A Trump-Xi dinner is happening. We know who some people are. We don't know which Chinese executives might show up. This is the news.
Reporters spent actual time compiling a list of confirmed attendees while pretending the absence of Chinese business names constitutes a mystery worth solving. It doesn't. Either they're coming or they're not. Either way, your portfolio performs exactly the same because heads of state eating soup has never moved a stock price in human history.
The implication here is that knowing whether some Shenzhen tech CEO gets a seat at the table changes your investment thesis. It does not. You cannot trade on seating charts. There is no derivatives market for place settings. If you're refreshing news sites waiting to find out if a Chinese executive you've never heard of is attending a dinner you're not invited to, you've mistaken yourself for someone important.
This is the financial news equivalent of wedding RSVPs. People love weddings. They love drama. They love knowing who got invited and who didn't. None of it matters. The couple gets married regardless. The market opens Monday regardless. Your calls expire worthless regardless.
Retail traders will read this headline and convince themselves it's actionable intelligence. They'll draw lines on charts. They'll post screenshots with arrows. They'll say things like "if Chinese executives show up it's bullish for semiconductors" as if semiconductor demand hinges on whether someone accepts a dinner invitation. It does not.
The dinner will happen. People will eat. Someone will leak a photo. A wire service will call it "a sign of warming relations" or "continued tensions" depending on how closely everyone sat. You will learn nothing. Your account balance will not change. The Chinese executives who may or may not attend will go back to running companies you'll never understand while you argue about it on social media.
But at least now you know we don't know who's going.
Leave a Comment