Iranian backed Houthi terrorists used ten drones to attack Saudi oil production facilities in Saudi Arabia’s eastern province.  The attack caused Saudi Arabia to shut down half of their crude production facilities; repairs are underway.

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In response to the attack President Trump called Crown Prince Mohammad Bin Salman (MbS) to offer his support:

White House – Today, President Donald J. Trump spoke with Crown Prince Mohammad Bin Salman of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia to offer his support for Saudi Arabia’s self-defense. The United States strongly condemns today’s attack on critical energy infrastructure. Violent actions against civilian areas and infrastructure vital to the global economy only deepen conflict and mistrust. The United States Government is monitoring the situation and remains committed to ensuring global oil markets are stable and well supplied. (read more)

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The recession-hoping pundits took more blows to their remaining credibility today when both the Commerce Department and the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) deliver excellent economic results from August that continue to exceed MSM expectations.
The Commerce Dept. announced that retail sales climbed by 0.4 percent in August, twice as high as the 0.2 percent analysts had predicted. The result highlights retail sales strength of more than 4 percent year-over-year.   These excellent results come on the heels of blowout data in July, when households boosted purchases of cars and clothing.

The better-than-expected number stemmed largely from a 1.8 percent jump in spending vehicles. Online sales, meanwhile, also continued to climb, rising 1.6 percent. That’s similar to July, when Amazon held its two-day, blowout Prime Day sale. (link)

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A series of very strong internal economic evaluations today from the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) and the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) show the Main Street economy is perfectly positioned with maximum benefit to the U.S. middle-class.
First, despite two years of doomsayer predictions from Wall Street’s professional punditry, saying Trump tariffs on China would create massive inflation…. It Ain’t Happening!  Overall year-over-year inflation is hovering around 1.7 percent [Table-A BLS]; that’s a low inflation rate.  Rate has firmed up now with less month-over-month fluctuation, and the rate remains consistent.   [See Below]

A couple of important points.  First, unleashing the energy sector to drive down overall costs to consumers and industry outputs was a key part of President Trump’s America-First MAGAnomic initiative.  Lower energy prices help the worker economy, middle class and average American more than any other sector… Except ‘food at home’.
Which brings us to the second important point.  Notice how food prices have very low year-over-year inflation, 0.5 percent.  That is a combination of two key issues: low energy costs, and the fracturing of Big Ag hold on the farm production and the export dynamic:
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Democrat president candidate Elizabeth Warren has made a campaign promise that is quite remarkable:

The consequences of such policy are not esoteric; they are very real and very serious.  Who would immediately benefit from Warren’s policy: Russia, China, Iran and Venezuela. Who would suffer, Americans.  Here’s how…
Within the first 24 hours of Elizabeth Warren’s presidency she is promising to dramatically raise the price of Oil and Natural Gas.  This will:

• Immediately hand Vladimir Putin hundreds of billions worth of enhanced Russian energy exports.  A windfall of economic growth that will mean Russian policy expansion globally.
• Support the regime of Venezuelan dictator Maduro who relies on oil production and pricing to keep his socialist government in place.
• Expand the influence of China; and increase the value of Beijing’s investments in Russian energy and 49% state in PDVSA (Venezuela).
• Immediately help the Iranian economy; enhance the stranglehold of power by the Mullah’s over the Iranian people; help fund terrorist actions globally, and specifically create terrorist attacks in Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Libya and Israel.
• Return U.S. policy and strategy back to a position of dependence on OPEC nations; so we can expect more U.S. military involvement in the middle-east (as above).

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The needle on the CTH winnamometer momentarily pegs ‘too much‘…
[Backstory Here] After quite widespread discussion on the Energy Star Thermostat Report, and the ridiculous recommendations to set thermostat to 82° when sleeping, the U.S. Department of Energy (Secretary Rick Perry) issued the following statement:

…”It is the position of DOE that Americans should set their thermostats to whatever temperature they choose.”..  (link)

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Fresh from the same Dept. of Energy and EPA that gave us: toilets that don’t flush; light bulbs that don’t light; dishwashers that don’t wash; plant-based fuel that burns like carrots; and paper straws that dissolve in liquid….  Now we get this:

[…] Energy Star, the federal program from the DOE and the Environmental Protection Agency, said the coolest you should keep your home is 78 degrees when you’re home.
When you’re at work or away, the program recommends setting it at 85 degrees. When you’re sleeping, Energy Star said to set the thermostat at 82 degrees. (link)

Setting the thermostat at 82° at night is well recognized grounds for divorce. I swear these administrative state progressives are going to have us force-fed sustainable algae cakes if this keeps up.
Some journalist-type person published these new cooling standards on twitter, and the responses are quite funny.
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White House trade and manufacturing policy advisor Peter Navarro appears on Fox News to discuss the status of the U.S-China trade negotiations and the reason for a USTR delay on some product tariffs.
Peter Navarro confirms what we noted from the office of USTR Robert Lighthizer yesterday.  On December 15th “the tariffs will go on.”   While the statement flies over the head of Stuart Varney, Navarro confirms the “next step” process that Lighthizer implied.

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More below
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President Trump travels to Pittsburgh, PA, today to tour the Shell cracker plant and deliver remarks on “America’s Energy Dominance and Manufacturing Revival.” The anticipated start time is 2:10pm EST. [Update – Video Added]

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China needs to buy dollars to backstop their own currency (¥uan). When China trades with the U.S. they hold the return dollars as a peg against their weak currency.  Remove the flow of dollars (lessen exports) and they start to run out of strong pegged currency.
What is happening today is not as much direct devaluation by China; rather they are intentionally allowing their currency to drop in value, in an effort to lower export prices and off-set any tariffs from the U.S.   Simultaneously, Beijing is spending internally, burning cash, to keep their economy from weakening.  Their Yuan burn rate is greater than the influx of higher valued dollars needed to hold their position.
They cannot keep this position indefinitely.
First, here’s a solid interview with former CEO Gerald Storch on how the currency devaluation leads to lower prices for U.S. consumers.  Again, emphasizing the point that U.S. consumers are not paying for the tariffs against China.  Watch:

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The Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA) released significant wage and salary data yesterday which held stunning upward revisions for 2018 and 2019.   Wage growth of 5.5% combined with low inflation remaining at 1.4 percent; the disposable income of U.S. workers jumped to a stunning 4.1%.  [Data Tables]

Within the revised BEA data, we find employee compensation rose 4.5% in 2017 and 5% in 2018.  Importantly the growth trend continued into 2019, with compensation increasing 3.4 percent in the first six months alone.  Year-over-year wages and salaries were revised upward to 5.3% for May, and 5.5% in June.  These are stunning increases in worker pay.
There are various economic indicators we have shared through the years, but wage growth is one of the more critical.  First, wage growth lags behind business activity – workers don’t get pay raises until after business volume demands/provides it.  Second, wage growth is generally uni-directional – once businesses hike pay, the increases cement.
As the Wall Street Journal put it:
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