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Writer's pictureRaj Searing

Read this First 8/7/2020

*** Still no power ... Hope to be back to normal for Monday Rant. Have a good weekend***

BANG !!! NY Attorney General Letitia James is doing what she does. Political Witch Hunts. James has filed suit against the NRA. She claims two former executives, the CEO Wayne LaPierre and General Counsel John Frazer of using NRA money for trips to the Bahamas, luxury car services and hair and make up for his wife. Of course, the NRA calls the suit “baseless and politically motivated”. President Trump commented that, “the NRA should move to Texas where they will be treated fairly” …

My opinion is, “There isn’t enough violent crime going on within ONE MILE of where you’re giving the press conference”? There have been more shootings in NY in 2020 than in all of 2019. That’s not the NRA’s fault. The guns used are not legally acquired. Its BAD LEADERSHIP from the Mayor’s office and Prosecutors.. and NY Governor Cuomo is on TV BEGGING the wealthy to come back.. He is joking, “ill buy you a drink.. we’ll have dinner” to get wealthy NYC residents back from their “vacation homes” where they are waiting out the Covid restrictions. Really Gov. Cuomo? Have dinner WHERE? You still have all the restaurants closed!!! .. Oh ..and as we speak.. there is a giant power outage on the upper west side and in Harlem. Come back to THIS???

The Mayor of Portland FINALLY wakes up and slams the rioters. But, of course, had to bring Trump into it.. Mayor Wheeler (properly) said, “when you light a building on fire you are committing arson. When you block the exits like you did, you are attempting murder”.. which is what he SHOULD have been saying from Day ONE. Then he HAD to throw in, “You are being a prop for Trump’s re-election… You will be in film used Nationally to help Donald Trump during his campaign” … Look Mayor Wheeler, when you FAIL to put down violent uprisings and riots and arsonists then YOU are responsible for the deaths and destruction. “Peaceful Protests” don’t end with rioting, arson and murder. If you did your JOB this wouldn’t even BE national news…

COVID Update: The Ohio Governor, Mike DeWine, was set to welcome President Trump at the Cleveland Airport but was sent away after testing positive for COVID-19. So, he went home and said he would self-isolate for 14 days. The next day he tested negative. He never had any symptoms.. The “Rapid Antigen” test found him positive and the “PCR tests” found him, his family, and his staff negative. They did the PCR test TWICE and everyone was negative both times. Hmmm.. NOW WHAT?? Do you quarantine?? … and…

In Da Swamp: President Trump was in Ohio making a bunch of promises to factory workers.. while blasting, “Live and Let Die” on the speakers. Wow.. who picked THAT song to play during a COVID pandemic?? …and …

Joe Biden was doing and interview and ..well.. put his foot in his mouth when he said to a Latina reporter about the Hispanic community that, “unlike the African American community you are very diverse”… uhh… instead of an apology.. he later tried to “clarify” that “Latinos are from everywhere. Europe, South America, Mexico, different backgrounds… but all Latino” ..uhh.. So, Black Americans are all the same? Joe, apologize for “misspeaking” and move on..

In Sturgis, SD .. The Sturgis Motorcycle Rally and Festival kicks off today. “Sturgis” as its called brings 500-700,000 people to the town of Sturgis which normally has 7,000 residents. (It has the Motorcycle museum, too) .. Despite Coronavirus they are still expecting over 250,000 this year. So, let’s guess. Does this lead to a bunch of mini-outbreaks in about two weeks after the bikers all return home? Does it lead to MAJOR outbreaks?.. or is it a big nothing when it comes to COVID??

SPORTS: Jason Day and Brendon Todd lead the PGA Championship after round one with nine others only one shot back. Tiger Woods is three shots back.. and Bryson DeChambeau was allowed to replace his driver after breaking it….because he did not break it in anger.. he leaned on it!! .. He a little TOO heavy now…

MLB: Shohei Ohtani is back!! If you forgot, Ohtani was dubbed the “Japanese Babe Ruth” because he can pitch AND hit.. He’s been injured.. He returned last night and hit a Home Run.. Angels fans are hoping he pitches, too.. and..

Blue Jay Bo Bichette hit one so far that even the pitcher laughed. The 435 blast was gone so fast the cardboard fans couldn’t get out of the way..

CELEBRIDIOTS:

A Milwuakee Alderman is slamming Republicans for pushing the “Kanye for President” narrative. He claims they are only trying to get black votes away from Biden. Two things: 1) He is RIGHT.. and 2) Biden is doing a pretty good job himself getting Black Americans not to vote for him..

Is it too early to say Kaia Gerber looks exactly like her mother did 30 years ago?..and is it too early to look at her .. HERE.. and make that comparison? .. (she’s 19 years old in a month)…

DANICA PATRICK split with boyfriend Aaron Rogers a few week ago and is doing the, “look at me !!! I’m hot and in a bikini and don’t need no stinkin boyfriend !! “ thing.. HERE.... C'mon Danica.. Stop teasing and get over here !!!

