Trump Era 2025-2029 : Stock and Economic Comment

[over9k]

No jobs and expensive.... and boring.

I think a lot of things stopped in nz once government money dried up.
Australian jobs are basically government funded at this stage. Its hiding the productive gdp numbers.

The waste going on in government makes things appear better than they really are

Correct. Public sector jobs funded by debt. Masking everything, until the piper has to be paid.

 

[Dona Ferentes]

Yes as with Australia the only economic growth was house prices.

Am trying to find an article, but no joy yet, that said not only house prices but we excel at fund managers.

but that could go in the "what's great in Oz" thread

 

[sptrawler]

Am trying to find an article, but no joy yet, that said not only house prices but we excel at fund managers.

but that could go in the "what's great in Oz" thread

Yes so true, I was focusing on blue collar, I guess white collar work has more margin and tends to be Government work, so that would be high growth. Lol
Then as you say fund managers, skimming their take.
As long as the hamsters keep peddling, life's good, for some.

 

[basilio]

Are people on ASF still pretending this is ok ?​

​

First, They Came for Jimmy Kimmel​

What happens when comedians are held to stricter standards than vice presidents?​

Jonathan V. Last
Sep 18, 2025





(Composite / Photos: GettyImages / Shutterstock)

1. Comedy​

​

First things first: Jimmy Kimmel is only the second late-night comedian to be a casualty of American Orbánism. But before we get going, I want to note an observation from nine months ago, just three days into Trump’s second term:


Seth Meyers: You are officially on the clock.

---

Here is why Jimmy Kimmel has had his comedy show cancelled put on semi-indefinite hiatus: On Monday night’s show, Kimmel told the following joke:

We had some new lows over the weekend, with the MAGA Gang desperately trying to characterize this kid who murdered Charlie Kirk as anything other than one of them and doing everything they can to score political points from it. In between the finger-pointing, there was grieving.

In response, Brendan Carr, the chairman of the FCC went on Benny Johnson’s podcast—and please, just live with that fact for a moment—and announced that there was a “strong case” for the FCC pursuing action against ABC / Disney.

“This is a very, very serious issue right now for Disney. We can do this the easy way or the hard way,” Carr said. “These companies can find ways to take action on Kimmel, or there is going to be additional work for the FCC ahead.”
“They have a license granted by us at the FCC, and that comes with it an obligation to operate in the public interest.”

ABC thought about this threat for a couple hours and then yanked Kimmel. I suppose they thought they were choosing the easy way.

---

2. Standards​

​

From a Talmudic perspective, every word Kimmel said was factually true. MAGA media had been trying to characterize the suspect as anything other than conservative. They had been doing this since before a suspect had even been identified.

If you wanted to hold Kimmel to a journalistic, rather than a comedic, standard, then I suppose you could argue that Kimmel misled viewers. By saying that MAGA had been trying to portray the killer as not being a conservative, you might argue that he was leading viewers to infer that the killer was conservative?

I have noticed over the last 72 hours or so a sudden demand that all statements and observations concerning the Kirk murder be factually, incontrovertibly, true.

It is important to note that this standard seems to have been put in place shortly after MAGA media ran around circulating unconfirmed rumors and speculating wildly about the shooter’s identity before Robinson was arrested.

Anyone who makes a statement that turns out to be less than fully accurate, or who makes a joke, or who—God forbid—is just asking questions is now liable to have not just a Twitter mob, or their private employer, but the full force of the federal government brought against them.

Do people understand now what the authoritarian project is aiming for?

---

I realize that I am exceedingly hot, but this is a moment that demands both new thinking and solidarity. A moment to find your people, link arms, and stand up. I’d be honored if you’d join us here, right now.

---

3. Asymmetry​

People of good will should endeavor to get facts right. When they make errors, they should correct them. Trafficking in conspiracy theories is toxic. Making things up is dishonorable.

But what happens in a society where one side is required to operate at all times and in all places in perfect good faith and the other side faces no such constraints?1

Almost exactly a year ago, Donald Trump stood on stage at a presidential debate and claimed that Haitian immigrants in Springfield, Ohio, were abducting and eating their neighbors’ pets:

They’re eating the dogs, the people that came in, they’re eating the cats. They’re eating the pets of the people that live there, and this is what’s happening in our country, and it’s a shame.

This was false. Entirely false. Totally untrue. A lie.

---

Seven days later, JD Vance went on CNN and admitted that the story was a lie. That it was made up. And he justified his deception as part of a greater mission:

The American media totally ignored this stuff until Donald Trump and I started talking about cat memes. If I have to create stories so that the American media actually pays attention to the suffering of the American people, then that’s what I’m going to do.

Please read that again:

“If I have to create stories so that the American media actually pays attention to the suffering of the American people, then that’s what I’m going to do.”

So please, cry me a river about this administration’s deep devotion to truth and accuracy.

---

And they’re doing it again, by the way.

In the same afternoon that ABC was given the choice of canning Kimmel in either “the easy way” or “the hard way,” Vice President Vance created another story. He said that under Christopher Wray, its former director, the FBI, “should have been investigating the networks that motivated, inspired, and maybe even funded Charlie Kirk’s murder.”


