, NO QUESTION, that entities such as the EPA are stifling business. Corporate tax rates are stifling SMALL business. This is an inarguable point, because it's the truth.

37. Adam, you are so right. But, don't stop here. Send that missive to the Prez. Gotta laugh how Wall Street "warned" Congress that if no deal was reached by Aug 2, there'd be a 3% haircut. Well, it's about 6% since the deal was reached, no? Guess they could see the deal does NOTHING to change how Washington works. The Prez has been running for re-election since February and he's been running behind the entire time he's been in office. Nice idea to want to help everybody. In theory. In the real world, you've got to face reality and get the economy chugging. People get employed. They pay their bills, they pay taxes (well, at least half of them. The other half the Democrats don't want to talk about), they buy houses, they buy cars, blah, blah, blah and soon the government coffers fill up. Gee, they could use excess to pay down the debt (while they hold spending down). Oh, right. When the government coffers fill up, they just find a way to waste more of it. No doubt, if they took the time to look, there are trillions in waste, fraud and abuse. Problem is, Democrats especially, don't want to take the time to look for it. You'd think they'd at least go for the low hanging fruit. Nope, even THAT'S a problem for Dems. Well, Mr. President, how'd you like that 500 point drop in the Dow today as a belated birthday present?

38. Adam, you need to stop these rants. If this continues I will stop my Market Club membership. You are blaming Obama for what is going on with this economy. Who is going to create the jobs we so desperately need? The private sector? Give me a break. For the last ten years all that has happened is loosening of government regulations and major tax breaks for corporations and wealthiest amongst us. The supposed job creators. Corporations and the upper income earners are sitting on more cash than at any time in modern history and where are the jobs?
    And how is Obama to fix this broken economy. The only stimulus was 1/2 tax breaks for the wealthy and corporations. And the funny part of that was all the Republicans who voted against the stimulus bill were all making a big photo opportunity handing out the checks when they realized that it was saving jobs. Again where are the jobs these so called job creators are supposed to create if we keep giving them money. The middle class are the ones who create demand for goods & services which actually create jobs and the sooner you and the people who think like you realize that the sooner we will get out of this mess. Also in case you have forgotten all spending has to start in the House of Representatives it is up to them to come up with a jobs bill. So far all the have managed to do this week is put almost 80,000 people out of work because they want to bust the union for Delta Airlines. The trickle down thing is exactly what George Bush senior, who I voted for, said they were VOODO ECONOMICS.

39. Adam: you are so right. But I think neither party has been doing good for the U.S. population. Government does spend too much but that includes every administration. The data shows that the debt was raised from about 4.5 trillion in 1980 to its present 14.3 trillion. The corporate tax rate has fallen every decade since Reagan significantly. but the markets have been technically flat since 2000.

    Also, you have to admit that Corporate America does not employ a lot of Americans. Multinationals are selling more and more overseas and employ only 17% of the population in the U.s. (this number is falling every year too). Small businesses are contracting and they do need tax breaks. They are the employment engine but get no help from the government and are, I think, unfairly treated relative to big corporates---who seem to have all the advantages.

    Its clear Obama does not know what to do. I am admittedly more of a moderate/left leaning, but I dont like Obama---he seems lost. Also the Fed seems like they are out of bullets. I think deleveraging and contraction is in the cards, as you pointed out in your last chart.

40. "Corporations and the lack of government regulations and interference are what made America run and be a great country."

    I'd have to respectfully disagree, Adam. Deregulation and de-funding of the regulators in the financial industry have caused major problems for us in the last 10 years.

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