Better Than Expected

Posted on July 27, 2019 by Jim Carlton

Independent Investment Management designed to protect and grow your wealth.

Friends

Despite a slight earnings miss by Amazon, there were many
other good earnings releases, not the least of which was Alphabet’s, which
helped push market averages to new all-time highs. Today’s GDP number, which
showed 2.1% growth in the 2^nd quarter, was actually a little better
than expected, but not so hot as to deter the Fed from cutting rates next week.
That expectation of a rate cut along with a reasonably good earnings season is
fueling the market advance.

For the day, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 51
points to close at 27,192. The S&P 500 was up 22 points to finish the day
at 3,025. Gold was up $2 to trade at $1,417 per ounce, while oil was up $.18 to
trade at $56.20 per barrel WTI.

It was a very busy week for corporate earnings, and with
nearly half of the S&P having reported, EPS growth is actually showing a
positive number, which is definitely better than expected. The earnings deluge
will continue next week, and of course, we will have the FOMC meeting on
Tuesday and Wednesday. With today’s market action, it appears that market
participants are getting more comfortable with the corporate earnings picture,
and most certainly are expecting an interest rate cut next week. It should be
another fun week ahead. We’ll keep an eye on it all for you.

Have a great weekend everyone.

Jim

10200 Grogan’s Mill Road, Suite 340
The Woodlands, TX 77380
(281) 298-2700 Phone
(877) 824-4299 Toll Free
(281) 298-2760 Fax

[email protected] www.chjwealthmanagement.com

Investment Advisory offered through Carlton, Hofferkamp & Jenks Wealth Management, LLC (“CHJ”).

*Numbers and figures sourced from the following: Bloomberg.com, CNBC.com and Finance.Yahoo.com.
The opinions voiced in this material are for general information only and are not intended to provide specific advice or recommendations for any individual. To determine which investment(s) may be appropriate for you, consult your financial advisor prior to investing. All performance referenced is historical and is no guarantee of future results. All indices are unmanaged and cannot be invested into directly.

CHJ Wealth Management,
10200 Grogan’s Mill Road,
Suite 340
The Woodlands, TX 77380

Rumors of His Death……….

Posted on July 23, 2019July 23, 2019 by thependulumswings staff

Way back in 1876 Samuel Clemens, under the pen name of Mark Twain, penned the American classic novel The Adventures of Tom Sawyer. Tom was an irascible one, just ask his Aunt Polly whom he lived with. One day for his misdeed(s) she punished him making him whitewash(paint) her picket fence. Tom convinced his friends to do it for him selling it as a privilege to do such work and admire it as an accomplishment. And paint it they did. It’s an amazing accomplishment unto itself, even if it is fiction.

If you jump to 2019 in the adventures of Donald Trump, himself a bit irascible, it looks like he too has passed out the paint brushes. It looks like the President has convinced his “friends” on The Squad ( Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York, Ilhan Omar of Minnesota, Ayanna Pressley of Massachusetts and Rashida Tlaib of Michigan) to do his work for him as well. The Squad has repeatedly attempted to paint Trump as a racist among other non flattering accusations. Meanwhile the media cannot get enough of the four congresswoman giving the feud much air time. He has portrayed them on the canvas as the new faces of the ever further leaning left Democratic Party. Green New Deal, free healthcare, free tuition, and a free for all are promised. He purposely helps them get even more oxygen. Aunt Polly, aka Nancy Pelosi, is beside herself. She can’t decide if she wants to punish Trump, or her freshman legislators, or both.

Meanwhile the 2020 cattle call of 23 Democratic hopefuls to gain the nomination has far too little oxygen in the room. Each candidate is trying to find their way. In the crowded herd one has tried to go further left than the next. Free this and free that is promised for all but the wealthy. For the wealthy pay for this and pay for that is promised. Heck, Cory Booker piled on over the weekend and told America that Trump was even worse than a racist. “The reality is, this is a guy who is worse than a racist,” the Democratic presidential contender from New Jersey told Dana Bash on CNN’s “State of the Union.” “He is actually using racist tropes and racial language for political gains, trying to use this as a weapon to divide our nation against itself. We aren’t sure what that is called. Is that a racist’s racist? Booker took a harder left turn than The Squad.

Trump has made the race (at least for now) a binary decision. Vote for me, or vote for the new Democratic Party, the face of which is The Squad. He has plenty of paint brushes to go around. And, he has plenty of Democrats and media folks lining up on the drop cloths.

