Amazing how all of a sudden the NASDAQ is approaching its high and the S&P 500 has done quite well. IVW and NDAQ are ne...

Amazing how all of a sudden the NASDAQ is approaching its high and the S&P 500 has done quite well. IVW and NDAQ are nearing sell moves IMO if you bought well on the way down. I would say that both seem to have enough upside you won't hate yourself if you don't sell---I am keeping some small holdings in both. I am bullish on America in general as anyone who reads these postings knows but that is always with an eye towards the long run. I see a market that is going to bo...unce around for awhile but now having a trend line of highs that has a positive incline. In other words I am starting back to my more regular practice of selling winners and either repurchasing on the drops or re-balancing . I have always thought re-balancing your portfolio at bottoms was flawed reasoning with two major caveats: tax situations and/or those companies that may end up in Chapter 7. However, now as you sell winners it might be a good chance to do that.

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And so it begins from today's WSJ---"China signaled it will impose new national-security laws on Hong Kong, dealing a bl...

And so it begins from today's WSJ---"China signaled it will impose new national-security laws on Hong Kong, dealing a blow to the territory’s autonomy as Beijing seeks to stamp out widespread pro-democracy protests that have challenged leader Xi Jinping." What XI and the Communist Party miss is that they might as well send their entrepreneurs to the US right now as the best and brightest will see this for the choke hold it will be on any innovation they create. Some in our c...ountry may see this move as a negative for us but I see it exactly the opposite. Doing business in China is doing business with the Communist party and the rules can change at their whim. The WSJ more eloquently captured my thoughts with: "threatens to erode business confidence in the city, which has prospered as a global financial center and trading port largely because of its independent rule of law and Western style freedoms of speech and assembly." If the Uighur situation, the virus, Chinese saber rattling and now this has not revealed to the world how this country will act if they become the pre-eminent superpower I have to wonder if there is any hope for freedom.

from And so it begins from today's WSJ---"China signaled it will impose new national-security laws on Hong Kong, dealing a bl...

There is a way to trade with China that gets the results we desire while actually doing damage to the Chinese 'way'. T...

There is a way to trade with China that gets the results we desire while actually doing damage to the Chinese 'way'. Two key things must occur IMO for that to be plausible. I am pleased that we finally are hearing talk of China's accounting rules are different than ours but yet we let them have access to our capital markets by being traded on the Dow and NASDAQ. Actually Europe's rules are different too BUT here is the key difference between their situation and China--AUDI...T STANDARDS. If you think a publicly traded Chinese stock's financials are 'real' than you are living in lala land. Access to records and even key individuals can be an issue on the Mainland to the point I would argue that their reliability is if not non-existent at the very least questionable. Deny access to our capital markets and you will see Chinese entrepreneurship begin to dry up. Going public in the US markets is the most expedient way--and sometimes the ONLY way--- for a Chinese company's founders to be able to extract value for their work that is equivalent to American entrepreneurs access to wealth. Second and most importantly designate certain industries and products as "key" and tariff those products with extremely high tariffs. Then use those tariff funds to finance tax breaks and other incentives for those items to be manufactured here. The net effect will be to dry up the market for Chinese products and during the transition use Chinese funds instead of taxpayer funds to finance the change. In the long run these approaches starts to mitigate the Chinese 2025 plan to become the world's super power as the financing that the trade imbalance has provided goes away. Not to mention that without access to our technology and capital markets Chinese innovation goes back to lagging ours. Without forced technology transfers as is currently occurring they will be down to cyber theft only.

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Our friends on the left are quite happy to talk about taking advantage of a crisis. I think it would be fitting if fisc...

