Continuing to look at the new economy through the prism of the new dimension, CTH notes the manufacturing landscape is shaping itself as predicted.  However, the disclaimer should also be noted that most economic observers are stuck in old economic paradigms.

[…]  The Institute for Supply Management said Monday that its manufacturing index rose to 57.8 last month from 54.9 in May. Anything above 50 signals that factory activity is increasing. The measure now stands at its highest level since August 2014, pointing to solid economic growth. (link)

Overall the trend-line is very positive for a resurgence in U.S. manufacturing.  According to the report fifteen of the eighteen manufacturing industries surveyed posted growth in June.  Those gains included: furniture, machinery, fabricated metals, petroleum and coal sectors. One transportation equipment firm surveyed for the report said “demand is up 5 to 7 percent.”

The manufacturing base is responding (via investing) to predictable market patterns.  However, the rate of response (production investment) will increase in direct proportion to the upcoming (late summer) trade negotiations.  Please keep that in mind.

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For the past three days we’ve been assembling a great deal of research on visible back-channel communication amid numerous nations and their economic teams.  There are tectonic plates shifting just below the Geo-political surface, and we will be outlining many of them, along with the predictable economic outcomes (bigly), in the next few days.

In the interim, it’s useful to review the latest information from NatSec McMaster and NEC Cohen as it relates to the upcoming objectives from the next segment of foreign travel.

National Security Advisor General H.R. McMaster and Director of the National Economic Council Gary Cohn pre-brief the media on President Trump’s upcoming trip to Poland and Germany for the G20 Summit.  An important read:

[Transcript] 1:21 P.M. EDT – AIDE: Hi. Just want to restate the ground rules. Today’s briefing is off camera, on the record, and the audio is not for broadcast. It is embargoed until the end of the briefing.

And with that, I will turn the podium over to —

Q Can you make this on — can you make the audio available? Because it puts radio at a disadvantage.

AIDE: It is off camera, not for broadcast. Those are the ground rules.

And now I’m going to turn it over to General H.R. McMaster and Gary Cohn. Thank you.

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President Trump and Energy Secretary Rick Perry, together with EPA Secretary Scott Pruitt and Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke, are doing something with energy independence that was long discussed but never acted upon.  Forget the Paris Climate Treaty, this Trump action on energy development is in a stratosphere thought almost unimaginable.

Together the entire cabinet has studied, formulated and instituted an executive American energy policy platform to go beyond mere energy independence, and actually start using energy resources as an export commodity for economic growth.

Pause for a moment and consider just how monumental that approach actually is; and also overlay the independent national security ramifications therein.  Oddly enough, we predicted this two years ago.

[…]  Trump has proposed continued investment and exploration of “clean coal” technology using the vast coal mine resources in the Appalachian Range throughout West Virginia and into Pennsylvania. Trump has proposed energy export leverage (oil, coal, natural gas) as part of the larger Trade-deal packages.

The U.S. can negotiate a resurgence of U.S. manufacturing with lower fully developed energy costs, a competitive advantage; and simultaneously our abundant resources in energy fuels also provide trade leverage (standards and tariffs) through energy export.

With a fully utilized energy sector, the U.S. can also use the accompanying economic growth to invest in alternative resource development such as nuclear, solar and wind. The costs of alternative fuel research and development become underwritten by the expansive use of current resources. (link)

The intensely consequential outcome is a visible representation of ‘America-First’ principles applied to deliver MAGA level shifts in the future of our nation.  Massive possibilities for wealth creation at local and state levels; and simultaneous national security interests. Win – Win – Win… And yet stunningly this result is only in one sector of national security and national economics.

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Moments ago President Trump and First Lady Melania Trump welcomed Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi to the White House.

Prime Minister Modi is currently in United States in the second leg of his three-nation tour. This is PM Modi’s fourth visit to the US. However, this is his first visit to US with President Donald Trump, and comes at a time with Geo-strategic security and and economic trade interests at the forefront of policy issues for both countries. (Video and Pictures below)

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There was a widely read Chicago Tribune op-ed written a few days ago outlining an approach to dissolve the entire state and apportion the geography to Wisconsin, Indiana, Kentucky, Missouri and Iowa. –SEE HERE–  It was written tongue-in-cheek, but with an uncomfortable level of reality behind it.

Illinois has been struggling with its finances for a long, long time.

The Illinois long-term labor pension liabilities are ridiculous in the extreme.  However, things just went from bad to jaw-droppingly, gobsmackingly, unbelievably worse.

According to the latest financial media reports, Standard and Poors Global Ratings agency has positioned Illinois bonds to drop below “investment” grade; that would make Illinois the first state in the nation to achieve “junk bond” status.