Is there one person left in America who hasn’t come to their own conclusion as to whether Trump is a racist (whatever definition of racist one may have) or is not? And, isn’t this the theme every four years? Reagan, Bush, Dole, Bush, McCain, Romney, and Trump have all been painted with the same whitewash. Isn’t it time to let the paint dry and move on to another chore? Infrastructure, medical care reform, drug costs, and immigration come to mind.

Tom Sawyer went missing in another stunt that Aunt Polly didn’t approve. Eventually town members had a funeral, for he was presumed dead. Tom got wind of this and decided to show up at his own funeral. “Rumors of his death,” he said, “were greatly exaggerated.”

Try as the Democrats might, rumors of Trump’s political career being dead are greatly exaggerated as well.

And, he gave out plenty of paint brushes to eager “friends” as proof.

Big Earnings Week

Posted on July 22, 2019 by Jim Carlton

Independent Investment Management designed to protect and grow your wealth.

Friends

Buckle up. This is a big week for corporate earnings as
we’ll hear from Amazon, Alphabet (Google), Facebook, Travelers, Caterpillar,
Lockheed Martin, Kimberly Clark, Harley Davidson, United Technologies, Coca
Cola, AT&T, Boeing, Ford, 3M, Intel, McDonald’s, and Colgate-Palmolive-
just to mention a few. Then we’ll have another big week for earnings next week
while at the same time an FOMC meeting is happening. So, by the end of the
month, we’ll have a good read on corporate America and we’ll know whether the
Fed has begun to lower interest rates again. It should be a very interesting
couple of weeks.

Other than some strength in the Nasdaq, stocks were mostly
quiet today, perhaps in anticipation of a lot of fireworks coming the next two
weeks. For the day, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 17 points to close
at 27,171. The S&P 500 was up 8 points to finish the day at 2,985. Gold was
up $1 to trade at $1,427 per ounce, while oil was up $.46 to trade at $56.09
per barrel WTI.

So far it’s been a difficult earnings season to figure out.
Expectations were lowered coming into this earnings season, but stock prices
were sitting at all-time highs. This somewhat confusing set up has led to
market participants wondering just how stocks will react to the releases, and
so far the reactions have been mixed and somewhat muted. Let’s see if anything
breaks loose over the next couple of weeks. Stay tuned, we’ll keep you apprised
of the developments.

Have a nice evening everyone.

Jim

10200 Grogan’s Mill Road, Suite 340
The Woodlands, TX 77380
(281) 298-2700 Phone
(877) 824-4299 Toll Free
(281) 298-2760 Fax

[email protected] www.chjwealthmanagement.com

Investment Advisory offered through Carlton, Hofferkamp & Jenks Wealth Management, LLC (“CHJ”).

CHJ Wealth Management,
10200 Grogan’s Mill Road,
Suite 340
The Woodlands, TX 77380

Diversity, Inclusion, and Equity

Posted on July 17, 2019July 17, 2019 by thependulumswings staff

The Wall Street Journal reached out yesterday. They asked us to comment on rumors that boomboomsroom.com, aka BBR, was contemplating going public. We directly squashed the rumor. We have no plans to IPO now nor in the future.

Our rationale is simple. We want our sole focus on delivering the best content day in and day out. To do so we need to hire the best people to do their best at the job that they are qualified to do. Our deep and talented staff shakes it’s collective head at the daily outcry for diversity, equity, and inclusion in the workplace. Don’t misread our position. We are all for all people, regardless of race, sexual orientation, gender, gender identity, religion, or whatever group we forgot, to succeed in the business workplace. We just think that the best/most qualified should be the final determination.

When did hiring the best and most qualified go out of style? It’s when political correctness became the style. It’s when capitalism was first assaulted by socialism.

Take Uber. The newly public company released on Monday its latest diversity report, which included a breakdown of its US workforce by race or ethnicity and gender. White men still make up most of its staff (30.1%), a pattern that is even more evident in leadership, tech, and leadership in tech roles. Black women make up 5.3% of its overall workforce in the US, black men 4%, Hispanic women 3.7% and Hispanic men 4.6%.

Diversity is defined as each person is unique. And, each person may have a different point of view that should be considered. It certainly can be due to different upbringing, background, education, race, ethnicity, etc. But, it’s about each individual.

For the first time, Uber is setting some diversity and inclusion goals for 2022 that will be tied to the compensation of several of its senior executives — CEO Dara Khosrowshahi, chief financial officer Nelson Chai, chief legal officer Tony West, and chief people officer Nikki Krishnamurthy. Chief People Officer! What the hell?

