themarketswork

a common sense approach to a liberal world

Trump’s Amazing First Days

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“I’m not a politician, and have never wanted to be one. But when I saw the trouble our country was in, I knew I couldn’t stand by and watch any longer.

“What follows is my 100-day action plan to Make America Great Again. It is a contract between Donald J. Trump and the American voter – and begins with restoring honesty, accountability and change to Washington,”

– President Donald J. Trump

Every single morning there are new and significant Presidential Actions being taken – and virtually all are linked to promises President Trump made during his campaign.

Apparently, he really did mean what he said.Continue Reading

Women’s March – Hidden Agendas

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My youngest daughter told me that she planned to take part in a “women’s rights march” in Los Angeles while we were having dinner at a restaurant several weeks back. I asked if it was primarily a march against Trump’s Presidency and she noted that element existed but it was really supposed to be about unifying women and their concerns. Her comments got my curiosity piqued.

The Women’s March attracted hundreds of thousands of protesters and was solidified by an underlying theme of distaste for the Trump Presidency but seemed to splinter into thousands of personal causes from there. Breanne Butler, the march’s global coordinator, stated “It’s a march on Washington…Hear our voices, we’ve been silenced. You need to take us into consideration. . . . We are America.”, thereby summing up sentiments that sounded remarkably similar to those voiced by most Trump voters.

But there also appeared to be a more hidden agenda lurking in the shadows.Continue Reading

A Speech to Remember

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“This is your moment, it belongs to you…This is your day. This is your celebration. And this, the United States of America, is your country…The forgotten men and women of our country will be forgotten no longer.”

“At the center of this movement is a crucial conviction, that a nation exists to serve its citizens.”

“Through our loyalty to our country, we will rediscover our loyalty to each other. When you open your heart to patriotism, there is no room for prejudice.”

– President Donald J. Trump

A historic day. A historic moment. A historic speech.

And so it was that Donald J. Trump became the 45th President of the United States.Continue Reading

Clinton Global Initiative’s Closing Confirmation

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The Clinton Global Initiative announced that it would be closing its doors for good on April 15th, 2017. The Clinton Global Initiative is the largest of the Clinton Foundation’s programs. According to the Clinton Foundation website:

“The Clinton Global Initiative (CGI) convenes leaders to drive action through its unique model. Rather than directly implementing projects, CGI facilitates actions by helping members connect, collaborate and make effective and measurable Commitments to Action. The CGI model drives action among its members in the following four ways: Inspiration..Networking…Knowledge Building…Collaboration.”

I’m not sure exactly what those words mean – and finding concrete descriptions of CGI’s actual activities is not that easy – but one thing about CGI is clear. The Clinton Global Initiative was the primary doorway connecting the Clintons to corporate and foreign donors interested in gaining political access to Washington. Continue Reading

A Trumpian Evolution

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If you have been following my posts you can probably discern pretty quickly that I am a fan of President-Elect Trump. If you’ve read carefully – especially the earlier posts – you will see it wasn’t always this way. It took some evolving. It wasn’t until my 26th post – Quietly Enthusiastic – that I realized I had completely come around and was fully supportive of Trump’s candidacy. I don’t agree with everything Trump puts forth – especially on some trade issues – but I am firmly in the Trump camp.

At this point some disclosure is warranted. I entered the high yield market back in 1989 – working first as an analyst and then assistant portfolio manager – at an institution that held a significant presence in the high yield market. This meant that we obtained one-on-one meetings for any deal making its way through the HY market – and Trump was reasonably active back in those days. It also meant we were generally offered the chance to meet privately with any HY issuer at the various conferences we would attend each year. While I do not know the man on a personal level, I’ve met Trump on a few occasions and have had several internal institutional meetings with him – all of them in relation to deals he had brought or was bringing into the high yield market. These meetings occurred years ago – primarily during the 90’s – and involved several other individuals from my institution as well. I found Trump to be bright yet somewhat brash, friendly and cordial yet somewhat boastful – gregarious with a noticeably large personality. In all honesty, I viewed him as almost a caricature. Continue Reading

Trump’s Independent Cabinet

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“I want them to be themselves and express their own thoughts, not mine!”

“I told them, ‘Be yourself and say what you want to say. Don’t worry about me.'”

“I’m going to do the right thing, whatever it is. I may be right, they may be right. But I said, ‘Be yourself.'”

– President-Elect Trump on his Cabinet Nominees

With these words President-Elect Trump sent his cabinet nominees off to their respective Senate Confirmation Hearings. And Trump appears to have meant what he said as there were some notably divergent views expressed from his nominees.Continue Reading

Trump’s Tweets – and Why I Like Them

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President-Elect Trump once again started his morning with a series of Tweets – and thereby started the media’s day.

As I wrote in a short WSJ comment, “Initially I was bemused and skeptical over Trump’s use of Twitter as a communication platform. As time has gone by I have changed my sentiments. He is connecting with his base daily – citizens feel – and in some ways actually are – involved with our government and its issues. And that alone is a positive thing.”

Trump’s use of Twitter initially elicited derision from most folks – the left, the press, the political pundits – and much of the right. But it also resonated with some of those who mattered the most – middle Americans – folks who felt abandoned and ignored – even betrayed – by their government. Seeing daily messages from then-Presidential candidate Trump told Americans he was speaking directly to them – that he cared about their thoughts, opinions and concerns. He cared about them.Continue Reading

Term Limits or Bust

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While watching the various Senate Confirmation Hearings I found one short phrase constantly repeating itself in my head.

Term Limits… Term Limits… Term Limits…

John Conyers, House Member from Michigan, is the longest serving current Congressman. He has held his position for…52 years. The record holder, John Dingell, retired late last year with 59 years of “service”. Fourteen current members of Congress have held their posts for 36 years or longer. The average tenure at the start of the 114th Congress was 8.8 years for House Members and 9.7 years for the Senate – but these numbers are low as they do not count years of service by members of the Senate when they were members in the House and vice versa. And 53 of our 100 Senators were House Members before they became Senators. These numbers also do not capture how many Congressmen are effectively career politicians – having risen to their Congressional Membership through positions as political aides, lobbyists or by holding other political office.

You get the point.Continue Reading

The Left and the Right – Shoulds and Coulds

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Should: used to indicate obligation, duty, or correctness, typically when criticizing someone’s actions

Could: used to indicate possibility, used in making polite requests

During this election process I’ve had numerous political discussions with people from varying backgrounds and from both political parties. And, in doing so, I’ve noticed something. When talking to folks from the Democratic side of the aisle, their discussions typically start with the word “should”. As in we “should” do something about climate change, we “should” help the poor, the rich “should” pay more, the minimum wage “should” be higher, Congress “should” do something. Noble thoughts perhaps, but often misguided and always ignoring the unbreakable Law of Unintended Consequences.Continue Reading

De-Funding the United Nations

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The United Nations (UN) was created in 1945 as a replacement for the ineffectual League of Nations. Membership was originally comprised of 51 nations – today there are 193 member nations. The UN has five primary organizational branches: the General Assembly, the Security Council, the Economic and Social Council, the Secretariat and the International Court of Justice (a sixth branch – the Trusteeship Council – has been inactive since 1994). These five branches comprise the “core” United Nations. The UN also has numerous agencies that are often autonomous or semi-autonomous. These agencies include the World Bank, the World Health Organization (WHO), the Children’s Fund (UNICEF), the World Food Program, the Education, Scientific and Cultural Foundation (UNESCO) and the International Monetary Fund (IMF).Continue Reading