To quote Michael Corleone (kinda sorta) Every time I try to get out (stop posting) they pull me back in…Lol. I'll try to make this my last post today. I promise!

"Stocks extend losses amid Trump fallout"

Stocks fell Thursday after President-elect Donald Trump disappointed investors during his first news conference since July on Wednesday.

The Dow was down 109 points after falling nearly 170 points earlier, with Goldman Sachs contributing the most losses. The S&P 500 was down 0.5 percent, with information technology and financials lagging. The Nasdaq underperformed, falling 0.65 percent.

"Donald Trump's press conference on Wednesday was not what investors wanted to hear, with talk of protectionism and more company bashing not exactly being market friendly," Craig Erlam, senior market analyst at Oanda, said in a note.

Trump took shots at the pharmaceutical industry, which sent health care and biotechnology stocks reeling. He also failed to provide new details on three of his key policies: tax reform, deregulation of certain sectors and fiscal stimulus.

So-called safe-haven assets rose on Thursday, with gold futures breaking above $1,200 per ounce, a key technical level. U.S. Treasury prices also rose, with the benchmark 10-year note yield falling to 2.32 percent and the short-term two-year note yield slipping to 1.16 percent.

The U.S. dollar fell sharply against a basket of currencies, with the euro near $1.064 and the yen around 114.4.

"With the engine behind the Dollar's aggressive appreciation partly attributed to optimism over Trump boosting US growth via fiscal spending, the uncertainty presented yesterday should expose prices to renewed downside risks," said Lukman Otunuga, research analyst at FXTM, in a note to clients.

"While the news conference covered topics about the Russian hacking reports, Trump's separation of his business empire and repeated criticism of the media, the lack of details of the President-Elects administration's plans for economic stimulus simply left Dollar bullish investors empty handed," he said. [….] – MSN/ CNBC

The president-elect packs his news conference with paid aides ready to jeer reporters.

Excerpt:

NEW YORK — When Donald Trump gathered the press at Trump Tower 20 months ago to announce his unlikely candidacy for president, he reportedly paid actors to fill the marble lobby and cheer.

Not much — and everything — has changed since.

On Wednesday morning, when the president-elect once again faced hundreds of reporters from around the globe gathered in his lobby — this time for his first press conference in seven months — Trump filled the room with paid staffers who clapped and cheered as he blasted members of the media as purveyors of “fake news.”

It was Trump’s method of battling back an extraordinary report that U.S. intelligence officials have presented both Trump and President Barack Obama with unverified allegations that Russia has compromising information about the incoming 45th president, including about a reported salacious encounter in a Moscow hotel room. […] – Politico

My wife and I don't have that much time left. Likely we're at the age where we don't buy new batteries for our watches, nor fashion conscious clothing. Might not even be around for the next presidential election, but we do warn the next generation of the demise of democracy at the hands of a carnival barker and that ilk behind him. […]

NRO Reader:
– Trump staff were coordinating with Russia to smear Clinton
– Trump has some deep, questionable financial ties to Russia
– Trump likes prostitutes to urinate on him

But sure, I guess he's better than Clinton? {sarcasm} […]

Politico Reader:
Listen to / read his words very carefully. Observe his scattered dissembling speech patterns and how he manages to contradict himself in the same sentence. Watch his obvious disdain and hostility towards others who disagree. This is a man with serious mental pathologies. It is why Ivanka and Jared stay so close. They know something is wrong with him.

We have a serious problem on our hands in DJT as POTUS. [….]