Ford's Recent Pullback A Hiccup

WILL I SELL MY FORD SHARES NOW THAT ITS STOCK HAS RECENTLY TUMBLED? The simple answer is no. Absolutely not. Yes, they reported less in earnings in 2017 than they expected, and yes, they lowered their guidance for 2018, which sort of signals for any investor that the stock is going to enjoy another year of basically sideways trading.

A TRADING PATTERN THAT HAS PLAGUED THIS COMPANY FOR A VERY LONG TIME.

But all of the fundamental factors remain solid for Ford, and therefore I can see no reason to be a seller of the stock. There is going to come a time when investors finally get it, and when that day comes the stock will make a tailwind comeback that will be very profitable for anyone who has taken advantage of the long term sideways trend, and even the recent short term pullback in share value.

Plus, when you consider that the company is still turning a profit, and is making very good inroads in continuing to improve its brand image, and trades at roughly just 11 times earnings, I think the shares are not necessarily cheap. But they are trading at what I think is a discount to the real value of the stock.

AND SO THAT CONTINUES TO LEAD ME TO BELIEVE THAT FORD STOCK IS STILL A BUY AT THESE LEVELS.

At the end of the day when it comes to stocks, and your decision to buy, you really need to look at the balance sheets and dig deep into the earnings reports they provide, and listen carefully to what the CEOs of these companies see as the future of the company. Everything from Ford indicates that they are very forward thinking, and I think that's a good thing. And sometimes you have to read between the lines a little bit when investors react to certain announcements.

If Apple reports 100,000 less iPhones sell than expected the stock tanks even though they may have still sold a bucket ton of iPhones. And sometimes a company reports stellar news, like IBM reporting breaking a 23-quarter streak of declining revenue only to see its shares drop by 4%.

Investors don't always get it. Not the insider ones at least. But if you know what your stock's real value is, it matters little in the short term how investors react to its performance. You just have to plug along on Main Street and keep adding shares until the day comes—and it usually does eventually—that Wall Street catches up to the reality.

Ford stock will be no different. Besides, until we are otherwise told, it still also yields a hefty 6% dividend while you wait.

Democrats Have Me Pissed!

IT JUST GETS A BIT OLD AND TIRED. Three northeastern democrat states have decided to get together to file a lawsuit over what they say is an unfair tax overhaul that could cost their taxpayers billions of dollars. The real truth is that the only reason these states will have a negative impact unlike other states is directly due to democrat lead economic and tax policy in their states. In a nutshell, what the truth is, is that democrat leaders in these high tax states essentially took advantage of the former tax code and used it to rape their taxpayers out of billions upon billions of dollars essentially because the old tax laws technically subsidized those taxes at the federal level—at the expense of everybody else in the Union.

Once again the democrats are making every last effort to put the blame in someone else's corner. The republican party. But anyone paying attention knows all too well where any blame should rightly lie. On the democrat party.

For years many state governments, mostly lead by republicans, have been working diligently to overhaul their own state tax laws to right their own economies, and encourage economic growth on their own despite stagnant growth and tax burdens on their taxpayers that were a direct result of failed economic policy during the Obama administration. And many of them succeeded. On the other side of the aisle, the democrats held course and raised taxes, burdened corporations with ridiculous regulations, and allowed the exodus of jobs while relying on the federal government to essentially bail them out of messes they created by design.

The gravy train these democrat states enjoyed has now derailed and they're mad as hell about it.

But what gets under my skin more than the lawsuit is simply that once again democrats are engaged in doing everything BUT the work of the American people, and it is time they are held accountable for that. It is this constant defiance of the Trump presidency and everything he is working to fix, which is CLEARLY WORKING that just rubs me in so many wrong ways it almost makes me want to pound my fist.

But I am a conservative. I am more level headed than that. I know this is what the democrats do, and I know it will never change. But I do want to see this country get back on track again. I want this country and its leaders to be able to see what is clearly different about the direction of the economy, to go back to the history books and see what is possible with lower taxes that happened under both John F. Kennedy and Ronald Reagan, and to acknowledge that what we are doing now in terms of deregulation and tax reform can only strengthen the economy, and is the only way we really give back to the taxpayers.

All this sort of thing does is distract from the real work that needs to be done. And it is another clear example of a completely divided two party system that simply is NOT working for the American people's interests anymore.

I still believe in my heart that there is a reason why Donald Trump won in the first place. Because he is not Washington. He is not a politician. He is actually extremely smart and he knows what works when it comes to money. He knows how money changes hands best, and he knows who benefits when the wheels of the economy are well oiled and turning smoothly. And therefore he knows as well what holds that all back—and he is fighting tooth and nail to make sure it works!

