The potential for supply chain disruption as a result of China dealing with the Coronavirus, and almost a complete shutdown of their manufacturing economy, is looming heavy upon Wall Street multinationals invested in China.
However, tangentially related, as a result of USMCA we are now seeing signs of shifted investment into North America and increases in forecasts for U.S. manufacturing.

(Via CNBC) […] Early in the week, New York’s Empire State Manufacturing Survey for general business conditions posted a reading of 12.9, up 8 points from January and its best level since May. New orders surged to 22.1, the highest since September 2017, and shipments rose to 18.9, the best since November 2018.
On Thursday, the Philadelphia survey exploded 20 points higher to 36.7, the highest since February 2017. New orders hit their highest since May 2018. (more)

The Philadelphia FED tracks factory orders in eastern Pennsylvania, Southern New Jersey, and Delaware.  New orders in that region soared far higher than all expectations, reflecting a strong consumer-driven economy with ongoing purchases of durable goods.
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President Trump and Ecuadorian President Lenin Moreno deliver remarks to the press pool prior to a bilateral meeting in the White House. [Video and Transcript Below]

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[Transcript] – PRESIDENT TRUMP: Well, thank you very much. It’s great to be with the President of Ecuador — and it’s one of the most beautiful countries in the world — and perhaps equally as important, and maybe even more importantly, your great First Lady. Thank you very much for being here. This is a tremendous honor. Some of the most beautiful landscapes in the world and one of the most beautiful places on Earth, they say. I’ve heard that for a long time.
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Earlier today President Trump and First Lady Melania Trump welcomed the President of the Republic of Ecuador and Mrs. Rocio Gonzales De Moreno to the White House.
Ecuador is a key country for stability in central America.  A key topic of discussion between the two leaders will be Venezuela.  Ecuador is suffering firsthand the effects of Nicolas Maduro and his dictatorship in Venezuela with waves of economic migrants from Venezuela arriving through Colombia to Ecuador.   The refugee crisis represents a fiscal strain and also a security threat. There are 400,000 Venezuela refugees in Ecuador.

Counter-narcotics and a trade agreement are also a priority for this meeting. The United States and Ecuador are very close to a free trade agreement. USTR Robert Lighthizer has held a successful round-one negotiation for trade and investment with the Ecuadorian Commerce Ministry; and a second round is likely very soon.

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Ecuador and the United States are working toward an energy and infrastructure framework agreement under America Crece.  Brazil is likely to join in March and they will join Panama, Chile, Argentina, Jamaica, Colombia, El Salvador, and hopefully Ecuador.

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Wow, earlier tonight the great Lou Dobbs shared some incredible information with his audience that highlights just how Machiavellian the DC system of tiered justice can be.
In a tremendous exposé on Fox Business with Lou Dobbs, the intrepid bringer of sunlight outlined how the Senate Intelligence Committee Security Director James Wolfe leaked the FISA application used against Carter Page and how DC U.S. Attorney Jessie Liu dropped all charges related to the leak and instead only charged Wolfe with one count of lying to FBI investigators.   Wolfe only received a 60 day sentence.  WATCH:

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It would appear Mr. Dobbs expose’ helped bring sunlight ultimately resulting in the withdrawal of Ms. Liu’s nomination.  Dobbs is terrific.  Thank You !
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Complicated business folks, complicated business....

WASHINGTON – President Trump is withdrawing his nomination for former U.S. attorney for D.C. Jessie Liu to serve as the Treasury Department’s undersecretary for terrorism and financial crimes, a top position overseeing economic sanctions, according to two sources with direct knowledge.
[…] This was “the president’s call,” according to a former administration official familiar with the situation. The decision, which was made today, has administration officials questioning the circumstances that led to Trump changing his mind — with the developments in the Roger Stone case today being the only one they are aware of.  (read more)

Great job folks. Apparently the Senate will not have  to ask Ms. Liu any pesky questions…. Imagine that.

