+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

For those who did not watch the Kessler interview of Trump and the "Trump Dynasty" programs on NEWSMAX and A&E TV you should watch in order to get the essence of the man, what makes him tick, if you have not already figured him out.

If you are a Trump Hater, you have a ton of ammunition to justify/buttress your viewpoint. On the other hand, if you are willing to excuse/overlook a lot about Trump and focus more on his accomplishments you come away with a better understanding of the man, but still must swallow hard.

Trump's father had a tremendous influence over him and taught him there are two types - winners and losers'. Military School taught Trump how to associate with the aggressor and come out ahead, even on top. In other words, work a system that is/can be your enemy and make it become your friend.

Having spent four years in Military School and entering at a very impressionable age ,I learned things similar to what Trump did and they are a very part of my being to this day. That said, Trump is far tougher than I could ever be because he is a New Yorker, is a street fighting, a counter pusher and I am basically a pussycat. Trump, as a real estate developer, also had to contend with the Mafia that controlled cement, and the political and bureaucratic corruption that exists in New York. He also is driven by the need to be rich.

He is a very complex and insecure man. I am far more laid back and comfortable in my own skin but have my insecurities as well.

The last insight I gathered, from watching the series, Trump seriously studies and learns from the mistakes of others. Obviously, Trump is street smart, a marvelous marketer, understands people and their own needs, has his insecurities, as we all do, but wins more than he loses and does not let his defeats, defeat him. He is basically an optimist, is willing to cut corners when it comes to telling the unadulterated truth because he uses words as stepping stones to his ultimate goal of achieving victory. Being on top seems to be critical to him because, as one author said, he thinks Trump also possesses a very empty soul. Something is missing. Another associate, who knows Trump well, says he always needs an object to deride.

His distaste/contempt for the mass media came after his Atlantic City bankruptcies and second divorce when he was vilified and dumped upon by a press which totally rejected him after pursing him while he was on top and ascending.

For me, and in the current political and social environment, Trump is who I want on my side. The fact that he places America First, that we live in a world full of snakes, Trump provides me a certain degree of comfort as my president. No, I do not find everything he does and says acceptable. I wince at times and wish he would not always go the extra mile at being nasty because it is not endearing but he is a killer type so the downside comes with the territory.

My personal view is Trump's attraction to the "little people, "the deplorables," the less well educated." "the working stiff's," the "forgotten man." is that a down to earth, billionaire understands them, is comfortable with them, as they are with him and he satisfies their need to have someone in their corner against the establishment who have disadvantaged them. This is why the voter shift has occurred and Republicans have become the party of the worker and Democrats the party of the wealthy elite technology crowd.

Therefore, in the context of a different age, Trump might not be acceptable and/or successful but in the world climate we currently live in, the past mistakes America has made and, until Trump, seemed willing to accept, because we lost our way, and the need to return to where we must be is critical to our survival, I take Trump over Biden any day.

Finally, two other issues that were discussed that I believe are worth mentioning.

Again, for those who hate Trump, he believes people, basically, do not change. Consequently, if that be so, the playboy real estate mogul, with the huckster personality, has now become our president .

And:

Driven by a need for money to finance his large appetite for wealth, fame and ego satisfaction, Trump has established financial connections with some very unsavory people, particularly Russian oligarchs, who have criminal records and Trump appears to have been reckless in his due diligence.

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

No sooner I had written the above I received this from a very dear friend ad fellow memo reader. Very serendipitous

TheAngry Man

For all the interest group pandering that shapes modern

American politics, the group that may well have decided the

election recently might have come down to the demographic

of “The Angry Man.

The Angry Man is difficult to stereotype. He comes from all

economic backgrounds, from dirt-poor to filthy rich. He

represents all geographic areas in America, from sophisticated

urbanite to rural redneck, Deep South to Yankee North, Left

Coast to Eastern Seaboard.

