“Please note in today's Rundown the date of August 18, 2024,” wrote John T. about Monday’s issue. “Impressive that apparently using AI you can predict market activity in the future even for a Sunday! LOL. I enjoy the Rundown!” 

Ugh. I’m an idiot — especially on Mondays. 

Moving on, Randy adds his opinion to the mix: “I’m a couple days late in responding to the Gaza protests, but people seem to believe there are no consequences for their actions, even when they violate the freedom of others. 

“Encampments are not protests. They are designed to disrupt and alienate the lives of others. 

“My suggestion for dealing with these bullying tactics: For those students who violate the law, charge them so they can have their day in court. Criminal records always look good on a CV. 

“Due to the generous offer from the Houthis, I’m sure protestors will like their new classmates in Yemen. Pretty sure their experience would stop this nonsense.” 

In more news… 

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Your Rundown for Wednesday, May 15, 2024...

Tariff Thunder

Last year, The Rundown drew readers’ attention to mass graves in China. 

To be precise: acres of abandoned electric vehicles… 

Courtesy: YouTube
Drone footage from Hangzhou, Zhejiang Province

In 2009, the Communist Party of China (CCP) started offering EV subsidies — with rebates as much as $8,400 per vehicle. 

In true Communist make-work fashion (plus plain ol’ human greed), the quality and/or quantity of the EVs was entirely inconsequential. 

“Companies rushed to market with unimpressive offerings,” says an article at Reason, “some [EVs] got barely 60 miles of range per charge.” 

YouTuber Winston Sterzel observed one “EV graveyard” in Hangzhou (see above), citing the vehicles all had registration plates. 

Sterzel “alleges that Chinese EV makers register the cars and claim to have sold them… to obtain subsidies from the government,” per the website InsideEVs. 

Reason adds: “China's example shows how subsidies skew the market. With the promise of free money, hundreds of companies flooded the market with substandard products.” 

By 2019, when subsidies evaporated, about 80% of Chinese EV manufacturers fizzled out too. 

(Keep in mind, whatever a government subsidizes, it gets more of. In China’s case, abandoned EVs are contributing to a real ecological disaster in the making. Irony.)

Chinese-made EVs are back in the news this week… 

Automaker BYD, for example, would like to export its EVs to the U.S. With one model priced at $12,000, there might be consumer appetite too.

That’s why Biden announced — among other levies — a 100% tariff on Chinese EV exports yesterday, taking the wind out of Trump’s sails, by the way.

“In March, Trump said that, if elected as president later this year, he would put a 100% tariff on ‘every single car that comes across the line’ from Chinese-owned manufacturing plants in China,” The Guardian notes. 

“Biden has taken a hard line on trade since arriving at the White House in 2021 and believes his plan offers a more targeted — and less risky — approach to the threat posed by China than that of his rival.” 

Which is quite the about-face… 

Whatever you might think about this two-faced move, Biden claims he’s “not looking for a fight with China.” 

For what Biden’s word is worth. 

Market Rundown for Wednesday, May 15, 2024

The S&P 500 is up 0.60% to 5,275. 

Oil is down 0.85% to $81.65 for a barrel of WTI. 

Gold’s up 0.65% to $2,375.10 per ounce. 

And Bitcoin’s rallying: up almost 5% to $64,445. 

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