Want to guess what percent of the US 2018 census best estimate of the American population is white and male? It’s 37%. Should they focus on hiring more white men? It would be equitable, but not politically correct.

“While these numbers are an improvement, they are not where they need to be,” wrote Megan Rose Dickey of the Tech Crunch website. Project Include’s Ellen Pao has previously said the numbers need to be at 13% black and 17% Latino in order to reflect the demographics of the U.S. population. So, employee demographics need to match our population. If everyone is employed (nearly the case right now) don’t they in the macro?

So, how do you get there? Ah. What isn’t being said is that nearly 33% of the Uber employees are of Asian decent. So, is that good or bad? Aren’t Asians a minority too? Of course they are. Every race is except white. But apparently there are too many of them working at Uber for Megan and Ellen. How else can you say it? If you need to have more blacks and Latinos you must need less Asians. Isn’t that racist? Isn’t that prejudiced?

NBA Commissioner Adam Silver said in May that his league had done a poor job hiring females as referees. Currently there are three female officials in the NBA, and he wants that number to rise. “The goal is going forward, it should be roughly 50-50 of new officials entering in the league,” he said. “Same for coaches, by the way. We have a program, too. There’s no reason why women shouldn’t be coaching men’s basketball.” Sounds politically correct. Except, maybe they don’t want to referee in the NBA?

Someone should ask Adam how many female refs applied for the job in the last twelve months. If it was way more than the three that they have whose fault is it that they only have three? It’s the NBA’s. If the number that applied is way less than men, how do you fix that? Should you even try to fix that?

And, most of all, someone should ask Adam why there is such an imbalance in the league’s players. According to racial equality activist Richard Lapchick, the NBA in 2015 (the most recent info we could find) was composed of 74.4 percent black players, 23.3 percent white players, 1.8 percent Latino players of any race, and 0.2 percent Asian players. If I were an Asian Uber employee I might declare my eligibility for the 2020 NBA draft.

Diverse? Sure. Inclusive? Yes. Equitable? No. The most qualified? For sure. Ah, now we are getting somewhere.

No Consensus on the Census

Posted on July 12, 2019July 12, 2019 by thependulumswings staff

So, in today’s America, we cannot come to a consensus on the census. Why not? President Trump and his Attorney General are at odds with Congressional Democrats and a few Obama appointed judges over the right to ask a basic question on the 2020 census. The question is “are you a US citizen?”

That leads to another very basic question, “why?” Why would those opposed to the question of citizenship on the census be opposed to it? And, that leads to yet another question, “why was it taken off of the census questionnaire to begin with?”

The answer to why the opposition to the question itself seems rooted deep in the Democratic Party strategy doctrine. They would prefer the word “residents” these days over citizens. It sounds so much more inclusive you know. Remember “illegal aliens” morphed to “illegal immigrants.” Then it softened to “migrants.” Soon migrants became “undocumented.” There are even “dreamers.” Doesn’t “dreamer” sound so much better than “illegal?” How can you be opposed to dreaming? Join our party.

Way back in 1974 a lower court’s ruling on Roe v. Wade was upheld by the United States Supreme Court. The result made a woman’s right to have an abortion legal. A woman’s right to have an abortion morphed into a woman’s “right to choose.” Choose what? You know. So, it was still too descriptive. So, it is now referred to by the left as “woman’s healthcare.” It’s headed to “woman’s wellness.” Doesn’t “wellness” sound so much better than “abortion?” How can you be opposed to wellness? Join our party.

If you count “residents” isn’t the next step to count them in on all things that “citizens” rights provide. Free healthcare was just approved in California for illegals aged 19-25. Why stop there? You can start by redrawing the congressional districts around residents. And, when you do the party that panders to the illegal immigrants in every which way gains more votes. More votes means gaining and holding power. Why do you need an ID to vote anyway? Come one, come all. The party that panders dreams about the dreamers putting them in power permanently. And, make no mistake about it, the Democratic party has a vision and a strategic plan and does a great job marketing itself to achieve it.

So, why and when was it taken off of the census to begin with? It was taken off by the Obama Administration after the 2010 census. When you count citizens you also count non citizens don’t you know? It’s better if your opponents do not know the size of the opportunity (if you are from the left) or the problem (if you are from the right). The question has been on every census, taken once a decade, for over 160 years. When it was removed the hope was that it would never be placed back on it.