(Via ABC) Illinois is on track to become the first U.S. state to have its credit rating downgraded to “junk” status, which would deepen its multibillion-dollar deficit and cost taxpayers more for years to come.

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Details are beginning to surface of a fraud investigation that began in 2016 as a result of complaints about Jane Sanders and her role in obtaining multi-million-dollar loans for a now defunct (closed in May ’16) Burlington University.  Many people might remember the origins of this story which began long before the presidential primary season last year.

BACKSTORY – At the end of 2010, Mrs. Jane Sanders took out $10 million in loans on behalf of Burlington College to purchase a 32-acre swathe of land from the Roman Catholic diocese, which put the land up for sale to help cover the costs of a $17 million sexual-abuse settlement

As Ms. Sanders pursued financing for the land acquisition, she repeatedly said that Burlington College had received more than $2 million in fundraising commitments and pledges, according to numerous records. However, in fiscal year 2011, Burlington College raised only $279,000, though the college had earlier claimed to have secured $1.2 million in confirmed pledges.

The college almost immediately fell short on its financial obligations as the fundraising pledges and commitments Ms. Sanders cited in loan agreements never materialized. Less than a year after leading Burlington College into massive debt, Ms. Sanders resigned, taking with her a $200,000 severance package.  The college was forced to close in 2016.

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Before the Cedar Rapids MAGA rally, President Trump visited Kirkwood Community College for a speech on agricultural innovation with governor Terry Branstad and Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue.

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Intensely successful leaders, the ones of serious consequence, listen intently to the voices of people closest to the work before embarking on transformation. The expertise is always closest to the work. The most successful titans of industry have always kept themselves deeply connected to the actual work.

[VIA Mike Rowe] Barry Stout‎ writes… OMG did you have a chat with the President and Ivanka? I was just listening to the announcement and presser about 6 million open jobs in the country…Who knew?!

Ken Lucke writes… Did you write the comments for Sec. Acosta this morning? He sounded almost like you in his push for apprenticeship and vocational training. Your thoughts?

Sean Brink‎ writes… Thought I’d share this article with you, in case you hadn’t seen it. Sounds encouraging towards your pursuit. Ivanka Trump: CEOs can’t fill 6 million jobs, more skill-based training needed.

Gentlemen:

It’s been very gratifying, (and maybe a little vindicating,) to hear so much talk about the skills gap over the last 48 hours. To answer your question, Barry, yes – I did meet with some people from The White House a few weeks ago.

I happened to be in DC when I got an email inviting me to discuss mikeroweWORKS with the Assistant to the President and Director of the Office of Public Liaison. George Sifakis and his team were kind enough to meet me at my hotel in Georgetown, where I shared with them my belief that closing the skills gap will only happen if we reinvigorate the trades, and make a more persuasive case for the jobs themselves.

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Commerce Secretary Wilbur “Wilburine” Ross sits down for a big picture conversation to discuss the upcoming NAFTA (North American Free Trade Agreement) trade renegotiation.

This interview is well worth the time to understand the dynamics and objectives of the Trump administration.

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We are incredibly blessed to have Wilbur Ross, Steven Mnuchin (Treasury) and Robert Lighthizer (U.S. Trade Rep.) as the leading edge of the new America-First economic revitalization.

These U.S. policy titans of trade, finance and commerce are the most comprehensively well-skilled people we have had assembled in our lifetime.

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United States Secretary of State Rex Tillerson and Saudi Arabian Foreign Minister Adel al-Jubeir hold a press briefing shortly after President Donald Trump and Saudi King Salman signed a series of agreements, including a military sales deal.

Expansive Transcript to include the media question and answer session is provided.

[United States Office of The President and U.S. Department of State]

Important Reminder – The scope of the economic impact of this ‘bilateral’ trade agreement has additional benefits when you consider within the next 12 months the U.S. Trade Team (Ross, Lighthizer, Mnuchin and T-Rex) will be renegotiating NAFTA, and bilateral trade with China, the European Union and the U.K. 

FOREIGN MINISTER AL-JUBEIR: Are we ready? Okay. Good evening, everybody. I would like to welcome all of you to the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. It’s a great pleasure and honor for me to welcome my colleague and friend Rex Tillerson on his first visit to Saudi Arabia as Secretary of State. Mr. Secretary, while this may be your first visit as Secretary of State, you have been here many, many, many times over many, many years. You know our country and our region extremely well. And I believe your country is fortunate to have you as Secretary of State during this period. We in the region feel very fortunate having you at the helm of the State Department.

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