In a democracy, while the holder of the President has many agendas some will benefit the corporate sector and some will not. In a democracy, the President has to appeal to a wide variety of people and the message will appeal to some and not appeal to others, ideally at the end of the day most people will like what the President has done or tried to do. Along the way, people will offer judgement and given the presence of social media, likely putting their thoughts on line.

in an article by Michelle Chapman of the Associated Press, a great example is Elon Musk feud with President Trump. Elon Mushk may find out what happens when DOGE bites man.

Mr. Musk invested his money into a PAC and helped President Trump win the election. The President then put Mr. Musk into a powerful position, slashing government spending or DOGE. Mr. Musk recently left the government and is feuding with the President.

President Trump for his part, recently said DOGE is the monster that might have to go back and eat Elon. Mr. Musk threatened to reinsert himself into politics and try to oust every member of Congress who votes for the bill.

Mr. Musk’s rocket and satellite company, Space X is in President’s Trump crosshairs. Space X has received billions of federal dollars to do work for NASA.

Tesla, the electric car company owned by Mr. Musk has received millions of dollars in government subsidies. Some or many of the subsidies maybe cut by the HR 1, because the President does not like green energy.

In addition, many federal government departments have an interest in Mr. Musk’s companies including the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, if desired, the government can over regulate the company.

Linking to dividend paying stocks, many of these companies have public relations department particularly to ensure when the company disagrees with the government, the message is toned down and in a manner which stresses co-operation is possible or working together we are better which ruffles fewer feathers. In private, companies say different things. Governments have resources and ability to slow thing down for companies, it is always best to work with them.

There are more questions than answers, till the next time – to raising questions.

Hopefully you will be able to read this summer, ideally because it is a great time to go outside, sit with a book and read for pleasure. One of the other books on your list should be something which allows you to take a cynical lens to your investing. There are many good reasons to invest in the stock market and wealth creation is a great reason, but there is adage that stocks go up and down but, overtime they have been proved to generate more wealth than leaving your account in the bank or buying a certificate of deposit. While you do not lose money, overtime the interest rate rarely keeps you above inflation which means there is limited growth.

One book that is cynical is The Devil’s Financial Dictionary by Jason Zweig published by Public Affairs, NY, 2015. Mr. Zwieg writes the Intelligent Investor column in the Wall Street Journal every weekend. He also was the editor of revised edition of Benjamin Graham’s The Intelligent Investor.

The book goes through an A to Z description of words that are important to investing. The cynical part is how Wall Street operates to generate wealth. From Wall Street’s perspective the more trading you do, the better they like you because there is a fee for trading. If you trade a great deal, does that result in higher wealth for you? or you do have many long-term holdings? Would it be better to buy an index fund? buy dividend stocks and hold them? The wonderful thing about Wall Street is there can be a depend. You have to determine which is best for you, but what is great for you is not necessarily great for Wall Street’s fees.

3 sample definitions

Rumor: The Wall Street equivalent of a fact

Stock Market: A chaotic hive of millions of people who overpay for hope and underpay for value.

Support: In Technical Analysis, a pattern in which the current price of an asset approaches its past low price. Example We think the price will find support at the $40 level, Feb 2013. We think the price will find support at the psychologically important level of $30, April 2013; although the $20 level was pierced, we think that was temporary and support will hold, June 2013; Historically $10 is one of the strongest support levels, September 2014.

Linking to dividend paying stocks, in every industry, in order to do it every day you need to be both focused and be able to laugh at yourself usually through the cynicism you can see. There can be many valid reasons for buying a stock and as an investor you should know why you are doing, hopefully the price increasing should not be the first one.

There are more questions than answers, till the next time – to raising questions.

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Hopefully you have the opportunity to read during the summer and some of it is fiction. Sometimes you will remember good lines or good stories and sometimes the book will relate to what you know and have experienced.

Recently read a book called The Medici Return by Steve Berry published by the Grand Central Publishing, NY, 2025. The book setting is Florence, Italy and the plot involves a loan between the Medici family and the Pope of Catholic Church. For generations, the Medici family was a banking family that also bankrolled the Renaissance movement in terms of architecture, religion, art and culture. This setting makes the book a good read.

Two stories that is told to the leading character Cotton Malone that symbolizes his exploits.

