News

Lefty and Shorty-Trials, Tribulations, and Turtles

Posted on by boom booms room staff

Way way back in 1966, or 1967 Lefty and Shorty were the amiable service station attendants.  Well, that’s what they were called back then as every pump was full serve.   Boom Boom interacted with them as they checked the oil, washed the windshield, pumped the gas, and took the money.

Lefty sat to the left of Shorty.  Imagine that.  Shorty sat on the shorter of the two “halves” of the 55 gallon drum. Imagine that.  Each were cut down to size and retrofitted with a soft cushion top.

They were funny. They always had a back and forth to their banter.  If they were alive last night might have gone like this.

Lefty- It’s nearly midnight and it’s cold. Nobody’s buying gas at this hour.  Why are we sitting here?  Shorty- So we can flip back and forth between the impeachment trial and the Kansas St. versus Kansas basketball game.   Lefty- The Senate Trial is still going on at this late hour?  Shorty- Speaking of this late hour I’ve got this last car that pulled in.  They are good tippers. Lefty- Fine.

Five minutes later.

Lefty- You missed it!  Shorty- What?  Lefty-  They tried to hit the man with the chair.  Shorty- They tried to hit Chairman “Pencil Neck” Adam Schiff?  Lefty-  No. No. It was in the game.  Shorty- Oh.  Why did he do that?  Lefty- I guess he was tired of watching his opponent try to drain threes.  Shorty- I thought maybe they were tired of watching Schiff and Nadler obstruct Trump trying to drain the swamp.  Lefty- Jeez.

Shorty- What’s Trump on trial for again?  Lefty- It’s for abuse of power and obstruction of Congress.  Shorty-  Obstructing this Congress seems like a good idea.  Lefty- What?  Shorty- Doesn’t Mitch McConnell look like a bug eyed swamp fly that we clean off of windshields all day long?  Lefty- Please.  The irreverence.  Shorty- And Nadler, he looks like a snapping turtle.  I wouldn’t get between him and a late lunch.

Silence filled the air again.  Lefty, after some deep breathing and reflection, and against his better judgment, gave it one more go.

Lefty- What do you think the final outcome will be?  Shorty- It was 81-60 Kansas, remember.  Lefty- NO!  The outcome of the trial.  Shorty- I’m not sure.  The right is screaming “four more years” and they control the Senate.  Lefty- And?  Shorty- And the left is screaming “lock him up” but don’t have the votes.  It seems bogged down like a swamp.  And, America is running out of patience.    Lefty-  I know the feeling.  Maybe the chair will be useful after all.  Shorty- Schiff?  Lefty-  I’ll lock up.

Business as Usual

Posted on by boom booms room staff

It seems like business as usual for the great folks that run Washington DC.  In just the last 72 hours a lot of news (perhaps some fake) has emanated from a district some call “The Swamp.”

Donald J Trump was on the stump in Milwaukee, WI on Tuesday night trumpeting his latest accomplishments.  He even spoke to rescinding some of those silly energy efficient laws that his predecessor put into law.  One in particular would provide a greater volume of water pouring out of the shower head to help him wash his hair.  “But how about the shower? I have this beautiful head of hair. I need a lot of work. You go into the shower…drip, drip, drip. I call the guy and ask ‘is there something wrong with this?’ He says ‘no sir, it’s just a restrictor.'”

On another stage just one state over, the Iowa Democratic Presidential Debate droned on for two hours on Tuesday night.  When it was over the group that encourages inclusiveness, acceptance, and tolerance had a little tiff.  CNN mics captured the following exchange.   “What?” Sanders replied.  “I think you called me a liar on national TV,” she said again.  “You know, let’s not do it right now.  If you want to have that discussion, we’ll have that discussion,” Sanders responded.  Warren replied: “Anytime.”  That appeared to have irked Sanders who then said: “You called me a liar.  “He added: “You told me — all right, let’s not do it now.”  This all started after Sanders denied during the debate that he ever told Warren that he didn’t think that a woman could win in 2020.  Could Warren be misremembering the event like her heritage, her firing during pregnancy, or her father’s non janitorial occupation?  Nah.