Our friends on the left are quite happy to talk about taking advantage of a crisis. I think it would be fitting if fiscal conservatives took advantage of this economic crisis to roll back 50 years of government expansion. If one is so inclined to prove this expansion for themselves google your 1970 state income and/or sales tax rate and compare to today's rates. The strategy of RINOs and Democrats has always been to spend a bit more on each of their favorite government pro...grams every year and then try to curry favor with contributors by giving special interest tax breaks. The net result is ever higher taxes on a smaller base of tax payers. I would be willing to bet you cannot find ONE state government whose expenditure growth when adjusted for population has not exceeded inflation. Back when I did a lot of paid research my random samples of states could not find the elusive one. In fact, the rate of growth was phenomenal even when adjusted for inflation. Constant additions of new programs and increased spending on old ones has created the huge state budgets that now face equally huge deficits. It is time to have that conversation that we have tried to have regularly with our RINO and moderate Democrat friends in order to be prepared for just this sort of economic malaise. What programs are necessary functions of government? If public art and television are necessary functions in a person's mindset there is no hope that such a legislator will be inclined to cut even one dollar of spending. Make no mistake resetting the base line of state and federal spending is necessary if the next decade is to be America's retaking of the undisputed lead as the world's economic giant and by extension the one true 'democratic' superpower. Otherwise tax and fee revenues will have to be increased to keep government afloat and at ever greater rates. I doubt if even the most ardent RINO would argue that a dollar in the private sector is not more productive than a dollar spent in government. If not now, when? Should be asked of your elected officials at every level.

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No one should be surprised by the problem with unemployment filings and payments in Kansas or Oklahoma during this pande...

No one should be surprised by the problem with unemployment filings and payments in Kansas or Oklahoma during this pandemic. Or for that matter any other state. Oklahoma's system is superior largely because Sebelius never had a hand in feeding her friends out of the unemployment funds. The scandal that was never properly reported of the inside deal on software and then a million dollar plus a month contract with 'friends' to keep the flawed software system afloat. If not f...or the interference of some of Brownback's staff it would have been fixed by now but it is fitting that it is still in place and being exposed under Sebelius 2.0. The volume of fraudulent filings is unbelievable. I have a very, very close friend who is the CFO of a state agency that is getting literally hundreds of fraudulent filings for unemployment a week. Let me be clear NONE of them are from employees but appear to be people trying to slide a claim through an overwhelmed system. There is a 'general' reason these fraudsters are trying to milk the state unemployment funds that is one of those untold stories of state government. The unemployment agency in each state is self funded and largely tied to the federal government. That is too long a story to tell here BUT they are largely ignored by legislators and reporters because of their funding source. I would bet you that NONE of your legislators have ever read the Reed Act that set them up. They should because they would be surprised what they would find in it. There is money to reduce unemployment charges to businesses in low unemployment states like Oklahoma and Kansas (although Sebelius used much of that money to feed her friends). Not to mention one would find that we have been subsidizing the high unemployment states all this time!

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I have not talked about China in quite some time but I think it has not been necessary as most have seen the China I hav...

I have not talked about China in quite some time but I think it has not been necessary as most have seen the China I have warned about. Even the trolls that used to argue that tariffs on Chinese products was an unnecessary tax on consumers have disappeared. However. we are left with a China that is now more openly militant then ever. I have finally had a chance to canvass my insiders. Here is the short version: Xi's crackdowns are getting more extreme as he tries to hol...d on to power. The Politburo will likely let him continue until they see a sign that the world has woken up. Currently Xi is getting away with his power plays because it appears to be working. However, his heavy handedness is insight into how desperate his situation is. As I have noted a number of times that losing leadership in China does not mean you retire to Martha's Vineyard like in the US. The Germans appear to now understand they are caught in a difficult place and their intelligence agencies have been pointing out that the Chinese are not only the source of the virus but unrepentant. If the Germans join the US that would drag the rest of the EU with them. Italy and France are so full of Chinese businesses that it will be more difficult for them than the Germans but the World Court may find a number of EU lawsuits if the Five Is all come to the same conclusion about the virus. African countries are about to get a lesson on Chinese loans that I don't think they will stand for. The idea that they will sign over their natural resources ala Venezeula may not turn out as they think. Per Forbes, "China needs what Africa has for long-term economic and political stability. Over a third of China's oil comes from Africa, as does 20% of the country’s cotton." Per the WaPo, "The stories that China was now a “land grabber” in Africa seemed to make sense. After all, China has 9 percent of the world’s arable land, 6 percent of its water and over 20 percent of its people." I suspect China is about to find out what other's who have tried to 'colonize' Africa to exploit their natural resources have learned. Should the EU and US pursue financial retribution the current tensions between India and China may play out well for the free world. By 2030 India will be the largest consumer market and helping India thrive may be the ultimate stop gap against the Chinese. Hold on tight this may be a very scary ride for world peace but I hope unlike the last 40 years American politicians will quit hoping that China is going to become a truly open society and democratic. It is not going to happen. China is our biggest threat even though I suggest we keep trading with them but with an eye towards JUST that only. Bring key industry home by use of tariffs and incentives and let China go back into the trinket business.

