GDP numbers come out today. They’re going to be bad. How do I know?
Ah, they’re already out:
Trump flacks are already out saying that all the shrinkage happened between Jan 1 and Jan 20. I’m not kidding.
There’s no way that this turns around before June 30, and two consecutive months of negative growth is the literal definition of “recession”.
Trump bragged yesterday that egg prices have dropped 87% since January and gasoline is at an all-time low. He’s basically lowered the price of everything to 1950s levels.
He isn’t even trying to hide it anymore. He just says “down is up” and “white is black” and dares people to challenge him on it.
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Because he knows his followers are too stupid to understand the difference.
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His followers don’t see the lies, because they are scrubbed by Fox et al before the sanitized “news” is fed to them.
They see them. They still have to pay for eggs, and no amount of his lying changes the numbers on their grocery bills. They just refuse to acknowledge reality. They will show a receipt that says they paid 5.99/dozen and swear on the Bible they only paid 99 cents. It’s who they are.
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Google found this for Jan 20, 2025. Seems like his lies are easily exposed…if someone had the guts to take him on.
Market News
Wall Street closed higher on Friday driven by strong fourth-quarter earnings results and economic data. The Nasdaq Composite, the Dow and the S&P 500 ended in positive territory. However, last week ended in a positive zone.
How Did the Benchmarks Perform?
The Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJI) rose 0.8% or 334.70 points to close at 43,487.83. Within the 30-stock index, 23 components ended in positive territory, while seven ended in negative zone.
The tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite advanced 291.91 points or 1.5% to 19,630.20.
The S&P 500 gained 1%, or 59.32 points, to end at 5,996.66. Nine of the benchmark index’s 11 broad sectors closed in the green. The Technology Services Select Sector SPDR (XLK), the Consumer Discretionary Select Sector SPDR (XLY), and the Financials Sector SPDR (XLF) rose 1.6%, 1.4%, and 0.8%, respectively.
The fear-gauge CBOE Volatility Index (VIX) decreased 3.8% to 15.97. A total of 14.57 billion shares were traded on Friday, lower than the last 20-session average of 15.65 billion. The S&P 500 posted 24 new 52-week highs and no new lows. The Nasdaq Composite recorded 66 new highs and 73 new lows.
Strong Q4 Earnings Results
Independent Bank Corp. INDB reported fourth-quarter 2024 adjusted earnings of $1.21 per share, which surpassed the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $1.16. Revenues of $176.85 million beat the Zacks Consensus Estimate by 0.59%. Consequently, the stock price of Independent Bank Corp. rose 4.9%.
Schlumberger Limited SLB reported fourth-quarter 2024 adjusted earnings of $0.92 per share, beating the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $0.90. Revenues of $9.28 billion beat the Zacks Consensus Estimate by 1.17%.
Consequently, shares of Independent Bank Corp and Schlumberger Limited rose 4.9% and 6.1%, respectively. Independent Bank Corp. carries a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy).
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I think spines are stiffening in this regard, but he has long since learned his lesson not to go into a one-on-one interview that’s not with an interviewer who he knows will be friendly or who he knows he can steamroller. His cult still listen to him and no one else.
Still, the media continues to show a propensity to be willing trade its reputation and dignity in the long term for access to Trump in the short term.
There’s an excellent oped in NYT right now about how Dems are winning people who “opt in” as citizens and massively losing people who “opt out.” The latter do not tune in to traditional media. Opt-in people, like many if not most of us here on Whoopass, still rely primarily on traditional media for news and do not understand how the opt-outs consume media. Politics are downstream of culture, the writer says, and opt-outs are increasingly more likely to periodically self affiliate with republicans, who have done a much better and actually systematic job of nurturing a non-traditional media/cultural ecosystem.
Old-school Dems who yet believe in our institutions and who gripe about mainstream media behavior vis a vis Trump et al are therefore missing the point entirely.
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In the latest of an ever-growing list of defeats and reversals for Trump, Mohsen Mahdawi has been released from federal custody.
For those unfamiliar, Mahdawi is a Columbia University student and legal permanent resident who was locked up for saying something that Trump didn’t like.
A federal judge ordered his release and, boom! He was out within hours.
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Some people thing the Roe Jogan Experience is a news outlet.
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The lesson here is crystal clear and certain not to be missed - send these people to a foreign prison immediately.
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Fun Fact: The Patriots team jet - that is available for charter during the off-season - has been noted making trips to Guantánamo Bay.
Just in case you needed more reasons to hate the Patriots.
Fits with the trend of people calling themselves patriots but doing un-American things.
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I don’t remember Trump campaigning on the Willie Wonka principle of “you get nothing!”
There’s a tweet…
Growth of 1.9% that spells “deep trouble” for the economy is 2.2% better than the Q1 he just delivered.
Nobody knows more about parental discipline than Trump…nobody.
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