January is in the books - interesting outcome.

Let's work at Costco - wow!

Fed is out with their rate plan - not confident in the future

Fed Workers getting buyouts

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Warm-Up

- January is in the books - interesting outcome

- Let's work at Costco - wow!

- Fed is out with their rate plan - not confident in the future

- Fed Workers getting buyouts

- The latest from the Just Kidding department...

Markets

- Investors Betting Trump will soften his stance on Tariffs

- Trump playing chicken on weekends that other countries will bend

- Some recovery after last Monday's beating

- But the questions is - how long until global upheaval with all of these threats and bashing?

Tariffs - Threats to Canada and Mexico

- 25% across the board on Canada and Mexico

- 10% in China

- Blaming immigration, drugs and trade imbalance

--- Oil could become an issue with Canada as they send us cheaper (dirty crude) - but several regions could see higher prices by 20% if these tariffs stick

- After the close - Trump said at the White House Friday he would 'absolutely' put tariffs on the nation's EU allies.

- 'You want the truthful answer or should I give you a political answer?' Trump said when asked about it – underlying his commitment to the issue. He said the tariffs on the EU would be 'very substantial,' without providing details.

- Markets closed in the red Friday on this tidbit

-------- Follow up - futures and markets off considerably before the open on Monday. 2%+ across the board. Oil UP.

-------THEN - A PHONE CALL WITH MEXICO! PAUSE ON RATES FOR A MONTH (10am news)

Bitcoin <$97,000 over the weekend, then popped back up

-- Again is this supposed to be a alt asset class or it is simply a risk asset now?

Musk has the keys

- The Trump administration has approved plans to grant Treasury officials affiliated with Elon Musk’s team access to the federal system that handles trillions of dollars in payments, according to two people familiar with the situation.

- Senator Warren is apoplectic

Tesla also not thrilled

- CFO "Over the years we've tried to localize our supply chain in every market, but we are still reliant on parts from across the world for all our businesses," Taneja said. He said the "imposition of tariffs" would "have an impact on our business and profitability."

--- Oh and Tesla's earnings were uninspiring. Big drop in sales and profitability

---- HOWEVER - Musk and team promised that a cheaper car will be coming this year and that left the carrot dangling for investors

General market update for January - Internal notes

- The U.S. markets finished the month on a downturn as news of upcoming tariffs triggered renewed market concerns. January proved to be a volatile month, marked by a record-high closing for the S&P 500®, followed by a steep decline after the release of a new AI model from China caused global turbulence. Despite this, robust earnings reports and strong consumer spending helped the S&P 500 end the month with a 3% gain.

- Mid-cap and small-cap stocks outshone their larger counterparts, with the S&P MidCap 400® and S&P SmallCap 600® rising 4% and 3%, respectively. Investors remained cautious due to ongoing uncertainties about Federal Reserve rate cuts and inflation.

- Most sectors saw gains in January, with Communication Services, Health Care, and Financials leading the charge. Information Technology was the sole underperformer, declining 3% due to AI-related challenges.

- In January, most sectors experienced gains, with Communication Services, Health Care, and Financials at the forefront. The only sector to underperform was Information Technology,