No matter where he’s from, Angry Men share many common

traits; they aren’t asking for anything from anyone other than

the promise to be able to make their own way on a level

playing field. In many cases, they are independent

businessmen and employ several people. They pay more than

their share of taxes and they work very hard for what they have

and intend to keep.

He’s used to picking up the tab, whether it’s the Christmas

party for the employees at his company, three sets of braces,

college educations or a beautiful wedding or two. Not because

he was forced to, but because it’s the right thing to do.

The Angry Man believes the Constitution should be interpreted

as it was written. It is not as a “living document” open to the

whims and vagaries of appointed judges and political winds.

The Angry Man owns firearms, and he’s willing to pick up a

gun and use it in defense of his home, his country and his

family. He is willing to lay down his life to defend the freedom

and safety of others, and the thought of killing someone if

necessary to achieve those goals gives him only momentary

pause.

The Angry Man is not, and never will be, a victim. Nobody like

him drowned in Hurricane Katrina. He got his people together

and got out. Then, he went back in to rescue those who

needed help or were too stupid to help themselves in the first

place. He was selfless in this, just as often a civilian as a police

officer, a National Guard soldier or a volunteer firefighter.

Victimhood syndrome buzzwords; “disenfranchised,”

“marginalized” and“voiceless” don’t resonate with The Angry

Man. “Press ‘one’ for English” is a curse-word to him.

His last name, his race and his religion don’t matter. His

ancestry might be Italian, English, African, Polish, German,

Slavic, Irish, Russian, Hispanic or any of a hundred others.

What does matter is that he considers himself in every way to

be an American. He is proud of this country and thinks that if

you aren’t, you are whole-heartedly encouraged to find one

that suits you and move there.

The Angry Man is usually a man’s man. The kind of guy who

likes to play poker, watch football, go hunting, play golf,

maintain his own vehicles and build things. He coaches kid’s

baseball, soccer and football and doesn’t ask for a penny. He’s

the kind of guy who can put an addition on his house with a

couple of friends, drill an oil well, design a factory or work the

. He can fill a train with 100,000 tons of coal and get it to the

power plant so that you can keep the lights on while never

knowing everything it took to do that. The Angry Man is the

backbone of this country.

His last name, his race and his religion don’t matter. His

ancestry might be Italian, English, African, Polish, German,

Slavic, Irish, Russian, Hispanic or any of a hundred others.

What does matter is that he considers himself in every way to

be an American. He is proud of this country and thinks that if

you aren’t, you are whole-heartedly encouraged to find one

that suits you and move there.

The Angry Man is usually a man’s man. The kind of guy who

likes to play poker, watch football, go hunting, play golf,

maintain his own vehicles and build things. He coaches kid’s

baseball, soccer and football and doesn’t ask for a penny. He’s

the kind of guy who can put an addition on his house with a

couple of friends, drill an oil well, design a factory or work the

land. He can fill a train with 100,000 tons of coal and get it to

the power plant so that you can keep the lights on while never

knowing everything it took to do that. The Angry Man is the

backbone of this country.

He’s not racist, but is truly disappointed and annoyed, when

people exhibit behavior that typifies the worst stereotypes of

their ethnicity. He’s willing to give everybody a fair chance if

they’re willing to work hard and play by the rules. He expects

other people to do the same. Above all, he has integrity in

he does.

The Angry Man votes, and he loathes the dysfunction now

rampant in government. It’s the victim groups being pandered

to and the “poor me” attitude that they represent. The inability

of politicians to give a straight answer to an honest question.

The tax dollars that are given to people who simply don’t want

to do anything for themselves. The fact that, because of very

real consequences, he must stay within a budget but for some

obscure reason the government he finances doesn’t. Mostly,

it’s the blatantly arrogant attitude displayed implying that we

are too stupid to run our own lives and only people in

government are smart enough to do that.

