San José, CA – U.S. stocks fell again on Monday, August 12 as growing recession worries were added to ongoing concern about the direction of Trump’s trade war with China. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell almost 400 points, or 1.5%, while the broader markets fell by smaller percentages of about 1.2%.

U.S markets have the worst day this year

San José, CA – On Monday, August 5, China replied to Trump’s new tariff threat by calling off the purchases of U.S. agricultural products and weakening government support for the RMB, China’s currency. In response the RMB fell to 14 U.S. cents, meaning it will take slightly more than 7 RMB to buy one U.S. dollar. Soybean prices also fell, as China is the largest foreign buyer of U.S. soybeans.

San José, CA – On Thursday, July 31, President Trump tweeted that he would be imposing new tariffs, or taxes, on the $300 billion of Chinese goods not covered by his 25% tariffs. U.S. stocks took an immediate dive, giving up all of their 300-point gain to drop 280 points for the day. They continued to fall on Friday, leading to the worst week for U.S. stocks all year.

San José, CA – More cracks showed up in the U.S. economic expansion as the May employment report saw a gain of only 75,000 net new jobs, less than half what most economists expected. In addition, the Labor Department revised the job creation numbers down by 75,000 for March and April. Over the last four months the economy has added new jobs at a rate of 130,000 per month, much less than the 223,000 new jobs added each month on average in 2018.

Minneapolis, MN – “The area we were in was an opposition neighborhood, but nobody’s leaving their houses. The news in the U.S. is saying people are flocking to the streets because they’re ‘being liberated’, but no one’s leaving their houses. It was so untrue it was shocking,” said Tracy Molm, to about 40 community members gathered to hear her firsthand account of the events of April 30 in Caracas, Venezuela.

San José, CA – On Tuesday, May 7, the Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJIA) fell almost 500 points, or close to 2%. This came following President Trump’s tweets on Sunday threatening to escalate the trade war with China on Friday if he couldn’t get a trade agreement done. While the U.S. stock market largely shrugged off this news on Monday, statements by his economic advisors convinced investors that his threats are for real.

San José, CA – On Friday, April 26, the Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA) issued its first report on economic growth in 2019. The country’s Gross Domestic Product, or GDP, which measures the total production of goods and services, grew at a 3.2% annual rate during the first three months of the year (January to March). This was stronger than most economists expected.

San José, CA – On April 21, the Trustees of Social Security and Medicare released their annual report. The report includes a projection that the Social Security benefits will be greater than income next year for the first time since 1982. The Social Security trust fund, which has grown to almost $3 trillion, will start to be tapped for the first time.

To mark the April 22, 1870 birthday of Russian revolutionary Vladimir Lenin, Fight Back News Service is circulating the following excerpt from his 1918 book, The State and Revolution.

San Jose, CA – Friday, March 22 was a day of good news, bad news, and ugly news.