Meanwhile, back at the ranch Nancy Pelosi and her seven or so of her impeachment managers signed the articles of impeachment last evening.  Before the first witness in the process ever testified she said that she was very prayerful and that this is a very somber time for our country. She also spoke to the urgency due to the threat that our president posed to our country. Last evening, after a four week delay in delivering the articles, she was all smiles and handing out commemorate pens to the signers prior to their orchestrated walk down the halls of Congress for the delayed handoff.

And finally, Sen. Marsha Blackburn (R-TN) called for the recusal of four Democrat presidential candidates from the impeachment process on Wednesday after Speaker Nancy Pelosi signed the articles.  She stated in part, “these four Democrats, Senators Bennet, Klobuchar, Sanders, and Warren, cannot sit in judgment of the very President they seek to replace. To participate in this trial would be a failure of the oath they took to be an ‘impartial justice according to the Constitution and laws.’

Her words “failure of the oath they took” ring so loudly and often in Washington DC these days that it’s not surprising that you hear them even while under the thick, dirty, boggy water that fills what is known as “The Swamp.”  At least the president has given us more fresh water out of the shower heads to rinse off.

Carry on.

 

Peace Through Strength

Posted on by boom booms room staff

The year was 1980.  The month was November.  The day was the 4th.  That evening Ronald Wilson Reagan defeated sitting president James “Jimmy” Earl Carter to become the 40th President of the United States.  Reagan actually won in an electoral and popular vote landslide.

Some things have changed quite a bit in the last 40 years.  Other things have stayed the same.

Reagan was a Hollywood actor and former union leader turned Republican.  He served the great state of California as a Republican Governor for two terms that ended in 1975.  Carter was a peanut farmer, Georgia Governor, then as the Democratic nominee was elected as the 39th President in 1976.

Can you imagine a Californian Republican Governor today?  Arnold “the Govenator” Schwarzenegger aside there hasn’t been one in 24 years.  Can you imagine a Georgia Democratic Governor today?  There hasn’t been one in 20 years.

Carter was viewed as incompetent and weak in the year leading up to the election.  Fifty-two American diplomats and citizens were held hostage for 444 days from November 4, 1979, to January 20, 1981, after a group of Iranian college students who supported the Iranian Revolution, took over the U.S. Embassy in Tehran.  During a daring helicopter rescue effort one of the helicopters crashed into another leaving eight Americans dead.  The attempt failed from the go.

Reagan took office on that same January 20th day of 1981 that the hostages were freed.  Coincidence?  Sam Donaldson, ABC White House reporter, famously stuck his microphone between Marines holding their swords high to create the “roof” along the red carpet as the new President and First Lady strode back to the Capitol Building.  “Mr. President, Mr. President, there is a report that the hostages have been freed.   Do you care to comment?”  Reagan cocked his head as he was often want to do and uttered, “Well, God Bless America.”

Perhaps the Iranians knew there was a new sheriff in town.  He often acted in Hollywood movies as the sheriff who corralled the bad guys.  Maybe they wanted no part in a real life documentary with the same script.   Reagan later coined the phrase “Peace Through Strength.”

And, 40 years later Donald Trump the 45th President, and another actor, warned Iran that any loss of American lives would result in appropriate retaliation.  They decided to cross over The Apprentice’s line drawn in the desert sand.  And Trump didn’t say “you’re fired,” rather, he fired.  Soleimani was dead.  Iran was incensed, or so they said.  Just a few days later they retaliated sending several missiles at American bases in Iraq.  Word is they gave advance warning of the missile strikes and the strikes all but missed their targets.  No lives were lost, but inside of Iran face was saved.

Trump addressed America yesterday and all but said that now was a time to strongly consider peace rather than escalation.  He all but said that as if he read the diplomatic tea leaves that Iran wants no more.  He crowed about the 2.5 trillion spent to bolster the U.S. Military.  Peace Through Strength all over again?

Cali won’t vote for Trump in 2020 like they did for Reagan in 1980.  Georgia won’t vote for the Democratic nominee in 2020 like they did for Carter in 1980.  But Iran, 40 years later, understands that when lines drawn in the sand are in ink, not pencil, that it’s time to stand down.

 

Moore or Less.

Posted on by boom booms room staff

So, what is far left documentary filmmaker Michael Moore up to these days you ask?  Well, you’ll be glad you asked.  Turns out that he made what he called an “emergency podcast” late last week.  That sounds very important.

