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Finances... One of my favorite topics.

Trump proposes increasing tariffs on China to 60%. He wants tariff revenue to pay for extension of his 2017 tax cuts. I support that 100%.

As you are an investor in Apple, you should consider how 60% tariffs will affect Apple exports from China to the USA.

For me, the stock market is looking a bit toppy, so I’ve gone heavily into bonds as the fed is going to start lowering interest rates which are at 20 year highs. GOVZ etf is my preferred play. YMMV, YMMV, YMMV.

Best,
Speedy

Russia is wearing out its rainy day fund.

‘There is no spare money’ admits Putin.

Daily Express (UK) reports:

“As quoted by TASS news agency, a Russian state news outlet, Putin said on Tuesday: “Yes, we have the budget revenues growing (through a bigger tax take, not a growing pie), and the deficit is minimal, non-oil and gas revenues have a good performance, oil and gas ones have the incremental growth but there is no spare money”...

...With Western sanctions leaving Russia economically isolated, Putin has relied on foreign cash reserves to fund his war in Ukraine.

Russia’s National Wealth Fund boasted $143billion of reserves in July 2022 (itself down from over $300 Billion before the February 2022 invasion), but this was down to $56 billion as of the end of 2023.

“Moscow is currently burning through around $4billion a month”, expert Owen Matthews wrote for the Spectator back in March.”

(That would be about enough to continue cashing it out through the end of this year (2024) if it went on a straight line - but that is unlikely. They are unlikely to zero it out completely before moving to other funding methods (confiscatory taxes, even more ruble printing, and selling off State assets), and not all of the remaining National Wealth Fund investments are liquid.

So the National Wealth Fund as a financial buffer for War expenses has just about run its course, and it is time for Russia to start cutting deeper to the bone.)