Midnight Tariff, Midnight Bubble: How Not To Become Collateral Damage

As the markets first rebounded to ever more ludicrous heights after Christmas Eve, and are now stumbling hard once again, a singular question becomes increasingly urgent. To wit,

“How can I avoid becoming collateral damage when the breakdown now underway finally becomes an unstoppable meltdown like 2000 and 2008?”

That question has become red hot with salience this week as the US/China gong show unfolds in Washington. The level of confusion, conflicting signals and sheer incompetence is so high that even the Wall Street chart-monkeys are getting vertigo.

And the trade trainwreck is just getting started.

As of Thursday evening, US consumers and importers are being monkey-hammered with $62.5 billion of import taxes. But the Donald has gotten so smitten with his tariff panacea that he’s likely to go the full monte: That is, impose a 25% tax on all $563 billion of Chinese imports, which would amount to a $140 billion unguided missile aimed at not just the domestic economy, but the entire China-focused global supply chain which serves it.

Moreover, even if cooler heads eventually prevail and there is a further interim trade truce or even some kind of face saving shape-of-the-table “deal”, it won’t really lift the gathering storm clouds. That kind of “deal” would merely initiate further rounds of uncertainty-generating “negotiations”.

What’s actually happening is that Wall Street and Washington have run out of room to kick the can on trade and a host of other incendiary issues.

The Fed has become a confused tower of babel, Washington is bitterly divided and paralyzed politically like never before, the national debt and US treasuring borrowing are soaring and the Orange Swan in the Oval Office is close to being completely out of control and completely off his rocker.

These conditions would be problematic enough in normal times—yet this moment is anything but normal. The system just can’t take any BIG SHOCKS because the Fed is out of dry powder, main street is buried in debt and Wall Street is feverish with end-of-the-bubble speculation,

Literally, anything could happen next.

So to address these fraught conditions head-on, we will be holding a free webinar on Saturday, May 18th at noon ET.

We will be discussing our latest political, economic and market outlook with Chris Martenson of PeakProsperity.com. We’ll identify the risks that most concern us and the key crash indicators we’re watching most closely.

But more than just data, we also want to give you ideas for action—-for how to avoid becoming collateral damage as the two ends of the Acela Corridor threaten to stumble into a monumental collision.

That’s why we will also be joined by the managing partners of Peak Prosperity’s endorsed financial advisory firm who will field live Q&A from the audience regarding your most important questions on prudently navigating today’s dangerous markets.

Please join us for this free webinar by registering here.

And don’t worry if you can’t attend the webinar when it airs live. A replay video of the full event will be sent out afterwards to everyone who registers.

One thing you can be sure of is that it’s only going to get more turbulent, confusing and unpredictable from here. So now is the time to get prepared and to put in place a portfolio strategy that can weather whatever may come barreling down the treacherous pike ahead. Register for this webinar now.