What was it all about?  Well, you’ll be glad you asked.  It turns out that he was trying to save America from violent retaliation from Iran for the American drone strike killing of their chief of terror Major General Qasem Soleimani.  During his podcast he said  “I am asking you to try what Martin Luther King and Gandhi said requires the most amount of courage which is to respond with non-violence,” he continued. “I am asking you to leave this up to me, give me all of 10 months and I and millions of Americans will remove Trump from the White House.”

He actually said “leave this up to me” before he included millions of Americans in the cause.  Do the words “pompous” or “egotistical” come to mind?  Does the phrase “a deranged, bloated sense of self worth” come to mind?

He followed up on Twitter with “I have just sent the Ayatollah of Iran a personal appeal.”   And he concluded ““I recorded and DM’d him a message on my podcast, ‘RUMBLE.’ You can hear it on any podcast platform like Apple or Spotify for free. We need to prevent war, any war. Now. When the Ayatollah responds, I’ll post his reply.”   We wonder when “when” will be.  We wonder if this “need to prevent war, any war. Now” is more of a need for Moore to get more followers on Twitter and increase the listenership on his podcasts.  The need to stay relevant might be the biggest need of all for him.

What’s confusing about the appeal is that just last month, he predicted that Trump would win reelection for similar reasons that he famously foresaw his victory in 2016.  So, a month ago he wanted to remind you that he called the 2016 victory and that he was calling it again for Trump.  Now he wants the Ayatollah to hold off and “leave th is up to me” and a few million of his friends.

Moore is an avid, even rabid, supporter of “Crazy” Bernie Sanders.  Isn’t that crazy?  It is Moore or less.

 

 

A Surprise Reversal

Posted on by Jim Carlton

Independent Investment Management designed to protect and grow your wealth.

JIM CARLTON
Managing Director
Chief Investment Officer

Friends

Wait a minute, stocks were supposed to be down pretty big today given the tensions with Iran that seemed to escalate over the weekend. Indeed, stocks did open down this morning to the tune of a few hundred Dow points or so, but as the trading session wore on, more and more buyers appeared and stocks forced their way into positive territory. Leading the way on the upside were the old large cap growth names like Alphabet (Google), Amazon, Apple and Netflix.

By the close, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 68 points to finish the day at 28,703. The S&P 500 was up 11 points to close at 3,246. Gold was up $15 to trade at $1,568 per ounce, while oil was down $.28 to trade at $62.77 per barrel WTI.

The bears have to be frustrated. After all the political and impeachment wrangling didn’t derail stocks, conflict in the Middle East had to look like the lottery ticket that they had been praying for. After a couple of days, that looks to be already dissipating. Of course, it’s still early with regards to the Iranian tensions, so we will see. Earnings season will shortly be upon us, but the comparisons year over year should begin to get a little more favorable, which would be another slight breeze at the back of the bulls. So much to sift through at the moment. This should be an interesting few weeks ahead. Stay tuned.

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

info@chjwealthmanagement.com        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

Meathead Slays a Whopper

Posted on by boom booms room staff

President Trump traveled back from Battle Creek, MI last evening after another one of his pep rallies and newly impeached.  The two Articles of Impeachment were voted on and were slated to travel over to the other side of our distinguished House of Representatives.  Madame House Speaker Nancy Pelosi contemplated holding them back for a few days to “insure a fair trial” over in the Senate.  And, the entire BBR staff is traveling this AM.  With all of this holiday travel going on, we’ll keep it very brief today.   

Nancy Pelosi and friends went from prayerful and solemn during the process to asking members of the House to not celebrate or gloat afterwards.  Apparently with both coasts very much in favor of Impeachment, the wise owl Majority Leader’s words of wisdom from the east didn’t resonate all the way over to the west, and times two in Hollywood.

Take a look and read the attached to see for yourself.  Noted academicians, scholars, constitutionalists, and deep thinkers ranging from Michael Moore to Alyssa Milano weighed in. Even “Meathead” himself Rob Reiner got even with the old, prejudiced Archie Bunker.  They all did a Twitter dance or two filled with glee.  One even called the President a MF.

The First Amendment guarantees them their right to do so.  Apparently from some of the tweets, though, that right doesn’t extend to “angry, old, white men” who “were the only ones” expressing the opposite side.

Like ordering a Whooper, it’s a great country we live in.  Especially if You Can Have It Your Way!