At a minimum it takes a fight to get it back on. And who looks bad in the fight in the eyes of the press? It’s the folks that call illegals illegal. It isn’t the former president and his agenda. He was trying to be inclusive. So the narrative has shifted. The press writes and talks about “why does the president want this on?” The press doesn’t or didn’t ever question why the former president took it off. So the right siders have to play defense.

President Trump comments often about how important it is to finish building the wall that previous administrations started. It might seem easy now compared to building a consensus around the census. Of course if you had the wall you would need no census consensus.

Border Fireworks Make For Good TV

Posted on July 3, 2019July 3, 2019 by thependulumswings staff

Happy Fourth of July! Happy Independence Day!

Independence? What exactly is that? Merriam Webster defines it as “the state of independent.” Independent is defined as “not requiring or relying on others (as for care or livelihood).” It’s also defined as “showing a desire for freedom.”

Two hundred and forty three years ago tomorrow America declared it’s desire for freedom. And two hundred and forty three years later we have a crisis at several entry points into our fifty United States on our southern border. It seems that the desire for freedom from those in other countries has outstripped the supply of well meaning people (border control, government workers,and volunteers) to manage the situation. Managing it is very tricky of course. There is the attempt to stop illegal entry, and the attempt to process those caught, and the process of housing them while they are being processed.

Apparently this crisis wasn’t a crisis though when President Trump called it just that as 2018 turned to 2019. Back then the press and Democrats in positions of congressional leadership said that there is no such thing. Well, well, well. A funny thing happened from then until now. It’s a democratic process unto itself, and a way every four years that we take advantage of our rights that the very freedom provides. It’s the election process.

And, with that process comes the opportunity to express opinions and outrage over problems and opportunities the nation over. So, the non crisis is now a crisis. Ask any Democrat running for office. Each in the last week or so has expressed disbelief and outrage over the governments failure to adequately house the immigrants and care for the children caught in the fray. One even shrieked that the compound had run out of toothpaste. Oh yea, and it’s better to call them “undocumented” than illegal, too.

We’ll start investigations into it as soon as next week. Congress is very good at that. They investigate, castigate, and threaten to jail wrong doers. They remind those drug in to testify that they are under oath. The truth must be told!

The problem is that the truth was told and it has been told over and over. Those crossing are doing so illegally. They have swamped the border and have been for many months now. But, now, elections are near. TV time is expensive.

But, but, but. What if a candidate can get a hungry and gullible press member or 50 of them to follow their every step? They can walk right up to the fences (cages as the outraged has called them) and lament about how bad a job America is doing. Those “cages” were built several years ago under the Obama administration for all of the right reasons. It was one part of an attempt to control an out of control border situation. Then President Obama spoke into TV cameras and said, “don’t come here and don’t send your children here alone.” He continued,” If you do, you’ll be sent back.” It made sense then. It makes sense now.

Record numbers are attempting to get into the country that the party out of the White House tells you how many wrongs exist in it.

You might spend time in a “cage” and you might have forgotten your toothpaste. But, it must not be such a bad place after all. People are climbing over walls in record numbers to get here. Just don’t turn on your TV till after November 2020. It seems that a few folks have a different opinion. It’s another freedom. Freedom of speech.

Enjoy the baseball and the fireworks. And, please pass the hot dogs and apple pie this way.

Record Highs On Early Trading/Early Close Tomorrow

Posted on July 2, 2019 by Jim Carlton

Independent Investment Management designed to protect and grow your wealth.

Friends

As expected, it was a very quiet day of trading. Stocks were
able to squeak out a small gain by the close, but volume was light and
volatility was muted. We do have the ADP private payroll jobs number tomorrow, and
the non-farm payroll number on Friday, so that might add a little spice to the
situation before the end of the week.

For the day, the Dow Jones Industrial was up 69 points to
close at 26,786. The S&P 500 was up 8 points to finish the day at 2,973. Gold
was up $27 to trade at $1,416 per ounce, while oil was down $2.72 to trade at
$56.37 per barrel WTI.

With 4^th of July on Thursday, the markets close
early tomorrow at 12:00 noon our time- so we will be closing the office early. We’ll
let you know if anything happens during the shortened trading session tomorrow
before heading out for the day.

Have a nice evening everyone.

Jim

10200 Grogan’s Mill Road, Suite 340
The Woodlands, TX 77380
(281) 298-2700 Phone
(877) 824-4299 Toll Free
(281) 298-2760 Fax

[email protected] www.chjwealthmanagement.com

Investment Advisory offered through Carlton, Hofferkamp & Jenks Wealth Management, LLC (“CHJ”).