The Angry Man has reached his limit. When a social justice

agitator goes on TV, leading some rally for Black Lives Matter,

safe spaces orother such nonsense, he may bite his tongue

but, he remembers. When a child gets charged with carrying a

concealed weapon for mistakenly bringing a penknife to school,

he takes note of who the local idiots are in education and

law enforcement.

But when officials are repeatedly caught red-handed breaking

the law and getting off scot free, The Angry Man balls-up his

fists and readies himself for government the coming fight. He

knows that this fight, will be a live or die situation, so he

prepares fully. Make no mistake, this is a fight in which he is

not willing to lose and he will never give up.

Obama calls him a Clinger.

Hillary calls him Deplorable.

Bill calls him Redneck.

Black lives Matter calls him Racist.

Feminists call him Sexist.

ISIS calls him an Infidel.

Donald Trump calls him an America.

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

I failed to enumerate one important attack on Trump in my previous memo.

He was castigated for leaving The Paris Accords and we were warned the world would end by dear Greta, the Green's Poster Child - Trump understands climate changes. His concern has more to do with economic cost/benefit issues and relationships and what other nations will or will not do if we embrace costs that make us less competitive.

Second, we have made extraordinary progress in matters of climate change and pollution. Greens are always pushing for the unachievable, the extremes so they can be critical and paint those as uncaring if they are unwilling to embrace their scientific levels and goals .

Third, progressive radicals always forecast gloom and doom into the future because it is based on uncertainties which cannot be proved or dis-proved. Neat trick in order create now that which cannot be rationally debated because it may never occur. I call it "grabbing the illusive cloud concept."

The fires ravaging California and other Western States suggests Greens chose the wrong approach towards containing fires which have destroyed acreage equal to the state of Connecticut.

In a more recent interview with Mark Levin, Trump reported he has removed all restrictions on Federal land in California requiring poor land management and does not understand why California's Governor does not do the same with respect to state land management regulations that allow for underbrush to become a fire hazard.

Finally:

One important point I would like to make is that when foreign affairs are more stable it allows any president to focus on domestic issues. What Trump has been able to accomplish in getting N Korea to re-think bellicosity, his challenges to China and wiling ness to sell arms to Taiwan is a subtle reminder two can play the game, his sanctions against Iran and Russia and his demands Germany cease gas purchases from Putin are important steps in fighting back. Obama caved, apologized and foreign policy slipped away from our hands.

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++Ross Raves (slightly edited.)

.. it took ten years for the Nasdaq to recover from the Dotcom bubble burst in 2000. There is a major difference in the Nasdaq today vs 2000. Back then there were dozens of make believe companies, whereas today we have the world’s largest, most liquid companies, making up a big portion of the tech sector, and the top companies in the Nasdaq 100. There is no relationship between the Nasdaq of 2000 and today, so don’t make the mistake of comparing the two periods. All of the FANG stocks have enormous cash balances on their balance sheets to be able to ride out any economic downturn including as we just saw, the total shutdown of the world economy. They also have well proven products and giant customer bases. We are in a totally different world today from 2000, where today, the FANG stocks actually benefited from the shutdown. What the tech sector is experiencing right now is simply the normal pullback correction from extreme exuberance by day trader amateurs, and options games of August. Things will settle down in time, and if Trump wins, the R’s hold the Senate, and if GDP is over 30% in Q3, which is almost certain now, and if unemployment drops to around 7% -7.25% by end of Oct which is very possible now if you listened to Jay Powell, then we will see new highs by year end. If none of those happen, we saw the highs, and it will be a long wait to revisit them.

Job growth in the US is exceeding the rest of the world. There is now real demand for retail and other lower paid workers which tells us consumers are back spending. Wages for the lower income workers are up 10% this year despite the pandemic. Job placement services say getting rid of the $600 did make a real difference in getting people back to work. Around the Hamptons there are help wanted signs on several stores, and this is after Labor Day when things normally slow down a lot. Retail sales were up .7% in August, a continuation of good growth. Household income rose 6.9% in 2019, and the poverty rate dropped materially. These are the best results for lower income workers in decades. Proof again that it is the private sector creating jobs that lifts low income families, and not more entitlements that just creates dependence and lack of incentive to work. That is the real difference between Republican policy and Dems and now we have the data to prove it.

