Tag: stock markets

Wednesday’s Theme Music

Ashland, Oregon — Wednesday, April 8, 2026.

54 F, clouds are parading across our valley’s blue sky. Forecasters tell us we have a high of 75 F and thunderstorms expected this afternoon.

Relief and tension feed my morning. Mom went to her PCP yesterday for blood in her urine. “What transpired of that?” I asked.

“Nothing,” is the answer.

I don’t know what nothing means in this context because it can mean so much.

Mom’s outing yesterday was a bit chaotic. They arrived at the doctor’s office only to be told that Mom had cancelled the appointment. Mom replied, “I thought it was a video appointment.”

That triggers an abundance of questions, like, hey Mom, where do you think sis was taking you? Why did you ask for a specific outfit to wear to the doctor?

Sis managed to talk the office into seeing Mom anyway. The doctor talked to Mom at length about living in the assisted living center vs living at home with the physician telling Mom, “You need 24 hours asistsance.” Mom was adamant; don’t want to live there. Can’t afford it. “Sell your house.” No!

Around and around and around it goes.

Likewise, there’s relief that a cease-fire was called in Iran. Just two weeks, leaving open the questions, will it be honored and what happens after that?

Not a surprise at all but both Iran and the United States claimed victory.

Oil prices plunged. Markets surged. Neither of those are a surprise, either. Reminders proliferate among economists and pundits, the price of gas won’t drop quickly because it’ll take time to restore the supply chain and start facilities that were sidelined.

We filled our gas tank yesterday. What amazed us was the vehicle ahead. He took eight minutes to fill his truck. What is going on, we wondered. And how much is his gas? Turned out, he filled a 31-gallon tank, which is over twice our tank’s size: $192. This was at Costco, which offers the lowest gas price locally.

I joked, it probably took so long to fill because he had to call for a loan.

Back to Trump, I wondered what he learned from this episode. He had been talking about using the military in other places. Hope that he pulls back from that.

Then I check the news: Iran is stopping traffic from going through the Strait of Hormuz because Israel attacked Hezbollah in Lebanon.

Not surprising but I ended up thinking about storms and shelter. The Neurons fed “Gimme Shelter” into the morning mental music stream. The song features some relevant lyrics.

Ooh, a storm is threatening
My very life today
If I don’t get some shelter
Ooh yeah I’m gonna fade away

War, children
It’s just a shot away
It’s just a shot away
War, children
It’s just a shot away
It’s just a shot away

The Rolling Stones came out with this rock classic way back in 1969. I enjoyed this version with Lady Gaga visiting to add vocals. She delivers. Her shoes, though…amazing how she moves on them. Wow.

Hope peace and grace shelter you from the storms.

Cheers

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Wenzdaz Theme Music

Hammering echoes through the neighborhood with a roof repair cadence. My line of sight keeps me from identifying which house is under repair, leaving it a Wednesday morning mystery.

Ashland coasted into January 21, 2026, under a slate of rippled white clouds. Air stagnation still rules, and temperatures hang from 38 (my house and online) to 46 (Alexa) degrees F. Highs in the mid 50s are predicted.

I’m disappointed for myself for failing to see the northern lights the other night. I went out twice — ten PM and midnight — but remained out there only twenty minutes each time. I was hopeful, as it was a clear night, with abundant stars visible, but nothing appeared.

I also missed a green fireball going through the PNW sky. A dogwalker a half mile away from my place saw it just before 10 PM on Sunday. I cursed my timing when I read the reports as I’d been out with Papi just a little bit later. Someone photographed it in Beaverton and shared it.

Photo credit: Benjamin Z. January 2026

I like reminders that we’re just one planet in a big space, with things going on beyond our world. They gently pull me away from concerns about what’s going on in our world.

Trump and his behavior is one of those concerns. Complaining and combative in his speech at Davos yesterday, he’s assured the world that he won’t take Greenland by force.

But he wants Greenland and thinks it should be sold or given to United States. Trump said, “You can say yes and we’ll be very appreciative — or you can say no, and we will remember.”

Such provocative comments are driving increasing worry over Trump’s behavior.

“Calm down the hysteria,” Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said Tuesday. “Take a deep breath.”

“America First” does not “mean America alone,” Bessent insisted at a Monday gathering in this Swiss mountain town, where he urged friends “to follow President Trump’s lead for global prosperity, peace and a restored international order.”