CHJ Wealth Management,
10200 Grogan’s Mill Road,
Suite 340
The Woodlands, TX 77380

I’ll Scratch Your Back

Posted on July 2, 2019 by thependulumswings staff

Did you get paid yesterday? It’s very likely that you did. It was the end of the month. You always and only get paid for what you have earned. Paychecks are remuneration for the past. Joe Biden likely got paid as well, and twice if he takes Social Security. His checks come from the US Government. They are a federal government pension plan check and Social Security check. He earned them over his many years of civil service to our country based on how the system is set up.

But, he is learning rapidly, recently, that there isn’t too much civil about our country today. And, he is learning rapidly that past performance doesn’t guarantee future results. You have to earn it. And, he is learning that how the system works today has little to do with how it was set up “back in the day.”

Back in the day Ronald Reagan invited Speaker of the House Tip O’Neill, an old curmudgeon, old school Democrat from Bahhhstan, down the hill for an occasional tip o’ the cup of the whiskey of his choice. Together they would iron out their differences (compromise) as the ice was melting and get to a position where both felt good bringing back a deal to their respective parties. And, both thought that America had won.

Even as recently as 2011, President Obama was caught on a hot mic as leaned over and told Russian Dmitry Medvedev to give him time to get reelected and he could work out a deal with them. Medvedev promised to relay the info to Putin. You can see it here.

So, maybe it surprised Sleepy Joe when Kamala Harris took him to the woodshed last week on the nationally televised debate over his “working relationship” with known segregationists in Congress a couple of decades back. It shouldn’t have. He already told us that he got that past behaviors don’t translate to today’s world or political climate. “I get it, I get it,” he said. You can see him explain that over and over here.

We even had the left leaning media over the weekend tell us how bad, or reckless, or unprepared President Trump was in reaching out to Kim Jung Un unexpectedly while he was in Japan for an impromptu stroll on the communist land of North Korea.

You remember “hold your friends close and your enemies closer,” don’t you? Apparently, embraces of any sort with friend or foe are now old school.

The new school seems to be that there is only one way. And, when a party with power decides on a path it expects all to toe the line, no exceptions, no negotiations. So, we wonder, is Joe Biden someone who can operate in the new world order?

And, most of all, does he want to earn his way? His demeanor daily and debate disaster last week scream otherwise.

In fact, wasn’t his time to strike when he was VP to the two term, popular President Barrack Obama? History shows that VP’s run immediately after whom they serve under can run no longer. Biden deferred to Hillary Clinton for some reason. Maybe he was tired even back then. As many commercials remind us, the aging process waits for no one. Four years later, Joe is four years older.

Obama came from left field to win, then win again. Trump came from right field to win, and might win again. Biden looks and sounds more like McCain, Romney, Hillary, and Jeb Bush than his fellow Democratic nominee hopefuls. It’s way too early to predict, but the country is in a very different place.

And, there is no back to scratch nor whiskey to pour anymore.

Get some rest Joe.

Stocks Top Off A Great First Half

Posted on June 29, 2019 by Jim Carlton

Independent Investment Management designed to protect and grow your wealth.

Friends

The bulls were content to sit on their gains as the quarter
came to a close today. Market participants will be keeping an eye on
developments coming out of the G20 meetings over the weekend, but as we look into
the second half of the year (can you believe that?), the bulls have some
headwinds to navigate, not the least of which could be a developing earnings
recession.

As for today, by the close the Dow Jones Industrial Average
was up 72 points to finish the day at 26,599. The S&P 500 was up 16 points
to close at 2,941. Gold was up $1 to trade at $1,413 per ounce, while oil was
down $1.44 to trade at $57.99 per barrel WTI.

It was a very good first half of the year for the bulls. As
mentioned, many challenges lie ahead as we enter the second half of the year.
We’ll know what transpired on the China trade front when we fire things up on
Monday, and then we’ll begin to look ahead to the upcoming corporate earnings
season. Trade, corporate earnings, a jobs report and inflation numbers will all
be considered when the FOMC meets in late July. Expectations are that the Fed
will cut rates at that meeting, but that remains to be seen. Let’s first enjoy
the gains from the first half of the year.

Have a great weekend everyone.

Jim

10200 Grogan’s Mill Road, Suite 340
The Woodlands, TX 77380
(281) 298-2700 Phone
(877) 824-4299 Toll Free
(281) 298-2760 Fax

[email protected] www.chjwealthmanagement.com

Investment Advisory offered through Carlton, Hofferkamp & Jenks Wealth Management, LLC (“CHJ”).