The capital markets are back strong. IPOs and acquisitions are happening at a high level now that the stock market has rallied back from March. Even CMBS lending is back on track with spreads closer to pre-pandemic levels. A big portion of the economy is doing quite well right now. Companies are taking advantage of their higher stock prices, and low cost of debt. A lot of companies are cash rich, with high stock prices. I expect we will see a lot more deals happen in the next 60 days. It is still not clear if the Oracle TikTok deal will happen due to regulatory issues. It is very unclear what the real deal is yet.

Options trades by amateurs has driven a lot of the runup in tech stocks. In August traders bout $500 Billion notional value of options. That is 5 times the prior record high amount. That means the options sellers of calls had to match that with buying the shares to cover. All of this was on top of the $50 billion notional value of the Softbank $4 billion of options. Single stock options exceeded trading of real shares in August. That has never happened before. Normal options trades are around 40% of stock trades. It is likely many of those options are out of the money now. This is classic amateurs chasing the bull until it turns around and gores them. Robinhood, the commission free day trader site has been responsible for getting the kiddies to trade and as the stocks went up they chased it more and more not realizing that stocks do have corrections and options can become worthless. It seems this will continue for a while contributing to volatility. I do not play those games.

UBS is proposing to acquire Credit Suisse. That is very telling in that it indicates how much trouble the EU banking system is in. For these two giants to merge suggests they need to bulk up to meet the competition from the big US banks and to survive the EU tough economy. There are likely to be many more such mergers of EU banks.

It is likely that now that stocks are back down to somewhat more rational levels, a lot of that cash that was sitting on the side will possibly come back into the market. That does not mean volatility will not continue into November 3, and it may be really bad after the election as the vote count could go on for days, and then be contested. Unless Trump wins with very big margins in key Dem states on election day, this is going to be ugly. Dem states will be counting ballots for up to 6 days after. They want time to let their vote harvesters have plenty of time to run around and get people to vote after election day. Late October into the final election count is going to be very risky in the market. The Fed has done its best, but now it is lots of other factors.

Pelosi now has no choice but to do a deal or she could lose the House in November. $1.5 billion +- with legal protection and $300 supplement. Small number for cities and states, but with lots of restrictions.

The ten year is at .67 which means rates on borrowing remain ultra-low, and will remain ultra-low for maybe three more years. Very good news for the mortgage market and housing. More importantly, very good news for consumers as well as business borrowers. Takes major a lot of pressure off everyone while the economy is in trouble. Likewise, oil is at around $39 which is not good news for the oil patch, but is excellent news for consumers as we head to the winter heating season. All of these things are allowing savings to be very high and consumers to be able to reduce their debt. This sets up to have retail sales recover well as people get back to work. It is why 2021 could be a very good year unless Biden and the Dems win and start imposing high taxes and regulation, with Warren attacking banks and oil companies.

It is likely when the world gets back to some sort of normal in 2021, urban offices will likely have 20%-25%, or so, of people working from home, mostly full time except for one day a week in the office to maintain cohesiveness of the team. Another group will be in 2-3 days, most likely, but it will unlikely be everyone in every day except traders and some groups where it is best to have project teams in one place. Over time it is likely that well over 60% will be back full time, but it is too soon to forecast. Too many have gotten used to remote, and not commuting, and it is now clear that in the event of bad weather, or some other event, almost everyone will work from home that day. Productivity will improve materially in winter climates as a result. FYI there has been a big run on generators here in the Hamptons as many have decided to work from here mostly full time. Since power loss in big storms is not uncommon here, it appears many are preparing for that. NYC and San Fran need to do a lot more to clean up, and go back to safe streets, end homeless, and reinstall regular garbage pickup. In NYC it is not the virus, it is the standard of living which under DeBozzo has sunk to a low we have not seen in many decades. San Fran and Portland are the same. I have not been back to my apartment in 9 months, and will likely only go in for a day or two before I head to FL. It was bad enough to deal with terrible street crime and bums on the subway and streets in the Dinkins days, but now I have a choice to stay away. I am not at all unique now. There is no way many of the small businesses and restaurants can survive this in NYC, and Cuomo is doing nothing to fix the problem. There was a very good and in depth article in the WSJ recently that detailed how Cuomo made numerous very bad errors, and it killed thousands of old people needlessly, and made NY the epicenter. It was Cuomo, not Trump, who made the decisions, and who downplayed the virus for too long. If Cuomo had not screwed up we would have had 25,000 to 30,000 fewer deaths in the US, and one of the best records in the world.