Cotton’s grandfather says, did I ever tell you about a barber who whispers to his customers, Let me show you something. This is the most foolish kid in the world. Watch while I prove it to you. The barber laid a dollar bill in one hand and 2 quarters in the other and then called a young boy over and asked which do you want, son? The boy told the quarters and left the shop. The barber says what did I tell you, the kid never learns. Later the customer left the barbershop and saw the same boy coming out of the ice store. Hey son, may I ask you a question? why did you take the quarters instead of the dollar bill? The boy licked his favorite ice cream and said, because the day I take the dollar, the game is over.

Proverbs 14:15 was right. Fools believe every word they hear, but wise people think carefully about everything.

The second story is There was a young man going through the country and sees a very pretty girl and says I want to marry her. The young man approach the father and asked him for permission. Her father, says I will release 3 bulls, one at a time, if you catch the tail of any of the 3, you can catch the tail of anyone of the 3, you can have her hand in marriage.

The first bull was one of the biggest, meanest-looking bull he had ever seen, the young man let it pass. The second bull, another big, fierce bull came out pawing the ground, grunting, slinging slobber, came out rushing. He let it pass. The third bull has small and scrawny. The young man was full of confidence, he jumped to grab the tail and realized something. The bull had no tail.

The point of the story – never let an opportunity pass you by, as they seldom came knocking twice. Lost opportunities were only a gateway to regret.

Linking to dividend paying stocks, in investing you have to think carefully why this opportunity? After you have made some money, you need to preserve it and make it grow, one way to do that is buy profitable companies that can pay dividends. The profitable companies tend to last decades which is good for your and as your money grows there are more opportunities to do good with your money.

There are more questions than answers, till the next time – to raising questions.

Just about every thriving business depends on the government for subsidies, although for most businesses it is not the most important contribution. Often the start is the idea to have a business and there are grants to help develop the business. When expansion is ready there are grants to help with the expansion, sometimes these are tax incentives or they pay less tax. When the company needs outreach they look to the government for help to reach international markets and the list goes on. Individually, we do not call them subsidies but investments in businesses, but that is what they are.

Under President Joe Biden the administration believed that manmade pollution was causing part of the climate, if there was a way to slow it down such as renewal energy then it was a good thing to do. The renewals started with higher price points, but as more and more renewals came into the market, prices fell and soon they were compatible with the costs of fossil fuels. Less expensive than coal, but more expensive than natural gas. One might have thought both could co-exist.

In an article by Lisa Friedman, Maxine Joselow and Brad Plumer of the New York Times News Service, President Trump domestic policy bill, the Big Beautiful Bill, has President Trump demanding lawmakers enact even deeper cuts to clean-energy subsidies or scrap them entirely. President Trump was joined by Conservative activists, fossil-fuel lobbyists.

Lisa Jacobson, president of the Business Council for Sustainable Energy, a trade group, noted the ending of the subsidies will hurt businesses and risk significant job losses. For example, when President Trump promised to eliminate clean-energy incentives, companies have cancelled $15.5 billion in proposed factories and clean-energy projects.

E2, a non partisan group of business leaders and investors, analysis showed in May roughly $1.4 billion in electric-vehicle, battery and solar-paneled factories were abandoned which were overwhelmingly in Republican districts.

Among the vocal lobbyists are Alex Epstein, an author and founder of a think tank that argues fossil fuels ae crucial for human prosperity. He wants clean energy subsidies eliminated.

The American Energy Alliance, an oil and gas advocacy group funded a 6 week advertising campaign to influence lawmakers in Utah, Alaska, Idaho and District of Columbia.

President Trump does not like the clean-energy business and believes it to be a SCAM and says all subsidies should be eliminated.

However, the oil and gas industry has benefited from their own specialized tax breaks for decades. Those subsidies are apparently okay.

Senator Hoven believed those projects already approved and started should be grandfathered so they will continue to operate.

Linking to dividend paying stocks, all companies that make profits benefit from the government. In many cases it is not material, but decisions to where to make investments is based on how much the government at as many levels as possible are willing to help. Companies play the governments off because the investments tend to lead to other investments which leads to growth. it is extremely hard for a community to say no which is why it will still be done.

There are more questions than answers, till the next time – to raising questions.

In the world of statistics, there are some data that is important at the moment and others that are a lagging indicator. The lagging indicator means it will effect the economy, just right not this month. Most people quickly figure it out, because they hear about higher prices to come and then the prices are higher. What to do about as a consumer and a business?

In an article by Lucia Mutikani of Reuters, US consumer confidence fell in June as households worried about job availability against the backdrop of rising uncertainty because of the tariffs.