I believe the vast majority of the American people know this as well. What's more, even if they do not fully grasp it at this very moment, as jobs flourish, as manufacturing comes back, and as they see more opportunity for their own prosperity, and have a sense that their own lives are indeed prospering, all of the antics of the left will simply fall on deaf ears.

That is my silver lining. But damn am I frustrated. How is it possible these kooks on the left cannot see the obvious? The truth is they can see it. They do know it works. They are hopeful their lie is made into truth in the eyes of the rest of us—

Because that is the very source of their power. 

They will lose the lawsuit if it even gets seen by the courts. And history will prove once again that booming economies come from conservative economic and tax policy, and higher taxes hurt everyone—and even when the tax law changes in the high tax states, the effect of those high taxes hurts even more.

What the democrats should be focused on instead of suing someone is going back to their own tax policies and trying to figure out how to put working policy into their own tax codes. Honestly, I'd probably fall over if they actually did the work.

Timing For Amazon Prime Rate Increases Suspect

I AM NOT CHASTISING JEFF BEZOS OF AMAZON FOR RECENTLY ANNOUNCING HE WILL RAISE MONTHLY AMAZON PRIME RATES—ALTHOUGH HE WILL KEEP THE ANNUAL AMOUNT AT $99—but I do think that the timing of making such a decision may be a bit...well, off. The thing is not just that Amazon is nearly a trillion dollar market cap company, nor that Jeff Bezos recently took the lead in becoming not only the richest man in the world, but the richest man in history.

For me the decision is simply a bit confusing considering that at the same time we have the Trump tax cuts which will no doubt provide a significant boost to Amazon's bottom line, if you look at all of the numbers for the company...

AMAZON IS NOT EXACTLY HURTING FOR MONEY.

Amazon will be raising both its monthly prime rates from $10.99 to $12.99 and student prime rates from $5.49 to $6.49. That's an 18% increase for anyone who wanted to know, which I also think is quite a substantial increase.

Back in 2014 Amazon did also significantly increase its annual prime membership from $79 to $99 a year.

While Amazon cannot be denied anything at all for its benefit to American workers seeking jobs, and ones mind you that don't pay all that poorly either, and they also recently announced they have narrowed down their options for a second headquarters which will provide upwards of 50,000 new jobs, they also have not announced any worker bonuses after the tax cuts became law, nor have they mentioned increasing anyone's wages.

It should be mentioned that Jeff Bezos is also unusually non-philanthropic when compared to other billionaires on a percentage basis. Although he did recently announce offering $33 million to Dreamers for college—a bit of a controversial move no doubt.

But it begs a question for me when you put both that donation for the Dreamers into view along with his decision to raise prime rates and not offer bonuses or wage increases.

IS THIS JEFF BEZOS' WAY OF STICKING IT BACK TO PRESIDENT TRUMP?

Because we all know that there is a bit of a rivalry between the two, and we all know that invariably there is no love from Jeff Bezos for Donald Trump.

Or is this just another example of the real greed so many supposed "right wing rich" get accused of—but on the left, not the right, which by the way is usually how it actually goes. The greediest rich are often on the left, folks. And the rich on the left also tend to be far less philanthropic than the rich on the right.

SO BEZOS FITS PERFECTLY WITHIN THAT COMMON FRAMEWORK.

At the end of the day I do not think it is a big deal, nor do I think that current or new monthly prime members will think it is either. I own shares in Amazon and I have no intention of letting go of them any time soon. As a shareholder price increases are typically welcome since they help to boost bottom lines, and that of course helps to boost share value.

I only point out that I think the decision is a bit strange in its timing, and am very curious to know what the real basis for the decision was in the boardroom . We will never truly know of course. All we can do is speculate, and watch what happens next. Probably nothing. But it is interesting nonetheless. 

The News Will Claim American Express As An Example of Trump Failure

THE MEDIA HAS BEEN NEARLY ALL BUT SILENT IN REPORTING THOSE MULTITUDES OF COMPANIES WHO HAVE REPORTED EMPLOYEE BONUSES AND WAGE INCREASES DUE TO THE TRUMP TAX CUTS. But you can bet there is one story that will make their news all day, and probably for a week or more, and that's American Express announcing that due to a $2.6 billion increased charge in taxes due to the Trump tax cuts, they will be suspending their share buyback program.

I say this even though in the eyes of liberals those share buybacks are just for the greedy shareholders anyway—that's not why they'll hit this one full force.