Trump has completely changed the Mideast and world geopolitics, and Pelosi and the press claim it is a distraction, and try to ignore what has just occurred. The foreign minister of the UAE called it a remarkable piece of diplomacy. How irresponsible can the senior Dems be. The Arabs need to know the US is there for them regardless of who is President. The entire world will benefit from Iran becoming isolated, and unless Biden wins and reinstates the nuke deal, Iran is going to remain in a state of collapse. It is very possible that if Trump wins, Iran will see a revolution or at least civil disorder in the next 4 years. Their currency is down over 80%, the virus took a big toll, and the economy is in shambles. If Trump wins and the pressure ratchets up, and as the Arabs and Israel team up against them, Iran becomes more like Venezuela. They will not be able to support the terrorists, and that means Hamas and Hezbollah get squeezed for money to carry out any attacks. It also means the Palestinians get squeezed and have to make a deal, as they will have no place to turn, and their young people will see everyone else doing well by partnering with Israel, but not them. The Palestinians cannot survive without cash from the Arabs and Israel, so they will have no choice at some point. If Hamas can be destroyed, then a real peace deal is possible, but that will take a long time. At some point the people of Gaza will realize they are living in hell, while everyone else is doing well cooperating and making peace with Israel. Hamas will not go quietly, but without money from Iran they will have real problems keeping control. Squeezing Iran is key to everything, and Biden and Kerry would destroy this great opportunity for peace, just as they did with the original nuke deal. And Biden says he wants to restart that agreement. Peace in the Mideast would suffer a huge setback if that happens. One other huge benefit of the peace deals is it keeps China out of the region and solidifies US dominance. Even Iraq is getting much closer to the US, and moving away from Iran now. The press and the establishment in DC said Trump would cause war. Instead he brought peace that nobody in the establishment was ever able to do, and he now has peace talks happening in Afghanistan.

There are extraordinary advances now happening using AI and robotics for surgery. It materially enhances the ability of the surgeon to be much more precise, and to have much better detailed information when undertaking a procedure. Robots now can actually do some surgery in some situations, and do it faster and more precisely than a human. They combine information from an MRI and other diagnostic tools into the computer driving the procedure, and the robot then can pinpoint the exact place to do the procedure, be it surgery or radiation. I experienced this when I had radiation for prostate cancer where very precise targeting of the beam is required. Now robots can be used for hip surgery and similar procedures. We are very likely just at the start of this new world of medical care. Better outcomes will be delivered from this. They do not eliminate the human doctor, but AI has faster access to far more data, and a vast storage of similar cases and data on which to draw and do instant analysis to help the human doctor make better decisions on how to proceed. A robot arm is also more precise and steady than a human. Human docs do screw up once in a while. The combination of the human doc, plus AI and a robot, combines the best of all three. This is very expensive and complex equipment, which is why in the future it will be important to be where there is a big hospital that can afford the equipment investment, and highly trained and experienced docs to use these tools.