The ebb in confidence was reported by the Conference Board was across all age groups, all income groups, all political spectrum.

The share of consumers viewing jobs as plentiful was the smallest since March 2021, which aligns with the more people collecting unemployment checks and a moderation in job growth.

Economists are expecting unemployment to rise from 4.2% to 4.3%.

Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell told lawmakers it needs more time to decide how much tariffs are affecting the economy, so it left the range between 4.25% and 4.5% where it has been since December.

Consumer confidence is particularly important to the US economy because about 60% of the economy is based on consumers spending their money.

Linking to dividend paying stocks, everyone sees the consumer confidence through various lens. If you have a job, you ask all things being equal will you be able to keep it. If not, you begin to try to increase savings. This is good at an individual level, but if everyone does it spending slows and the economy retracts. What is good for individuals is also good for businesses, where is demand the highest? how are receivables -does it take more time to collect? how are accounts payable – are companies stretching the date they pay bills? ideally for profitable companies those numbers do not change, but if they do, then it is time to look at alternatives.

There are more questions than answers, till the next time – to raising questions.

Every politician loves to have a slogan that is catchy and everyone sees something different in the slogan. For President Trump it is Make America Great Again (MAGA) and one of the cornerstones in the policy making is bringing more manufacturing to the US. There is much to agree with the policy, but there is also reality and one of the realities is demographic.

In an article by Farah Stockman of the New York Times News Service, the pool of blue-collar workers who are able and willing to perform tasks on a factory floor in the US is shrinking. As baby boomers retire, fewer young people are lining up to take their place. According to the US Bureau of Labor Statistics, about 400,000 manufacturing jobs are currently unfilled. If manufacturing comes from overseas the number will get higher.

According to Victoria Bloom, the chief economist at the National Association of Manufacturers, difficulty attracting and retaining a quality workforce has been consistently cited as a top working challenge for US manufacturers since 2017. The other items of the list are tariffs and increased raw material costs.

Ron Hetrick, an economist with Lightcast, a company that provides labor data to universities and industry, noted as a society we have spent 3 generations telling everyone if you do not go to college, you are a loser. Now we are paying the price.

For some companies, remaining globally competitive involves the use of sophisticated equipment that requires employees to have extensive training and familiarity with software. And employers cannot simply hire people right out of high school without providing specialized training programs to bring them up to speed. This was not the case in the heyday of US manufacturing.

College graduates often do not have the right skills to succeed on the factory floor. There is mismatch between the not enough skilled blue-collar workers to fill the positions that exist and college graduates.

David Gitlin, Chair and CEO of Carrier Global which produces air conditioners and furnaces and services heating and cooling equipment says for every 20 posting we have one qualified applicant right now. With the rise of AI, the demand for technicians to service data centers has exploded, Mr. Gitlin estimates for each data center, 4 technicians to maintain a single chiller are needed.

We have 425,000 technicians in the next 10 years we need to double that number. But the number of people going to vocational schools is dropping not growing.

Is the federal government helping? The Trump administration’s aggressive cuts to training programs for blue-collar workers is hurting training a new generation of factory workers.

In April, President Trump signed an executive order to Make America Skilled Again, which consolidates existing work-force programs into one initiative that will give states grants if they meet certain criteria. But then he cut $1.6 billion from work-force training.

Linking to dividend paying stocks, for politicians a slogan is wonderful, but for business it has be embedded in everything the company does. Carrier Global can be another way to play the AI trade because once the chips are in the data center, the building has to be maintained. You can expect similar to Apple, services fees will rise. This is good diversification income for the company.

There are more questions than answers, till the next time – to raising questions.

In every regulation that is put into place by the government, there is likely a need for it or it should not be there. The reality is not every regulation, or law is enforced the same. If you go back to the turn of the 1900’s many people chewed tobacco and if you have ever tried, you will need to spit more than every once in a while. If you are riding the trails in the middle of a cattle drive, you can spit anywhere. If you go into towns and cities, spiting is similar to dog’s pooping on the sidewalk. The solution was to install cans to spit into, as time changed the regulation against spitting on the sidewalk is likely still on the books of the city but rarely enforced because most of us do not chew tobacco.

President Trump came to office and one of his big goals was to close the border to immigration and send back anyone who came illegally, particularly if the person had committed crimes. The general public backs if the person has committed crimes, but many who are technically illegal work in various industries across the country.