Hold the pickle, hold the lettuce, special impeachments don’t upset us.

More Of The Same-Quiet

Posted on by Jim Carlton

Independent Investment Management designed to protect and grow your wealth.

JIM CARLTON
Managing Director
Chief Investment Officer

Friends

Again, not surprisingly, it was another quiet day of trading as we steer this ship towards Christmas and the year end. Other than the impeachment proceedings going on in the House of Representatives (which the market seems to care little about) there really isn’t much market moving news at the moment.

For the day, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 27 points to close at 28,239. The S&P 500 was down 1 point to trade at 3191. Gold was mainly unchanged, trading at $1,479 per ounce, while oil was also mainly unchanged, trading at $60.94 per barrel WTI.

On the earnings front, Fed Ex had a very disappointing report after the close yesterday (continuing a string of disappointments from the company). Its shares took a bit of a drubbing, but these one off earnings disappointments haven’t yet affected the overall market, as stocks continued to grind higher. Let’s see if anything changes before week end. It doesn’t seem likely.

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

info@chjwealthmanagement.com        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

Ridiculous

Posted on by boom booms room staff

Yesterday in the hallowed halls of the U.S. Congress Madame Speaker Nancy Pelosi was asked to comment on the six page letter sent to her by the 45th President of the United States Donald J. Trump.

“No comment,” she said while walking hurriedly to her next meeting.  “It’s ridiculous,” she continued.  Trump’s letter was a head strong opinion of all that he felt is wrong with the Impeachment process. “I haven’t read it, ” she continued, “we’ve been very busy today.”

We wonder.  She said that she had no comment.  But, she did call it ridiculous.  That sounds like a comment.   She said that she hadn’t read it.  But, she did call it ridiculous.  How would she know that it was if she hadn’t read it?  Ridiculous, that is.

Last night the House Rules Committee was working well into the evening(earning the people’s business) to determine the exact proceedings for today’s full House hearing prior to two separate votes.  At 10PM or so EST they decided that there would be six hours of hearings on the most important vote any of them will make in their lifetimes.  Six hours for 435 representatives equates to 50 seconds per member.  It sounds like many, many will only actually have time to say “yea” or “nay.”

A few years and biscuits ago.

At least they concluded their meeting with finality in their decisions.  Late last week Jerry Nadler, Chairman of the Judiciary Committee, decided to suspend that committee’s meeting as the evening had grown too late.  It was nearly the same 10PM.  He reconvened in the AM for the world to see the adoption of the two Articles of Impeachment.  Grandstanding.  Or, perhaps Jerry needed a late night snack.  Ridiculous.

Meanwhile, yesterday the FISA Court in a rare public expression, came out in a strongly worded opinion against the FBI’s now exposed abuse and likely criminal behavior in obtaining warrants to surveil the Trump Campaign to begin with.   Ridiculous.

The Johnny on the Spot FBI wanted everyone to know that they were going to quickly make changes.   “As [FBI Director Christopher Wray] has stated, the inspector general’s report describes conduct by certain FBI employees that is unacceptable and unrepresentative of the FBI as an institution,” the bureau responded in a statement Tuesday night. “The director has ordered more than 40 corrective steps to address the report’s recommendations, including some improvements beyond those recommended by the IG.”

A quick THREE years later it’s time to change.  And, more than 40 corrective steps were ordered!  So, illegally obtained warrants designed to surveil for possible illegal activity provided all the cover needed to continue the FBI’s illegal surveillance.  Got it.  Ridiculous.

Wall St seems totally unfazed.  Since the Impeachment Inquiry was formalized just seven weeks ago in the House the Dow is up 6%, the S&P 8%, and the NASDAQ 10%.  They know that this is going absolutely nowhere.  Perhaps we should impeach more Presidents.

All of which brings us to today.  The full House will convene, and after six hours of burning the retreads off of tires that long ago should have been retired, they will vote almost 100% down party lines.  The Democrats will say “yea” more times than the Republicans can say “nay.”  Then the “yea’s” will have it, and presto, Trump will be impeached.   Is it even possible for two power hungry sides to see things, or at least pretend to see things, so clearly differently?  Ridiculous.

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell is preparing for the possibility of a January month long Senate Impeachment Trial(circus).  Though just yesterday he hinted at an immediate dismissal vote after the Impeachment Articles are formally entered onto the Senate floor.

