Dow futures plunged 200 points early this morning after China denied a call had taken place with Trump’s team (a headline that had juiced US equity futures 700 Dow points off overnight lows).
Trump and Mnuchin quickly sprang into action to try to talk the market back up:
Reporter: “Did you mean to say that there was also a call last night [with China] or was there not actually a call?”
Steve Mnuchin: “There were discussions that went back and forth, and let’s just leave it at that.”
Trump [interrupting]: “Last night. And before last night.”
But one glimpse at Mnuchin’s face (the worst poker player ever) tells you all you need to know about what really happened…
Reporter: “Did you mean to say that there was also a call last night [with China] or was there not actually a call?”
Steve Mnuchin: “There were discussions that went back and forth, and let’s just leave it at that.”
Trump [interrupting]: “Last night. And before last night.” pic.twitter.com/2eqUD8k384
— Bobby Lewis (@revrrlewis) August 26, 2019
https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js
But, the market bought it and the algos immediately kneejerked higher…
The issue at hand is 1) Mnuchin wants to shut down the discussion immediately rather than discuss any more details and 2) they appear to reference comments from Chinese vice premier Liu which were made to the Chinese press (confirming no desire to escalate a trade war) as opposed to an actual call overnight.
We give the last word to Jim Cramer, who waltzed onto CNBC’s set this morning and proclaimed:
“You can claim that the president’s a liar, but the futures are up, so I don’t care…”
Indeed Jim, that is all that matters…
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