If Bessent’s comments are meant to reassure me as a U.S. citizen, they completely missed. Trump announced more tariffs last week against EU members who are NATO allies because another country won’t cede a territory to him. Those actions distinctly say, “America alone.”

I’ll keep watching, worrying about what Trump will do next. It could be in pursuit of Greenland, more actions in Venezuela, or ICE in Minnesota. This behavior doesn’t necessarily shout, “America first,” but it does too often bark, “Trump first.”

Closing, today’s theme music is a Midnight Oil song called “The Dead Heart”. This is simply to honor and remember the drummer, Rob Hirst, who recently passed away. I enjoyed his music and talents, including this song. Watch him drumming in this video. He was having fun, playing music and singing.

Wish you all peace, happiness, and good health as you take on the day. Best of luck, whatever happens. Cheers

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Twosda’s Wandering Political Thoughts

I had an interesting exercise a short while ago. On a writing break to stretch my butt and water my mouth, I perused some NYT to chill before returning to my regular scheduled writing plan.

This really caught my attention. It’s the articles trending in the NYTimes. I noticed it when I finished reading an article about the Jeju aircraft crash that took place last December.

It’s quickly apparent that Trump’s moves are dominating stories at this venue. Ponder those titles. They reveal the divisiveness, uncertainty, and chaos Trump is causing. Those few stories that try to spin Trump’s actions as a ‘good thing’ are written by conservatives. Surprise, right?

BTW, that piece titled, “Opinion: Trump Has Everything Under Control” is the regular Gail Collins and Bret Stephens piece. It is not a positive piece about Trump.

Gail Collins: OK, Bret, I know you can’t tell the future, but give me a prediction. Will President Trump’s tariffs go down as one of the 100 worst decisions in presidential history? 50? 10?

Bret Stephens: As an economic matter, possibly the worst presidential decision ever. Say what you will about Herbert Hoover, but he was an honorable public servant who didn’t have the benefit of hindsight when he signed the Smoot-Hawley tariff into law in 1930. As a foreign policy matter, it’s at least in the top five worst. It’ll be a few months before we see the full consequences in terms of reciprocal tariffs, broken alliances, destroyed trust and an America that has dethroned itself from global economic leadership. And don’t be surprised if it leads to war, as global economic upheavals often do.

Other than that, Gail, it was a great week. Like millions of other Americans, I barely noticed losing a big chunk of my net worth. Can’t wait for all the price increases to kick in.

As for many other articles in this list, they often feature conservatives now bemoaning what Trump is doing to the United States and world economy. None of these stories were long. I read them all. What emerged to me was how many were still coping with Trump’s chaos as if this was a surprise. Come on, man, where were you people getting your news?

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Thirsta’s Wandering Political Thoughts

It’s Trump’s morning in America.

“The stock market is down over fourteen hundred points,” my wife greets me.

“Hey girl,” I answer. “Good morning.”

If my wife seems gleeful about the stock market, it’s because she’s angry. Bottom line, she’s in the FAFO camp. Reads ‘The Leopard Ate My Face’ tales daily. Spoons up all those tales about Trump supporters and apologists who are now Trump victims.

Trump said he would do tariffs when he ran for POTUS in 2024. Professional economists have almost all agreed, bad, bad, bad, bad, terrible idea. Trump always thinks he knows better than everyone else. He usually doesn’t. I mean, this is the guy who bankrupted a casino.

Facts don’t matter to Trump. You knew that if you watched his tariff announcement yesterday. He displayed a chart with bogus tariff info. It shows tariffs imposed on U.S. goods. Almost all those supposed tariffs by other countries are inflated by significant amounts.

With almost no surprise, then, worldwide markets dropped after his tariffs announcement.

Some people rationalize what Trump is doing as necessary. They prophesize Trump’s tariffs will bring jobs back to the United States. Factories will spring up like mushrooms after a rain across the nation. And those factories won’t use robotics, as many modern factories do. No, they will employ human, American workers. Even though the U.S. must import many of the raw and finished materials used in modern products, imported materials which will be high-priced due to Trump tariffs, those goods produced in these new factories will be amazingly cheap because they’re made in the U.S.A. There won’t be any profit taking and price gouging, because that’s not how corporations work in the United States. And the workers in those factories will be magnificently compensated for their hourly labor because companies in the United States are known to generously pay hourly employees. Why, it’ll be the greatest economy ever!

If you believe all that, I have an automobile manufacturing plant in Ashlandia to sell you.

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