Trump delivered a Fourth of July speech on the National Mall to mark America's 250th anniversary. Mixed patriotism with attacks on ideological threats. Gave it on government property during what should have been a unifying celebration. Campaign-style rhetoric at a quarter-millennium birthday party.
The move confused exactly no one. Trump speaks in campaign mode the way other people breathe. Could be accepting a Nobel Peace Prize and he'd still work in a line about his enemies. Could be officiating a wedding and the vows would include a dig at globalists.
Retail traders watched the speech and immediately checked their portfolios to see if patriotism was bullish or bearish. Spoiler: neither. Your SPY calls expired worthless while you were trying to figure out if "ideological threats" meant buy tech or short financials. The market doesn't care about speeches. Never has. Never will. But you'll trade it anyway because you read one tweet that said "major volatility incoming" and thought that counted as research.
The National Mall hosted the event. Two hundred fifty years of independence celebrated with the same political theater that's been running since the first guy realized he could get applause by naming an enemy. The Founding Fathers built a country on the idea that power should be limited and speech should be free. Their descendants built a system where every national holiday is now a campaign stop.
Trump attacked threats at home and abroad. Retail traders tried to short "threats" as an asset class. Didn't work. Nothing works. You're down 40% year-to-date and you just watched a political speech hoping it would explain why your meme stock portfolio looks like a crime scene.
America turned 250. Trump turned it into a rally. You turned it into another reason to check your brokerage account and feel nothing.
Photo by Colin Lloyd on Unsplash
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