Deficit Man

In other news, Trump's choice to be the next director of national intelligence, Rep. John Ratcliffe, has withdrawn from consideration for the position.

Meanwhile, North Korea has test-fired short-rage ballistic missiles three times in a single week and Trump very explicitly doesn't care.

Finally, at least some stock traders suspect as I do that Trump viewed the Fed's rate cut as a green light to impose more tariffs on Chinese goods.

Ed Moya, chief market strategist at Oanda Corp.

“It is providing a little bit of fuel to his fire in the timing of this escalation. I don’t think anyone is surprised that we’d see a new tariff threat but not even 24 hours after this rate decision, we saw this come out. He wants to see the Fed deliver an easing cycle not a mid-cycle adjustment. The Fed has been very clear that there are a few things would make them deliver rate cuts and a fallout of trade talks with China is going to be very damaging for economic growth and that would warrant the beginning of an easing cycle.”

Arthur Hogan, chief market strategist at National Securities Corp.

“That’s the real problem. In large part, nobody on the Fed believes tariffs are good economic policy. But they also know that becoming easier on monetary policy, they were going to embolden trade policy. They didn’t have to wait 24 hours to see the results.”

“Unfortunately, as we’ve seen with all these other tariffs, they start at 10% and they don’t stop there. And it probably doesn’t help us negotiate. This is like going from a frying pan into the fire.”

Have a good weekend, folks.