What “networks” that “maybe even funded Charlie Kirk’s murder” is Vance talking about? No evidence—nada—has come to light suggesting the shooter had any accomplices or partners, let alone the backing of a “network.” The evidence released so far suggests the shooter acted by himself.

You tell me who misled his audience more: Jimmy Kimmel the comedian, or JD Vance the vice president.

---

I understand this is a dog-bites-man story: Trump, Vance, and their propaganda networks do not operate in good faith. They are authoritarians and do not see themselves as bound by society’s rules because their aim is to break society and then dominate it, indefinitely.

And I would not go so far as to say that the forces of liberalism ought to stop operating in good faith. They should still strive to be truthful and accurate. They should correct their errors. They should eschew conspiracy theories.

But for the love of God they should stop treating MAGA like a legitimate movement that is playing by the same rules as everyone else. Regular order is over. That clip of JD Vance admitting that he’s happy to “create” stories ought to play in front of literally every single discussion of Jimmy Kimmel.

The people operating in good faith need to stop self-flagellating over their mistakes and surrendering preemptively.

They need to look up and realize what time it is.

Because if Disney doesn’t want to fight over the independence of its news division, or the content of its animated movies, or the hiring policies at its theme parks, then it ought to line the **** up behind Jimmy Kimmel, right now.

Capitulation isn’t the easy way. It’s the stupid way.

The easy way—and the smart way—is to make the fascists fight for every inch.

Leave a comment

1
When I say “is allowed” I mean by voters. Voters are the ones who have decided that Democrats must play perfect baseball and Republicans face no consequences for any depredation, up to and including insurrection.

First, They Came for Jimmy Kimmel

What happens when comedians are held to stricter standards than vice presidents?

www.thebulwark.com

 

[Antirnator]

Are people on ASF still pretending this is ok ?​

Three things:
Look in the mirror and do some self reflection.

Then say these words "it's only good when my side does it".

Americans have stopped watching ABC, CBS and NBC, they are going broke. It was the perfect opportunity to cut costs.

p.s. I didn't need a Wall of Text and jump through ten hoops to figure this out.

 

[Smurf1976]

Are people on ASF still pretending this is ok ?

No.

But I did warn everyone years ago where it was heading with censorship, gagging free speech and so on and at that point it had nothing to do with Trump:

Israel Folau - Breach of contract or right to free speech?

No doubt Folau's comments were offensive to some people but the question I have is how much rights should an employer have to regulate the private lives of their employees ? Folau's religious convictions have no impact on his ability to play football which is what he is employed to do, so why...

www.aussiestockforums.com

I absolutely disagree with this man's comments in so many ways but the notion of supporting free speech by its nature means accepting others saying things I don't agree with.

I wonder what the view of these people would be if employers started cracking down on employees making political comment that isn't in the interests of the business?

My point isn't the detail but more about the timing. That thread was 6 years ago.

I won't dwell on the politics noting this is an economic thread but my point is simply this trend has been in place for quite some time. It's been slowly but surely gathering momentum for years now and what we're seeing now could be compared to a secular bull market having come to public attention - in truth it's been running for years.

 

[Smurf1976]

For a stock that comes to mind, News Corp.

Traditional news media that many would dismiss as yesterday's company. I'll let the share price chart do the talking but point is this isn't a new trend, it's been going on for quite a while now, well before there was any serious thought of Trump being re-elected:

 

[mullokintyre]

and an interesting story coming out about subprime lending....
.

..., you could be forgiven for missing the strange story of the collapse of Texas-based car dealer and lender Tricolor Holdings, which built up a substantial business by selling cars and loans to low-income and undocumented immigrants from America’s huge Hispanic community; it filed for bankruptcy last Wednesday (Chapter 7 - straight to liquidation)

That move came a day after one of its key lenders, the US regional bank Fifth Third, disclosed that it would write down the bulk of a $US200 million loan ($300 million) after it unearthed “fraudulent activity” by one of its corporate clients.

Tricolor’s other lenders include JPMorgan and Barclays, both of whom are reportedly owed a similar amount to Fifth Third.

Fifth Third has alleged Tricolour committed fraud, both via its audited accounts and the collateral it disclosed to borrow through the warehousing deals it relied on .

Tricolor's average loan of $US21,381 typically carried interest rates of more than 16 per cent, and data from a bond deal earlier this year showed 68 per cent of Tricolor’s borrowers did not have a credit score, while more than half did not have driving licences.

With corporate credit spreads at historical lows, investors hunting big returns have moved into the subprime car-loan market, which has more than doubled in size to $US80 billion in annual bond issuance in the past five years.

Neither the US subprime market nor Tricolor, which managed a portfolio of about $US1.4 billion in loans at the end of March, are big enough to cause the US economy any sort of systemic problems.
But subprime car borrowers are in the worst shape in generations: 6.5 per cent of borrowers are behind on their loan by 60 days or more, which is the highest level since data collection began in 1994.
.
Wall Street keeps hitting new highs

A little more on the Tricolor bankruptcy.
The WSJ made the following observations.

this problem arose during the Biden pesidency rather than Trump.
However, this observation is aimed squarely at the unintended consequences of Trumps economic/political decisions.


How many of the forced eportations of undocomnted migrants are leaving abandoned cars and autoloans?
Mick