Don't let people gamble with your money. They will take unusually large risks for potential rewards you can't afford.

There is a reason big oil isn't buying out these companies. Many will go belly up long before they pay off a substantial amount of their debt and banks know it.

It's funny, like no one expected winter to come?

The dollar will keep heading higher as trade war rhetoric continues and oil prices recede in US dollar terms. Likely, inflation will rise as well if more tariffs get put in place. That said, the US economy is still pretty resilient and will shake off most of this turmoil. However, it would be nice if Washington pays attention to the economy and stock market before making further moves to disrupt it.

Any consumption tax will harm the economy implementing it. That is what tariffs really boil down to. Sadly, because so much is on raw materials and components used by American companies, this is hurting US companies as well as sparking mild inflation which is why the Federal reserve must keep raising rates. China is a big component of our supply chain because of the benefits it has provided US companies (a way to keep their prices low even as they raised prices for their brand name). Watch out for more headaches if they implement more tariffs on China. The rest of the untariffed products were left alone because they would hurt US companies.

You are correct. The Federal Reserve is raising rates in fear of inflation. I think the author was saying the Federal Reserve was afraid of a spike in oil prices which is no longer on the table. What the Federal Reserve is really worried about is higher prices (inflation) from more Chinese tariffs and a recession where it needs enough powder, higher rates, so they can have a positive effect when they drop them.

Trump is purposely or not destabilizing the good economy. Maybe its his idea to claim the decline is due to the Democrats taking Congress, however, he was doing this before they took Congress and is just more of the same. Threatening consumption tax without Congress' approval through tariffs, managing Middle East policy poorly, and angering our foreign allies. Destabilizing US tech companies is a rather new thing which also doesn't gain plaudits.

Anyways, the threat of car tariffs and probes is nothing new. Trump clearly hates the fact US cars don't sell well and rather than try to get US companies to be more competitive and improve their product he is blaming the Germans, Japanese, Chinese, etc. The only problem is he's blaming US automakers for outsourcing production and parts from Canada and Mexico too. In reality, this is not a proposal for a viable solution, but rather a road map to utter industry chaos. Much like his International policies, it is a lot of angst at everyone with little in the way of anything that leads to rational policies or a viable solution.

I'm rather disappointed and the market is starting to recognize the weakness of such lack of clear and viable solutions as well. Last off, consumption tax (which is what tariffs end up being) are just about the worst taxes you can put on your economy. It will kill all your economic gains from your tax cuts rather quickly.

Sadly we now are so big the rest of the world can hardly bail us out if something went drastically sour. We can only rely on ourselves now. The good news is the US has been adapt at that throughout history.

Clearly free trade has benefited the US and is necessary for the continued dominance of the US in the future. Few countries could hope for the wide net the US has in acquiring resources, manufacturing at competitive pricing, managing logistics, and dealing in markets all over the world. I hope we don't give it up.

That said, work can always be done to improve things and deal with unfair issues. China must reform faster than it has been doing. The issue is convincing them that it is in their interest as well as ours. In reality, I'm not sure it is. Their behavior prevents them for making closer ties with International companies like the US further up the value chain. Their obstruction of IP thwarts their move up the value chain as well. Likewise, their insistence on controlling the free flow of money prevents them from becoming a great International monetary powerhouse.

As in all things, there are costs to your actions. And what benefits you as a start up manufacturer can hurt you badly trying to move up the value chain. If anything, we are helping China telling them make these changes. In the end, manufacturing is a mobile industry and China will loose their manufacturing base the same way Europe lost it to the US, The US lost it to Japan, japan lost it to Korea, Taiwan, etc., and the rising tigers lost it to China. The wheels of the global economy don't stop. However, if you gum up the works it just passes you by.

Nice charts and information. Yes, the trade war is increasingly adversely affecting the US not just the rest of the world. The sooner it can be resolved the better. The fact Republicans lost the house puts even his trade deal with North American in doubt. He should have made trade deals and solidified them earlier if he was serious about making deals. Oh well, maybe he never expected them to take effect. It gives him something to blame others for.