Two cops got shot in an assassination in Compton. Another was killed in NC. Protesters showed up at the hospital in CA and shouted for the cops to die. What do we hear from Pelosi, Schumer, or the mainstream media. Or any of the left wing talking heads who were so upset by Floyd or Blake, or the Wendys incident. Where is Serena who is from Compton. Crickets. Where are the protesters against violence- they are at the hospital shouting for cops to die. People witnessed the shooting but did nothing at all to help the cops. And this is supposed to engender good feelings toward blacks? Where is the bartender from the Bronx mentioning the cops who got shot. In fact where are she and Bernie. Hidden away now so Joe can make believe he is moderate. The more there are cops being hurt and shot, the more voters are going to say this has to stop, and Biden is not the guy to stop it, and Dem mayors and governors need to be replaced. Shooting the cops may have finally put it over the top. There are already 4 times as many cops who got killed this year than all of the unarmed blacks in all of last year. More blacks died this past weekend in Chicago, killed by other blacks, than all of the unarmed blacks killed by cops in all of 2019. Where are the Dems kneeling for them. Why are the Dems and press pushing “reimagine policing”, instead of demanding an end to attacks on cops. The cops were serving their communities, not high on drugs resisting arrest. Corporations who pander to BLM, this outrageous organization who has chanted for cops to be fried like bacon, are disgraceful. Sports teams pandering to this instead of supporting cops are equally at fault.

What a juxtaposition - 9-11 anniversary-- a bunch of despicable jerks paid millions to play a game, kneeling for criminals, but not honoring the American flag that so many others have sacrificed for. Where is the sign in the arena -- American soldiers and first responders lives matter. Where is the mention of the cops who got shot.

It is clear now that Vindeman is the whistleblower.

If there is systemic racism how did Obama get elected twice, and why didn’t he and the Dems fix that.

If you are a professor with other than a far left view of the world, you best look for a new way to make a living. Some have already been fired this semester, or had classes taken away from them because they had the audacity to speak reality, or to say something innocent that the snowflakes convoluted to claim it was other than an intellectual use of a word. Now they feel “unsafe”, whatever that means these days, or “harmed”, as in are they bleeding? Are they now suffering PTSD. Deans of course have no backbone, and fold and pander to this garbage, which just encourages more of this outrageous behavior. Somebody should send every dean or university president a pair of brass balls with an instruction sheet.

Remember how the Dems and the press excoriated the R’s for taking money from the Koch Bros. Well what do we hear now with Bloomberg spending $100 million just in FL. That is OK for him to try to buy the election with an insane amount of money. What was it the bartender, Warren, and Bernie had to say about billionaires should not be allowed to exist. The press keeps quoting Real Clear Politics averages of polls. Averages of incorrect numbers is garbage in, garbage out. It has no real meaning. Let’s see what the polls say in mid and late October.

If you think climate change caused the fires how come neither Canada nor Mexico has any fires. The Canadian border provinces have the exact same forests. They do good forest management in Canada

In case you had any lingering doubt about San Fran being lunatic, they are considering letting 16 year olds vote. Does a 16 year old even know who is running and what for. Likely they will vote for whoever promises an extra three days off from class.

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Whether most voters/Americans realize it or not the pandemic allowed governors (not Trump) to take away/curtail many of our freedoms. We were told we could not pray, assemble and if we spoke out we were attacked, some were fined and even jailed. None of these actions have come before The Supreme Court but they will and should.

Chipping way, through legislation, our God Given Bill of Rights, relating to the 1st and 2d Amendment envisages a dangerous potential and we know Chief Justice Roberts has positioned himself to keep The Court out of politics by acting political.

America be better served if the Court was re-balanced with Justices less prone to legislate as opposed to interpretation of the language of The Constitution.

Language, debates and the Federalist papers give tremendous insight into what our Founders intended. Today's Justices were not engaged and/or present. I prefer the words and actions o

f The Founders.

Can you imagine if Congress sought to draft a Constitution today? Obamacare ran to over 2000 pages and Pelosi said we had to pass it to find out what was in it.

Only the insane and deranged could favor such.