By Denny Gulino
THE WHITE HOUSE (MaceNews) – A snapshot in time: It’s Friday afternoon and once again, market equanimity evaporates as happens so often these days. Not a tweet this time, but a bank shot from the Montana Farm Bureau Federation.
A side trip by the China delegation of lower level officials has been canceled, is the story from Bozeman, likely the first time in a while the picturesque town of 45,000 has generated market moving news. Routine or an ominous signal? No one seemed to know.
Is it surprising the Chinese officials decided against traveling thousands of miles to visit some farms? Apparently so. Stock markets that had been sailing along on President Trump’s earlier assurances of progress with China, of what seemed like his signals he was reluctant to call in the cruise missiles for Iran, slipped into negatives.
Analysts went into high gear. Why weren’t the White House, the trade office, Larry Kudlow, Kellyanne Conway commenting? Were they waiting until after the markets closed?
Maybe because everyone in the White House was preoccupied with the splendor of an all-day State Visit, with music and a lavish State Dinner. The Australian flag can be seen hanging from lamp posts within several square blocks of the White House.
Tourists, already grumbling about the big white temporary fence blocking their view of the White House – part of the building project for a much taller, more secure fence – had even more to grumble about Friday as the Secret Service kept them off what used to be Pennsylvania Avenue and now a plaza making it harder than ever to do Instagram proud with that Executive Office background.
It was only the second State Visit of the Trump administration, so the day was even more special as the White uniformed corps of cooks took over and as Trump took two opportunities to talk to reporters.
His Oval Office chat did not produce much. China talks are going well. The U.S. Trade Representatives office had posted Federal Register notices exempting almost 500 made-in-China products from the onslaught of tariffs taking effect these last four months of the year, some of it U.S electronic gear China is believed to value highly – another goodwill gesture.
The subsequent East Room news conference of the two heads of state was full of signals as Trump grew firmer in his declaration that he didn’t want any partial, interim deal with China.
As for Iran, more evidence under the three huge crystal chandeliers of the Chief Executive’s reluctance to pull the military trigger.
“We are the strongest military in the world,” he said. “Going into Iran would be a very easy decision. … Most people thought I would go in there in two seconds (but) plenty of time, plenty of time.”
Meanwhile the Treasury Department hit Iran’s sovereign wealth fund and central banks with new sanctions.
Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison demonstrated a world-class politician’s dexterity and delivery a very long answer without actually answering the question. Does Australia support the U.S. ban on Huawei, the Chinese telecom giant?
Australia is a “partner” to China, he said and a partner with the United States. Indeed, the country’s economy is dependent on China and it buys its military gear from the U.S.. Facing 15 camera crews, Morrison went on and on about how Australia and the U.S. are such close allies. The question itself, however, remained unanswered.
The question of whether Huawei is a bargaining chip or forever off limits to the U.S. and its allies or something in between continues to be the question that haunts the subject of China, key to determining whether a full deal is even possible.
By now it’s later in the afternoon, the end of the week and yet traders, regardless of the market, are chained to their screens. Now it turns out the trip West the China delegation was only proposed less than 24 hours ago and apparently was never that firm to begin with. No matter, the spell was broken for equities, now down twice as much as earlier at the finish.
The stock markets had hardly stopped trading when The Wall Street Journal adding telling details to the story about President Trump’s Ukraine telephone calls, making them plural. He asked that country’s new leader no less than eight times to investigate the financial deals of the son of his political rival Joe Biden.
The man Ukraine officials apparently believed was a presidential emissary, Rudolph Giuliani, has already said he asked for the help of the Ukraine president with the Biden affair. The Journal said he also asked for help of Ukraine officials in meetings in Paris and Berlin, with some of the facilitated by the State Department.
It’s the kind of diplomatic chit-chat that will likely be a main side-topic at the United Nations, where Trump will address the 74th General Assembly Tuesday. Iran has ruled out any gettogether between President Rouhani and President Trump but who knows.
The main topics of the weeklong UN meeting are climate change and universal health care. Trump is not expected to attend events related to either of those subjects. The world will be watching how much, if any, progress will be made on the sidelines in what is considered a U.S. priority, assembling a coalition to support Saudi Arabia against Iran.