The National Federation of Independent Businesses (NFIB) is an assembly and survey of small business owners throughout the U.S.  In the latest survey (full pdf here) overall optimism is the second highest ever recorded at 107.9 (the highest reading was 108 in 1983).

The full press release is available here.  The full pdf of the survey is available here. The executive summary outlines the overall content and highlights the sentiment amid Main Street U.S.A.:

[…] Although some panned any celebration of the 4.1 percent second quarter GDP growth, small business owners beg to disagree. At least in the small business sector of the economy, Main Street’s performance over the last 21 months is unprecedented based on reports for the past 45 years by hundreds of thousands of NFIB’s member firms. Owners have never been so optimistic for so long. This has translated to improved employment and investment spending that buoys GDP growth, even at the end of what will be the longest expansion in modern history.
Consumer sentiment is at record high levels. Consumer spending, which accounts for 70 percent of our economy, posted 4 percent growth in Q2. Historically revised data show that consumers have been saving much more than thought, and income gains in recent months have been solid, providing support for spending in the second half. The record levels of firms reporting higher compensation is a clear indication that wages will be rising further in the second half.

(more…)

House Intelligence Committee Chairman Devin Nunes is currently traveling in Europe and calls-in to Maria Bartiromo to discuss the natural gas pipeline that would reduce Russia’s energy influence in the region.
In the aggregate – the energy initiatives supported by President Trump and U.S. policy is an extension of the Trump Doctrine to use economic power, and specifically energy supplies therein, as an alliance tool to disrupt international states who weaponize energy to control energy-dependent states; thereby neutralizing malevolent interests/influence.
At 05:15 the topic switches to discussion of the ongoing oversight review of conduct from corrupt officials within the DOJ and FBI.  WATCH:

(more…)

Methinks Maria Bartiromo is the only media person who has caught on to “the secret“.
Within her wording and presentation today, inside this interview Fox News Maria Bartiromo hints toward her understanding of the Trump trade strategy as it pertains to Mexico, Canada and ::cough:: NAFTA ::cough::

 Nudge/Nudge – Elbow/Elbow – Wink/Wink – Say no more/Say no more!

.
After the end of Round #6 (January 2018), it was obvious to POTUS Trump a NAFTA renegotiated deal was impossible.  In March, 2018, Team Trump stealthily began moving in a different direction.  In June,2018, Canada accidentally made the admission there were no ongoing talks between the U.S. and Canada.  The reasoning is simple yet stunning.
(more…)

Earlier today U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer messaged a warm birthday greeting to Mexican Foreign Secretary Louis Videgaray during ongoing negotiations between the U.S. and Mexican trade teams (video below).

Canada is FUBAR. No-one quite knows how FUBAR Canada is, because no-one has  followed the brilliant Wolverine crew closely enough to spot the strategy.
At the strategic direction of President Trump; and it is a really brilliant workaround strategy; the U.S. and Mexican teams are approaching the current NAFTA negotiations from a position of bilateral trade.   Trade watchers, Wall Street experts, financial pundits and the entire media apparatus are missing what Team USA are doing right in front of their faces…. they’ve obviously never followed or studied Trump’s out of the box problem solving when it comes to complex deals.
I won’t rehash the NAFTA flaws; familiar CTH readers know them well.  However, the bottom line is NAFTA is NOT, repeat N.O.T being renegotiated. I was going to remain silent, but I think it’s safe, Lighthizer is close enough to a deal to explain what’s happening.
(more…)

…”Responding to a question about the reason for the activists’ arrests, Jubeir said that charges against them would be made public once their cases reach the courts, repeating earlier allegations that they had been in touch with foreign entities.”…

While not delivering specifics on the activity, from hints provided it appears Justin from Canada and his partner Princess Chrystia Freeland was/is supporting a subversive effort to undermine Mohammed Bin Salman (MBS) and the Saudi royal family.  Not good.

RIYADH/DUBAI (Reuters) – Saudi Arabia said on Wednesday there is no room for mediation in the kingdom’s deepening diplomatic dispute with Canada, and that Ottawa knew what it needed to do to “fix its big mistake”.
“There is nothing to mediate. A mistake has been made and a mistake should be corrected,” Foreign Minister Adel al-Jubeir told a news conference in Riyadh.
In an indication that the quarrel may worsen, Jubeir said that the kingdom was still “considering additional measures” against Canada, but did not elaborate.

(more…)

Apparently Justin from Canada, sans Princess Rainbow Sparkles, has asked the U.K. and United Arab Emirates to intervene after Saudi Arabia puts a ban on commerce, and cancels grain purchase contracts…

(Reuters) – Canada plans to seek help from the United Arab Emirates and Britain to defuse an escalating dispute with Saudi Arabia, sources said on Tuesday, but close ally the United States made clear it would not get involved.
The Saudi government on Sunday recalled its ambassador to Ottawa, barred Canada’s envoy from returning and placed a ban on new trade, denouncing Canada for urging the release of jailed rights activists. Riyadh accused Ottawa on Tuesday of interfering in its internal affairs.

(more…)

While European countries criticized the move by Trump to exit the Iran deal, the challenge for their domestic businesses is to weigh the potential loss of American business against deals with Iran that are minuscule by comparison.
U.S. Ambassador Richard Grenell has been meeting with numerous CEO’s within Germany to inform them:  “either do business with Iran or the U.S., but not both.”

(Bloomberg) — U.S. President Donald Trump’s desire to isolate the Iranian economy seems to be working.
Within hours of Washington unveiling its first round of sanctions, German carmaker Daimler AG froze a plan to make Mercedes Benz trucks in Iran. That’s even after the European Union tried to salvage the Iran nuclear deal by pledging to protect firms from Trump’s assault.

(more…)

The Chairman of the National Economic Council, Larry Kudlow, gives an extensive interview to C-SPAN discussing his life, his career and his role in the White House.
Those who have followed the granular details of the how President Trump put together his team -to carry out decades-long discussed policy- will find this interview interesting. Kudlow has evolved in the past year from a MAGAnomic supporter to a MAGAnomic advocate.

(more…)

Many people are perplexed about the severity of Saudi Arabia’s response after Justin from Canada and Foreign Minister Crystina Freeland began denouncing KSA’s action in jailing a Saudi national, Samar Badawi (pictured below with Obama and Clinton), likely a member of the Muslim Brotherhood, for action against the government.  It certainly appears there is a bigger backstory here than generally visible.


Saudi Arabia said on Sunday that it is ordering Canada’s ambassador to leave the country and freezing all new trade and investment transactions with Canada. “We consider the Canadian ambassador to the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia persona non grata and order him to leave within the next 24 hours,” Saudi Arabia’s Foreign Ministry said on Twitter.
Perhaps… just perhaps, this action is connected to a larger issue of Canada’s severe leftist ideology, their support for the Muslim Brotherhood, and their relationship to the “Five Eye’s Intelligence” network.
With all of the revelations in the past year, it would not be surprising to discover a coordinated -and ideologically driven- effort by a left-wing international intelligence community against political adversaries. Remember, in the bigger picture, the ongoing challenge in Saudi is a confrontation with the Muslim Brotherhood…. a Brotherhood entirely supported by the political left; including Justin Trudeau and Crystia Freeland.
(more…)

The big-eared British guy wearing Linus’s T-Shirt does have a point; and asks the same question CTH has pondered before: Why do foreign governments need lobbyists?

(more…)