For months now, the Trump administration, through both tweets from the President and countless articles published in the financial media, has proclaimed that a trade deal between the US and China was “just around the corner.”

Every single time these stories/ tweets hit the newswires, stocks have rallied on the news. Every. Single. Time.

And it was all complete BS.

How do I know this? Because Bloomberg just unintentionally revealed it more than halfway down an article concerning a possible meeting between President Trump and Premiere Xi of China.

Lighthizer this week pointed to “major issues” still unresolved in the talks, with few signs of a breakthrough on the most difficult subjects. Chinese officials have also bristled at the appearance of the deal being one-sided, and are wary of the risk of Trump walking away even if Xi were to travel to the U.S.

Source: Bloomberg (H/T Bill King)

Without an agreement on “the most difficult subjects” (i.e. IP theft, enforcement of violations) there is NO trade agreement. End of story.