CHJ Wealth Management,
10200 Grogan’s Mill Road,
Suite 340
The Woodlands, TX 77380

Ten Piece Nuggets-Debating the Debate

Posted on June 28, 2019June 28, 2019 by thependulumswings staff

Round two of two of the first Democratic Presidential Debates went round and around last evening. Below are ten nuggets for you consumption that cover thoughts on both days with an emphasis on last evening. Some nuggets are heavy. Some are light. All are spiced just right.

For better or worse, the Democratic Party’s center is now further left than ever. When the ten hopefuls were asked last evening to raise their hands if their healthcare plans included free medical care for “undocumented” immigrants, ten of ten hands were raised. Joe Biden looked to his left and right and then figured it was a good idea to follow the crowd.
Sleepy Joe took shots across the bow from Sanders, Stalwell, and Harris. Three times he was given thirty seconds by one of the five MSNBC moderators to retort. In none of the three did old Joe seem prepared. Twice he stopped in mid sentence and said, ” I see that my time is up.” One wonders, after last evening, if indeed Joe’s time is up.
Right after the debates when the candidates and their “spin handlers” look for microphones to continue driving home what they stand for, Biden spent time talking to a few supporters from the crowd. When he finally did answer two questions from an unidentified reporter he was somewhat awkwardly pulled away by his wife. He said something half audible as he left the mic that sounded like, “that’s my wife and I need to go.” Agreed.
This morning’s New York Post front page has a picture of the ten hands being raised by the candidates answering the medical question above. The bolded font headline rephrased the question as “Who Wants to Lose the Election?” Did we mention that the party’s center has shifted left?
Kamala Harris’ shot at Biden stemmed from his resistance decades ago to support school busing to eliminate segregation. She dramatically used her upbringing in the moment explaining that as a second grader she was in the first generation of that very heated time in America, and what it meant to her. Clearly she had prepped very well for the moment and delivered her consternation at him flawlessly. She was kind enough to say that she didn’t believe he was a racist all the while pummeling his legislative past. Biden looked like he needed smelling salts and a standing eight count from the moderators.
Winning in debates can mean a lot of things to a lot of candidates. For example, former HUD Secretary Julian Castro, an evening prior, went from “who?” to “that one impressed me, let me hear more.” On to round two he goes. Ditto for Tulsi Gabbard. On to round two she goes. For entrepreneur Andrew Yang, it meant advancing his thought of offering $1,000 to each family each month for a cool cost of $3.2 trillion dollars. He did this while wearing no tie to the proceedings, and speaking for a grand total of three minutes of the 120 minute debate. A man of few words, afterwards he had no comment on where Yin was. In to the round file he goes.
But, the clear winner in BBR’s eyes and ears over the last two nights was Senator Kamala Harris. She commanded the stage with two men to her right (Bernie and Joe) that had way more experience on a stage as big as this. Her command of the spoken word is darn good, with pauses and inflection interspersed at the right time and in proper doses. In short, she looks capable of being in it for the long run.
Mayor Pete Buttigieg certainly held his own. When he speaks he brings logic and sincerity along for the taking. His answer to the police shooting mess (regardless of how you see the matter) his South Bend town is in was well crafted given the low ceiling. It’s a really crowded field. And, at 37, he is short on experience in public service and private employment. But, given where Obama and Trump came from and where they landed, the White House, the mayor’s campaign will be interesting to watch. Maybe he’s a 2024 or 2028 guy.
BBR looks forward to the next round when hopefully the money has dried up on half of the field so that real debating can begin. MSNBC tossed plenty of softballs at plenty of beer league players. It’s time to go to the next level. After all, someone needs to ask the field how these candidates intend to pay for all of these promises. Free healthcare, free college, free community college, college debt forgiveness, unlimited immigration, and a free chicken in every pot sounds quite expensive. Bernie might already be shaking a tin cup as commuters arrive on Wall St. this AM.
It’s awfully early to predict. However, an avid reader of BBR put $100 on Donald Trump to win the GOP nomination three years ago at 17-1 when The Donald was still nicknaming Jeb Bush as Low Energy and Marco Rubio as Lil’. It’s great money if you have that kind of vision. We don’t know what Kamala Harris’ odds on gaining the nomination are at this moment. But, we suspect Vegas lowered them a good bit after last night. They should. Polls aside, she looks like the one galloping to the front to us.

Get some rest Joe.