It's a negative story in their eyes, and they'll want to point this out as the leading example that they are right and the GOP is wrong that the tax cuts will benefit anyone. Even though STILL American Express has also said that they feel the tax cuts are a benefit in the long term, good for the company, and good for America.

The news media will assuredly leave that part out, or not highlight it nearly as much. It's what they always do.

Just another reason to make sure that when you are following any news source, it is not the only news source. And you also have to make sure to cut through the smoke to get to the real truth of the matter. Why is American Express incurring the extra charges? In a nutshell it is related to how they were dealing with accounting under the old tax laws—and as a result their capital ratios changed.

What else will not be reported? Invariably and assuredly the fact that they will also be making incremental contributions to their employee profit sharing plans to adjust for the differences. In other words...

American Express is eating the expense and NOT putting the burden on the backs of the people who work for them.

There is really nothing at all negative about this story at all. No one is getting hurt. Not really. But I bet you the news will not tell you that. I'd be willing to wager a bet in fact. Just watch, wait, and see. It'll be all they can talk about and point to when they get their panels gathered to talk about the evil corporations and the "Armageddon" Nancy Pelosi warned us about.

Trump Is NOT An Idiot!

IN NO WAY IS MY INTENT TO BE COMBATIVE HERE, FOLKS. But as I troll around the Internet in the usual places like Twitter and Facebook, there is just the annoying assertion by a good number of people, and on both sides of the aisle (with the bulk of it of course pouring in mostly from the left and the lamestream media) that somehow President Donald J. Trump is an idiot.

This, folks, cannot be farther from the truth.

Look, I have said multiple times that I do wish our president would tone down his Twitter antics a bit. But I have also said that the person Donald Trump is today is the same Donald Trump he was before he became President of the United States.

The thing here that needs to be pointed out, that gets sorely missed by many making this assertion, are the multitude of accomplishments this president has achieved and to point out that what he has done in his first year in office is actually rather historical. If you think it's just the economy he has done well with, you're just not paying close enough attention to what's actually happening in our government, and with this current administration.

He's an idiot? He's not a leader? Really? What planet are you living on?

Now, don't get mad at me for being so blunt here. Just read on and hear me out. Because I think it is important for you to be more than aware of why I think that President Trump is not only not an idiot, but is also a strong leader. Because the truth is that there is more than enough that is positive that's happening in the White House, and unless you are tuned into Fox News, you aren't going to hear the half of it.

• Border crossings are down 70% since Donald Trump took office.
  
• MS-13 gangs are under heavy fire from the Justice Department.
• Deportations of illegal aliens is on the rice, and law enforcement officials in ICE and Border Patrol have been strengthened.

Even if we don't have good immigration reform right now, the fact is that more is being done than has been done in many, many years and across many past administrations to simply enforce existing laws on the books. This should make throngs of American citizens, including legal immigrants, very happy. This means less crime, less drugs entering the country, less burden on the American taxpayer for welfare and other benefits some illegals receive, and more jobs available for legal citizens across the country.

• ISIS has been seriously depleted in their numbers.
• Citizens of Iran are making an uprising in their country with the full support of the administration, and sanctions are WORKING.
• North Korea is quieting down at least a LITTLE BIT, and have even reached out to South Korea in a way they have not before. I think Kim Jong Un is getting the message it might be better not to mess with the U.S. Something they would not have considered in the past administration.

The truth is we have actually seen some stability forming in the Middle East. When you reduce the power of ISIS and build coalitions with other Middle Eastern countries like Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Jordan, and Israel, it puts more pressure on the bad actors in that region to reconsider what they are doing, and it also empowers the people to push back harder against bad regimes and terrorist groups who make want only to maintain unrest and make the average citizen's lives miserable.

I am not going to say that North Korea having a small part in the Olympics is any sign that Rocket Man still does not have a strong desire to lob missiles and strut his "might" wherever he can. But it is a start. It is also something I am not certain we would have seen had Hillary Clinton won the election.

Now you might have noticed I have said nothing at all so far about the economy. Why? Because it is the obvious accomplishment—even if even that is seriously under reported by the lamestream media. But clearly you have historic lows in both Hispanic and black unemployment, more and more jobs being created, repatriation of overseas money, bonuses and wage increases, and of course an exploding stock market.

And everything I have mentioned herein is just a small slice of what he's accomplished. The bottom line is that if you think that Trump is an idiot or not a leader, you may want to consider your own intelligence and perhaps schedule a psychiatric exam rather quickly. Your mental health may be in jeopardy.