Business

In what may the flip-flop that resonates the most among his core voter base, Trump said that contrary to recent reports that the White House demands funding for Trump's proposed wall along the Mexican border be part of the spending bill - which has become a wildcard whether the government is shut on Friday night or not - Trump said on Monday that he is "open to waiting until later this year" to secure funding for said wall, a flop that would clear the way for Congress to strike a deal to avoid a government shutdown on Saturday, the WSJ reported.

Authored by Michael Pento via PentoPort.com,

Wall Street and our central bank are in for a rude awakening very soon! The idea that the US economy is on stable footing and about to experience a surge in growth is ridiculous. Hence, the consensus that the Fed can normalize interest rates and its balance sheet is nothing short of a bad joke…and it’s on them.

Authored by Adam Taggart via PeakProsperity.com,

G. Edward Griffin, the author of the seminal book on the formation of the Federal Reserve, The Creature of Jekyll Island, joins the podcast this week to add his perspective to our ongoing critical examination of the Fed and the impact its actions are having on society.

Meeting Ed and getting to spend time with him was a real honor for Chris and me. His breadth of knowledge of the central banking system as well as his engaging manner of storytelling are masterful. Plus, he's simply a wonderfully kind person.

As Saudi Arabia's deputy crown prince pushes his nation's Vision 2030 economic overhaul and crows of the $2 trillion Saudi Aramco valuation (ahead of its potential IPO), WSJ reports that officials at the state-owned oil company are using internal value estimates to $1.3 to $1.5 trillion, calling bin Salman's estimate "unrealistic and mind blowing."

Even as the US retail industry is in a tailspin of historic proportions, the ad spending market must be better than ever, because on Monday Google parent Alphabet closed up 2.3% at a new record high, and as Bloomberg pointed out, the company's market value crossed above $600 billion for the first time ever.

Investors chose not to wait for GOOGL earnings, and bought up shares ahead of the announcement driven by positive analyst comments ahead of 1Q results on April 27 and as the S&P North American tech index rose 1.4% with broader markets rallying.