The Least Worst — and Six Trends For 2018 February 9, 2018February 9, 2018 One way to think about the market: were you more or less confident in the country’s prospects and prosperity when Obama was President than you are now? > If you were more confident then — when the Debt was finally again shrinking relative to the economy as a whole — why should the Dow be much higher now? (The Dow was 18,000 or so the day of Trump’s surprise win.) > If you are more now than then — with the tax cuts, deregulation, and giant deficit juicing the economy, but departed Trump advisor Omarosa Manigault Newman opining “it’s not going to be okay” — that could justify at least part of last night’s 24,000 or so close. I didn’t think the market was undervalued then at 18,000. And I doubt it’s a steal here at 24,000. Though what do I know. Monday, I hope to post “Pre-empting the October Surprise.” Still working on that one. But for now, three links: Bruce Bartlett tweeted this link to a Ben Carson profile, with the comment: “I can’t think of a single Trump cabinet secretary who isn’t the worst person ever to hold that position in departmental history.” Bartlett, a Republican, served in the Reagan and Bush 41 administrations. Housing Secretary Carson, this profile makes clear, is one of the least-worst of the bunch. Here, from the kind of global consultancy CEOs pay huge bucks to hear from, are Six Trends for 2018. Following up on yesterday’s book-plug, watch this 45-second trailer. More compelling than the blurb I posted. Have a great week-end!