In an article by Paul Wiseman of the Associated Press, farmers, cattle ranchers, hotel and restaurant managers breathed a sigh of relief that paused rounding up illegals in these industries. Then the pause was taken off and businesses were trying to figure out the government’s actual policy.

The big issue is US unemployment is at 4.2%, many businesses are desperate for workers and immigration provides those workers. According to the US Census Bureau, foreign workers made up 19% of the employed workers in 2023, but they accounted for 24% of the jobs preparing and serving food and 38% of the jobs in farming, fishing and forestry. They are also overrepresented in factories that in the food processing industries.

An ICE raid in New Mexico left a dairy with 20 workers down from 55. The issue is cows need to be milked twice a day, fed twice a day, who was going to do it or food would be spoiled.

A meat packer in Omaha, Nebraska lost over a 1/3 of its workforce, but its President said we followed the system for payroll, but ICE said the system was broken. Is that my fault?

No doubt some form of immigration standards need to be implemented the issue is who will do it? and what are the consequences of not doing it, or how can business have workers?

Linking to dividend paying stocks, depending on the industry, many companies depend on immigration for workers. Often times, it is the best and brightest that leave a country for a better life and the people start near the bottom of the pay scale. However, the skills they brought with them can be used and hopefully begin to receive higher income sooner or some form of savings. Talent pool are skills people have and all around the world, higher education is higher education, the difference is the company recognizing the talent and promoting people. Hopefully, profitable companies do this better and that is why you want to invest in them.

There are more questions than answers, till the next time – to raising questions.

If a company plays the long game, then it will often accept what appears to be unusual conditions, because it is looking down the road 20 years from now. If you examine the US, infrastructure is getting old and with budget deficits many improvements were put off. At some point, many bridges will need to be rebuilt, and they will need steel. The demand for steel will grow out of necessity.

Nippon Steel wanted in and the easiest way in was to buy an existing company. The Board of Directors agreed to the sale, then came politics. The 2 people running for President were older gentleman and they remember something of the strength of steel making in the years gone by. Technology has changed how steel is made, so companies that had not updated their mills for various reasons were falling behind.

In an article by Alexandra Alper of Reuters, Nippon Steel $14.9 billion acquisition of US Steel closed with Nippon Steel buying 100% of the shares for $55 a piece.

During the political season, the politicians were saying, US Steel has to stay American owned. They compromised and Nippon Steel has agreed to allow President Trump to appoint a Board member through a golden share which gives the government veto authority over corporate decisions such as idling plants, to cutting production capacity and moving jobs overseas. Nippon Steel had committed to keeping US Steel’s headquarters in Pittsburg and the government has a veto over moving headquarters.

Nippon will be investing in the plant including a $1 billion for a new mill which will increase to $3 billion by 2028. Nippon Steel whose specialty is high grade steel, expects demand to increase across the US.

US Steel’s union the United Steelworkers was against the deal and will be watching Nippon Steel.

Linking to dividend paying stocks, Nippon Steel is looking outwards and they are aware the investments in US Steel depend on the economy and being seen as an American company to win contracts for made in America products. They are also aware, that politics will move to different interests in the years ahead and as long as the demand is in the economy they can easily work with the politicians.

There are more questions than answers, till the next time – to raising questions.

In the technology world, there is a desire to be first and foremost to achieve a near monopoly position. If you can achieve it, then less money can be spent on advertising and prices will eventually go up to make profits. It often means first to service or capture a piece of the market. The Trump family has tried many licenses in the past, some succeed, some are wound down and some fail.

In an article by Bernard Condon of the Associated Press, the Trump family is licensing its name to a new mobile phone service.

Eric Trump announced the new venture to be called Trump Mobile. The plan is to sell phones that will be built in the US and will maintain a call center in the US.

The phone will be available in August at a price of $499 and is gold colored with the logo MAGA on it. The plan will be the 47 Plan (President Trump is the 47th President of the US) and cost $47.45 a month.

Although it will use 5G network of Verizon, AT&T and T-Mobile. According to analysts, there are plenty of less expensive plans that are not Trump Mobile and the likelihood of making a phone in the US is slim.

Linking to dividend paying stocks, while you can admire the Trump family for announcing the plan, the reality is dollars and sense and will the plan be profitable and operating in the foreseeable future? It is great to have ideas, but the business plan must make some sort of sense to continue otherwise it will be gone in a few months.

There are more questions than answers, till the next time – to raising questions.