Earlier today President Trump hosted a business luncheon with U.S. governors to discuss economic expansion and administration policy efforts to assist the states.
[Video and Transcript Below]

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[Transcript] – THE PRESIDENT: Wow. Thank you. Thank you. (Applause.) Thank you very much. Thank you very much. Thank you. Thank you. It’s a great honor to have you at the White House, a very special place. Beautiful and so meaningful in so many ways. And our country has never done better. You’re all doing really well. Every state is doing well. I can say most every state in the room today is setting records. And we’d like to think that the federal government has been helping you a lot.
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White House manufacturing policy advisor Peter Navarro has an important discussion with Maria Bartiromo about the consequences of the Coronavirus which includes the need for U.S. companies to return manufacturing to the United States on key medical products and pharmaceuticals.   A very important subject.
Both Navarro and Bartiromo note that our dependency on Asia for medical products is a problem when a global virus erupts, global demand for those products peaks, and the supply of those products becomes most urgent.

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It would seem obvious (to me) that medical products and pharmaceuticals would be two sectors for the Commerce Department (Sec. Wilbur Ross) where a national security review would be well worth the time & effort.  The multinationals would fight the administration, but it might be worth this fight.
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Former U.S. Attorney for DC, Jessie Liu, is scheduled for a Senate confirmation hearing this upcoming Thursday at 10:00am. There’s also an unreported background story connected to the DOJ, Rod Rosenstein and Ms. Liu so controversial, it’s as big as Spygate.
In the event any Senator on the approval committee would be brave enough to question the participant here’s the story:

EVENT ONE – On February 9th, 2018, the media reported on text messages from 2017 between Senate Intelligence Committee Vice-Chairman Mark Warner and Chris Steele’s lawyer, a lobbyist named Adam Waldman. In 2017 and 2018 Mr. Waldman represented the interests of dossier author Chris Steele and Russian Billionaire Oleg Deripaska.
There was some initial media discussion of the text messages, and some eyebrows raised over why the Vice-Chairman of the SSCI would make statements saying “he would rather not have a paper trail” around the Steele communication, but generally speaking the DC media dropped the story quickly. It just didn’t fit the anti-Trump narrative in early 2018.
Unfortunately, because of the lack of media curiosity some rather elementary questions were never asked (let alone answered). Questions including: •Why were the 2017 text messages between Mark Warner and Adam Waldman captured? •Who captured them?.. and, perhaps more importantly: •why were they released?
The February 2018 story soon disappeared, and no-one ever paid enough attention to go back and see the answers to the questions….
We did.
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Senator Tim Scott appears with Maria Bartiromo to discuss how President Trump delivers on his promises and relentlessly achieves results despite opposition. Senator Scott was the architect of the ‘Opportunity Zones’ policy to deliver private investment incentives for distressed communities. As noted in the interview, one of the outcomes from that successful initiative is an eight percent increase in wages within the zone. Good stuff.
During the segment discussing the State of the Union, Senator Scott notes the conduct of Speaker Pelosi was not the tearing of a speech, it was “the shredding a reality that this nation continues to rise to the occasion and we do it consistently.”   Discussing the fraudulently created impeachment; and the House effort to hide the ICIG testimony; the senator from South Carolina notes: “it’s a shame because it’s a sham.”

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All those corrupt local Puerto Rico officials who have used U.S. disaster response aid to enrich themselves had better watch out.  President Trump has just assigned Coast Guard Rear Admiral Peter J. Brown to take charge of all U.S. efforts on the island.
Rear Admiral Brown is an excellent man with a servants heart, but he is also a very deliberate and serious man.  And this man knows the island; we have crossed paths….

[White House] President Donald J. Trump has named U.S. Coast Guard Rear Admiral Peter J. Brown of Florida as his Special Representative for Puerto Rico’s Disaster Recovery. In this capacity, Admiral Brown will coordinate United States Government efforts to build the infrastructure and resiliency of Puerto Rico.

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