Fall is here and it actually looks pretty sunny and bright
We are moving into fall this week though, as Texans, it will only really feel like fall around Halloween.
In truth, it may be more like Thanksgiving.
Beyond the weather, there is much to take in this week. Trump will speak Tuesday at the UN General Assembly and welcome Xi Jinping for a summit on Wednesday.
If that wasn’t enough, there will be a meeting between Trump and New York City Mayor Mamdani to discuss all that they agree on, which is Nada.
While that will all come to little or nothing, it is worth noting that last week the Fed met and raised interest rates by a quarter point.
His remarks centered on The Fed being focused on inflation.
The markets fell back but seemed to maintain a floor above 7500 for the S&P 500.
With a positive open to the market at the beginning of the week, we see the S&P pushing back toward 7700.
For all the concern about how poorly September has proven for the markets, it is not so bad so far.
For whatever you take out of all of that, we had certain high tech officials opining that we could all be eliminated by AI.
Wong of Nvidia was quick to dismiss such, as was Trump.
What seemed to be the real reason behind the scare tactic was the concern by some that AI companies like Anthropic and Open AI were actually fishing for the US government to protect these companies on the liability side.
Always follow the money.
Of interest to me was the fact that while the S&P 500 is up double digits, China’s stock market is barely positive.
Some suggest that there might be value with such companies as Tencent and YUM China.
I have owned the latter for years and it provides a dividend and has increased in value.
On the other hand, my investment in Alibaba has been much more up and down and way more just going nowhere.
Not sure what to think.
One sector that is has really grown is the container vessel market.
You would think diesel prices would cut into earnings, but they must be passing the increased costs along.
All I know is that the sector is way up.
The only value play I could find was Seanery Maritime Holdings and it isn’t that great of a value.
I did see a new story that there is a shortage of oil tankers and that might lead to higher earnings.
That of course assumes they don’t come under fire.
I did read with interest the potential for investment in Cuba, assuming the communist party loses power.
There is talk of a stock exchange and gambling being considered.
Given the proximity to Florida and all the refugees still living there, it seems that reinventing the economy south of the US is starting to take shape.
Maybe there can be something more than drugs that will benefit the rest of the population in these countries, especially in Central America.
It appears we are not limiting our focus just south, as there appears to be an agreement with Greenland on a permanent military presence to defend the Arctic.
Now if we could find a way to create a level playing field with Canada.
Not sure that will happen anymore than it does with Mexico.
All said and done, it is a precarious time of the year for the markets and I am able to take hope into the scary October when Halloween can bring more than just some masks, costumes, candy and horror.
That will come with the November elections but what, me worry?