Hopefully he won’t be too busy to read the articles while walking in front of all of his staff members down the hallowed halls like the Madame Speaker was yesterday.  If so, he’ll likely have “no comment,” just like Pelosi did, or did not.   Ridiculous.

Keep hope alive!

 

 

 

It’s a Marathon, or Two.

Posted on by boom booms room staff

Have you ever run a marathon?  It’s quite a feat to cross off of your bucket list we assume.  Accomplished runners will tell you that the only thing worse than the physical grind is the mental grind.  Surely you’ve heard of hitting the wall around mile 20 or so and having to really dig deep to will yourself to the finish line.

Did you feel like the impeachment marathon had at least reached the proverbial wall earlier this week when Nancy Pelosi (CA) stepped up to the podium to provide the encouragement needed for Adam Schiff (CA) and Jerry Nadler (NY) to get the articles drafted?  It worked.  Amazingly, just a day or so later, flanked by more two more New Yorkers and two more Californians, Schiff and Nadler announced that President Donald J. Trump’s high crimes and misdemeanors would be headed to a congressional vote.

If the Democratic Party controlled House vote has a majority in the “yea” column, the marathon concludes in the Senate in a full trial.  It seems like it’s taken forever to run this race.  It’s started on The Hill and has slowly wound it’s way to just six point two miles now from the very bottom.  The race is unique as each mile either shares a name with another or has a unique one all to itself.

Let’s refresh your three year, first 20 mile by mile memory.  1.  Tax returns.  2. The Steele Dossier.  3.  Session’s Recusal.  4.  Russian Collusion,  5.  Putin’s Turn,  6.  Obstruction (the toughest mile).  7.  More Russian Collusion.  8.  Obstruction of Justice.  9.   Schiff’s Got Proof.  10.  Comey, My Comey.  11.  Peter Strzok.  12.  Lisa(Lover’s Lane) Page.  13.  The Mueller Report (the slowest mile).  14.  The Whistleblower(you can not see the fans cheering you on, but you can hear them).  15. Ukraine.  16.  Quid Pro Quo.  17.  Bribery.  18.  Solemn and Prayerful (candles line each side of the road).  19. Abuse of Presidential Power.  And, whew, 20.  Obstruction of Congress.

With just six point two miles left the Senate joins the race.  Has America hit it’s own wall yet?

But just yesterday we learned that we might need to start training for yet a second marathon.  A second one wasn’t anywhere on the bucket list.

Rep Karen Bass (CA) said if Trump is reelected in 2020 there might be a second impeachment.  Here’s what she said.  “Because even though we’re impeaching him now, there’s still a number of court cases, there’s a ton of information that can come forward. For example, we can get his bank records and find out he’s owned 100 percent by the Russians.  The only thing I’d say slightly different is that it might not be the same articles of impeachment because the odds are we’ll have a ton more information.”

Californians and New Yorkers want to do away with Donald Trump and the Electoral College.  The middle of America wants to reelect Donald Trump and do away with Californians and New Yorkers.

At least all fifty states don’t want another impeachment marathon, do they?  It’s crossed off of their bucket list, isn’t it?

 

Trade Confusion and Another Soft Day For Stocks

Posted on by Jim Carlton

Independent Investment Management designed to protect and grow your wealth.

JIM CARLTON
Managing Director
Chief Investment Officer

Friends

As confusion reigns over the likelihood of a trade deal, or at least a delay in new tariffs, stocks drifted lower for the second day in a row. Again, the move was less than convincing, but nevertheless Friday’s jobs report induced euphoria has seemed to evaporate as we get closer to the December 15th trade deal deadline. In addition to trade, the markets also have to grapple with impeachment proceedings and politics in general as we head into an election year. God help us all.

As for today, by the close the Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 27 points to finish the day at 27,881. The S&P 500 was down 3 points to close at 3,132. Gold was up $4 to trade at $1,468 per ounce, while oil was up $.25 to trade at $59.27 per barrel WTI.

We’ll get the Fed decision on interest rates tomorrow (no change in rates is expected), and after that it will likely be trade and politics until year end. First, let’s see what the Fed has to say for itself tomorrow and then we put them aside until next year. Stay tuned.

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

info@chjwealthmanagement.com        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