From SeekingAlpha.com

President Trump has taken aim at China again, signing a pair of executive orders targeting not only TikTok but also widely used WeChat. The action references national security concerns and (starting in 45 days) bars any transactions with the apps' China-based owners - ByteDance (BDNCE) and Tencent Holdings (OTCPK:TCEHY) - by any person or involving any property subject to the jurisdiction of the U.S. While TikTok said it will pursue all remedies available, including American courts, it also faces a Sept. 15 deadline before its services are banned in the U.S.

It's still unknown how far President Trump's executive action will go, but U.S. Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross is set to identify transactions covered by the order. Tencent has many prominent investments, including in Snap (NYSE:SNAP), Activision Blizzard (NASDAQ:ATVI) and Spotify (NYSE:SPOT) - via Tencent Music Entertainment (NYSE:TME). Tencent also bought a 5% stake in Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA) back in 2017, and CEO Elon Musk has called the company an "investor and adviser." In premarket trade, Tencent ADRs are unchanged (shares tumbled 5% in Hong Kong), while Tencent Music is down 4.1%.

A three-hour meeting Thursday evening between White House officials and Democratic leaders yielded little progress on a virus relief package, bringing the talks to the brink of collapse. It's unclear whether the two sides will resume negotiations today, meaning President Trump would likely rely on executive actions. "The one thing the President can do is extend the moratorium and that would be a good thing if there's money to go with it and that's what we keep telling them," House Speaker Nancy Pelosi declared, adding that he "can't move that much money" without congressional approval.

While the stock market is coming off of five consecutive days of gains, U.S. futures fell 0.5% overnight. Prior to the dip, this week's gains in the S&P 500 pushed the benchmark just 1.3% below its Feb. 19 record, while the Nasdaq closed above 11,000 for the first time on Thursday. Jobs is another area of focus for investors this morning. Estimates for the non-farm payrolls report are all over the place, with consensus coming in at 1.6M jobs created in July, after a 4.8M increase in June. The U.S. unemployment rate is forecast at 10.5%, from 11.1% last month.

"Canada was taking advantage of us, as usual," President Trump announced after imposing tariffs of 10% of Canadian aluminum. "Very unfair to our jobs and our great aluminum workers." The new tariffs only apply to a certain category of aluminum non-alloyed unwrought aluminum, which refers to unfinished ingots and slabs of aluminum that are then heated and rolled into different products like sheet or shapes of aluminum. The friction comes a little over a month after the implementation of the new USMCA trade agreement and Ottawa said it would retaliate with proportional levies.

"We will bring our pharmaceutical and medical supply chains home - we're going to bring them home where they belong - and we will end reliance on China," President Trump said after unveiling an action on domestic drug production. "We'll be making our product here - safely, beautifully and inexpensively. We're reasserting American economic independence." The executive order will help increase production of essential medicines, medical equipment and protective gear in the U.S., according to trade adviser Peter Navarro. "If we've learned anything from the China virus pandemic... we are dangerously overdependent on foreign nations."

67 NFL players have opted out of the 2020 season due to the coronavirus pandemic, with athletes only allowed to withdraw if "a close family member gets seriously sick with COVID or if they themselves are newly diagnosed with a high-risk condition." Team hit the hardest? The New England Patriots. A grand total of eight players will not be playing in the fall, and that is after Tom Brady took his talent to Tampa. At the NCAA level, UConn became the first major college football team to abandon its 2020 season outright, and the prospect of more cancellations could ding U.S. broadcasters like ABC/ESPN (NYSE:DIS), CBS (NASDAQ:VIAC), NBC (NASDAQ:CMCSA) and Fox (NASDAQ:FOXA).

What else is happening...

Gilead Sciences (NASDAQ:GILD) ups supply of remdesivir 50-fold since January.

Sanders goes after pandemic wealth gains as Biden moves closer on taxes.

Facebook (NASDAQ:FB) extends remote work policy to summer 2021.

NYSE owner ICE is buying mortgage software company Ellie Mae for $11B.

GM (NYSE:GM) looks to recharge Cadillac with Lyriq midsize crossover.

Thursday's Key Earnings

Today's Markets

In Asia, Japan -0.4%. Hong Kong -1.6%. China -1%. India flat. In Europe, at midday, London flat. Paris -0.3%. Frankfurt +0.1%. Futures at 6:20, Dow -0.5%. S&P -0.5%. Nasdaq -0.5%. Crude -1% to $41.53. Gold -0.1% to $2066.80 Ten-year Treasury Yield flat at 0.53%

Today's Economic Calendar


Regards,

Roger “Raj” Searing rajsearing@gmail.com "Raj Searing™”, "Read this First™", "@rajsearing™", "TheRantRoom™" and “TheRantroom.com™” are Trademarks of RRRAJ, LLC. All Rights Reserved-2003.

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