Rick Newman

What mattered this week: Trump's Iran war, a new stock-market bogeyman Plus, Trump’s tariffs mock his "affordability" concerns

Busy week. What really mattered?

Here's the list: What to watch in the #Iran war, new AI bogeyman, #Epstein-Trump missing link

With the wry analysis you expect from The Pinpoint Press

And chartwork by @dfostergraphics.bsky.social

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The craziest part of Trump’s Iran war Trump wants ordinary Iranians to take over their government. That could be a suicide mission.

The United States will win the military war with #Iran

But Trump's call for regime change is a long shot

Trump has become a military adventurer willing to take much bigger risks that the man who campaigned for president in 2024

Latest from The Pinpoint Press

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The Weekly WTF: Dept. of Drone Farce Plus, the "sexy pic" Congressman, the gold medal for crassness, and pizza intel

This stuff actually happened:

US government shoots down its own drone

Rep @TonyGonzales4TX stays in primary race despite gruesome scandal

Cocaine surge on Nantucket

And more

Your Weekly WTF

From The Pinpoint Press

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Might be worse if Iran counterattacks oil infrastructure in the region, moves against the Strait of Hormuz or gets lucky attacking a US ship

Windy speech shows Trump stuck in neutral His record-long State of the Union speech contained almost no new ideas

If you skipped Trump's windy State of the Union speech, smart move

Here's the only analysis you need

Unlike Trump's speech it gets to the point and respects your time! 😀

Latest from The Pinpoint Press

Chartwork by @dfostergraphics.bsky.social

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These are the risks if Trump attacks Iran Trump claims a war with Iran could be "easily won." That's only true if he's willing to accept American casualties, soaring oil prices and possible chaos in a major Middle Eastern country.

Trump says a US war with #Iran would be "easily won"

That's crazy!

Here are the risks

Also this is why I'm making the contrarian bet that Trump won't attack Iran

Latest from The Pinpoint Press

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The average length of a State of the Union speech since 1964 is about 58 minutes. Guess where Trump lands....

Latest from The Pinpoint Press, chartwork by
@dfostergraphics.bsky.social

#SOTU

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Beneath the chaos, Trump is losing on tariffs Regardless of what Trump threatens, the average tariff rate is coming down and Trump is losing leverage in his trade war with the world.

Trump's trade war is so chaotic that he said the new "global" tariff would be 15% but when it went into effect it was 10%

Totally confused? @dfostergraphics.bsky.social and I have you covered

Where the trade war stands, plain English version!

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What mattered this week: Tariff uproar, slowing economy, dead housing market Plus, what Trump will say in the upcoming State of the Union speech

Trump's tariffs are pure chaos ~ But it's actually getting better

New "global" tariff not as bad as now-illegal emergency tariffs

Plus global tariff might be illegal too

Latest from The Pinpoint Press

With nice chartwork by @dfostergraphics.bsky.social

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What mattered this week: Tariff uproar, slowing economy, dead housing market Plus, what Trump will say in the upcoming State of the Union speech

Too busy to catch the latest news?

Here's a short list of what mattered this week:

~ Old tariffs out, new tariffs in
~ Moribund housing market
~ What to expect in Iran

Latest from The Pinpoint Press

With charts by @dfostergraphics.bsky.social

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The Supreme Court did Trump a favor by killing his emergency tariffs The high court basically imposed a tax cut by killing the majority of Trump's tariffs. Why would anybody complain?

The Supreme Court basically enacted a tax cut by killing Trump's emergency tariffs

Doesn't he love tax cuts? Shouldn't he be happy? 🙄🙄🙄

Latest from The Pinpoint Press

Chart by @dfostergraphics.bsky.social

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The Weekly WTF: Spank the economists! Plus, another backfire at CBS, former Prince Andrew finally looks humbled and the Iran war will be starting any minute.

The Weekly WTF: Spank the economists!

Plus: Prince Andrew finally looks humbled

CBS unwittingly produces a windfall for Democratic Senate candidate James Talarico

And why you should bet against a US-Iran war

Latest from The Pinpoint Press

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The latest stock market buzzword you might want to know The "HALO trade" is an antidote to AI mania. That doesn't mean every investor should jump in.

Do you understand the #HALO trade?

This is the latest investing trend

Explained for normies

Latest from The Pinpoint Press

With charts by @dfostergraphics.bsky.social

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Why I started gambling on the news I'm using prediction markets to put money on Kristi Noem's fate, the job market, and Trump's state of the union speech.

When will #KristiNoem leave her job? What will Trump say in his state of the union speech?

I started betting on the news on @Kalshi

Here's why ~

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What mattered this week: The Kristi Noem clown show, ailing stocks, the revenge of greenhouse gases Plus, the coming debt crisis

Losing track of the headlines?