from I have not talked about China in quite some time but I think it has not been necessary as most have seen the China I hav...

I hope some listened on my advice on IVW and NDAQ and bought on the way down. Those have outperformed the Dow noticeabl...

I hope some listened on my advice on IVW and NDAQ and bought on the way down. Those have outperformed the Dow noticeably over the last couple weeks. I may take some profits on some of those shares to do some semi-bottom feeding on some of Charles Payne's Hotline picks. I would caution any stock you buy in the next few months I would be ready to take profits on anytime it rises enough that you feel good about it. The ups and downs are liable to still be tough on individua...l stocks for quite a while. The market has been feeling relatively good about things in general lately but the herd complex has been pretty obvious. On local news in Okieland I fear that Chesapeake Oil is doomed. I suspect that their better production will be bought at a fraction of real value and the HQs will be a shell when it is all over. I would not be surprised if it goes to Chapter 7---it is in 11 right now---and is auctioned off with nothing remaining but those empty buildings.

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There is a legacy this virus shutdown will leave that may be with us for a generation or more. A large number of small b...

There is a legacy this virus shutdown will leave that may be with us for a generation or more. A large number of small businesses will disappear to never re-emerge in any form. Those entrepreneurs like I had for clients who are over age 50 will have a very hard time getting back up and running. Hard to rebound fiscally with so little time in your earning life left. I do hope people realize that living like a rat colony ala NYC is not a healthy lifestyle. The dark, dank subway system is the perfect environment for a virus to live and this will not be the last one. It is refreshing to see Elon Musk delivering the news to California that he will be moving his HQ and future manufacturing to Texas or Nevada. Will more follow? Probably the most worrisome thought is will the Chinese or some other country interested in world domination work on a virus that is more lethal and unleash after they have a vaccine to protect their own population?

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I regularly blast the electric car concept for a variety of reasons but not the least of which is they make zero economi...

I regularly blast the electric car concept for a variety of reasons but not the least of which is they make zero economic or climate change sense. In particular I have not bought Tesla stock but I am fond of the genius of Elon Musk and believe him to be Steven Jobs times four. But his one failing is not allowing himself to stay in genius mode and bring on a process guy to make his genius make money. Here is another example of why he should! https://www.wsj.com/…/tesla-stock-falls-after-ceo-tweets-st…

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If you bought IVW and NDAQ on the way down you are setting in profit territory now. They never fell as far and rebound...

If you bought IVW and NDAQ on the way down you are setting in profit territory now. They never fell as far and rebounded quicker. As readers of this column know I like these to play two broad sections of the market with these two. IVW is the iShares S&P 500 Growth ETF and NDAQ is the Nasdaq market. What is appealing about these two is they trade like regular stocks allowing you to avoid mutual fund fees while still getting some diversity.

from If you bought IVW and NDAQ on the way down you are setting in profit territory now. They never fell as far and rebound...