Quote of the Day: "Tariffs Are Bad"

Notes from the Dallas Fed Manufacturing Survey released this morning speak volumes about why we said at the beginning of the year (and have stressed repeatedly since) that protectionism is the looming threat that could put our bullish thesis to the test:

“...steel and aluminum tariffs are a drag”, “Tariffs are bad. Tariff waivers for preferred companies, a.k.a. picking winners, is also bad.”, “We are not yet sure if this slowdown is being caused by the China tariffs”, “The current U.S. trade policies are causing customers to rethink longer-term purchases”, “Trade issues create a level of uncertainty for us”, “Constant conflicting information from D.C. regarding tariffs, etc., has confused our planning process dramatically.”, “We would like to see improvements in economic relations with China and Russia.”

This week's G20 summit in Argentina -- where U.S. and Chinese leaders are scheduled to meet -- is near-term huge!