I’ve got you covered

5 things that mattered this week ~

~ Noem clown show

~ Stock selloff explained

~ Revenge of the greenhouse gases

And just a bit more

Charts by @dfostergraphics.bsky.social

Latest from The Pinpoint Press

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An encouraging inflation report won’t satisfy anybody The inflation rate is almost back to normal, but President Trump has done almost nothing to bring costs down.

Trump says the latest inflation report amounts to "more winning"

Anybody agree?

For the last five years:

Rent up 28%

Food prices up 27%

Transportation up 30%

Utilities up 41%

It's all at The Pinpoint Press + great charts by @dfostergraphics.bsky.social

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Scenes from a broken government My fellow Americans, I'm sorry

Scenes from a broken government:

~ Customs noobs playing with lasers

~ Cabinet officials imagining Mexican drug drones

~ Third shutdown in six months

~ VP only person allowed to pop off about politics

~ And the kicker is ... 👇

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The Weekly WTF: Cartel drone incursions, Bunny wars, panicans Plus, America's Olympians compete against their own president

It's already been a crazy week

Here are your Weekly WTFs from The Pinpoint Press

~ incompetence in Texas

~ Bad Bunny wars

~ panicans

~ Olympians v. Trump

~ the Epstein Six

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We have a K-shaped job market, too A solid jobs report masks a lot of problems that workers see up close

Trump thinks the latest job numbers "shattered expectations"

But job growth declined in six of 11 sectors during the last year

And job growth is sharply weaker under Trump than before

Latest from The Pinpoint Press

Charts by @dfostergraphics.bsky.social

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Jobs headlines almost always focus on what the one month change was

Important to look at long-term trend

It's pretty bad

Economy created more jobs than expected in January but the job market is still weakening

Charts by @dfostergraphics.bsky.social

The “sell America” trade is looking pretty good American investors should check out the eye-popping returns elsewhere in the world.

America's financial press talks mainly about what's happening in US markets

So you might be surprised to know US stocks are seriously underperforming

Latest from The Pinpoint Press

Terrific charts by @dfostergraphics.bsky.social

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Billionaires can’t save journalism, or America There are good reasons for Jeff Bezos to make the Washington Post profitable instead of funding it like a charity.

A lot of journalists think #Bezos should fund the The @washingtonpost.com out of his own pocket

Bad idea. I love WaPo but it should compete and adapt like every other business

Why the benevolent billionaire is a bad business model

Latest from The Pinpoint Press

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Who’s up and who’s down in the K-shaped economy Food and energy prices are a big part of the affordability problem, but the biggest factor keeping lower-K Americans down is probably soaring housing costs.

Nobody knew at the time, but 2021 was a make-or-break year to buy a house

That contributes to today's #affordability crisis and the #K-shaped economy

Find out why

Latest from The Pinpoint Press

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The Better-Off Index rises in February The economy is slightly better off than it was a year ago, but that's not good enough for many voters.

Are you better off than you were one year ago?

If you own stocks, for sure

If you don't own stocks, you probably don't feel much improvement

That's according to the Pinpoint Press Better-Off Index for February

Terrific charts by @dfostergraphics.bsky.social

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How to survive America in 2026 Hate your country right now? Here are four ways to do something about it.

Is America dying?

Here are some ideas for fixing it

And maybe saving your sanity

Latest from The Pinpoint Press

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What mattered this week: The Federal Reserve survives Trump Plus, Congress could force ICE to demask and Trump's warmongering hits consumer confidence

Need to know what mattered this week?

I've got the top 5 in money and politics ~

The Fed stays normal, ICE on the hot seat, and more

Latest from The Pinpoint Press

Charts by @dfostergraphics.bsky.social

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Trump is not going to attack Iran In the Trump crisis playbook, the threat of war is followed by some kind of "deal."

Prediction: Trump is not going to attack Iran

In the Trump crisis playbook, threats of war lead to a "deal," whether real or not

We learned that from Greenland and other Trump dramas

Latest from The Pinpoint Press

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The gold rally has an ominous message for investors A lot of people seem to be betting that a period of turmoil is coming.

There's a dark side to the massive gold rally

Investors are worried about chronic inflation, a global debt crisis and Trump's recklessness

What could be coming?

Find out 👇

Latest from The Pinpoint Press

With charts by @dfostergraphics.bsky.social

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Why Trump let up on Greenland while rampaging through Minnesota Markets stopped Trump's Greenland misadventure. Eventually, they'll protest Trump's effort to destabilize America.

Trump caved on Greenland

Yet he's rampaging through Minnesota

Why the difference? Markets

Latest from @The Pinpoint Press

Graphics by @dfostergraphics.bsky.social

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Why Americans say they’re worse off under Trump It's not a "vibecession." Our exclusive Better-Off Index shows that most Americans are not getting ahead under Trump.

A recent @nytimes survey found only 32% of American feel they're getting ahead

49% falling behind

Our Better-Off Index explains why

Latest from The Pinpoint Press

With great artwork by @dfostergraphics.bsky.social

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