There has been a great deal of speculation about who President Trump will nominate to replace retiring Supreme Court Justice Anthony Kennedy.  Earlier today President Trump revealed he will announce the nominee on Monday July 9th:

Democrats and far-left activists have vowed to do everything possible to stop any nominee from being confirmed.  All political opposition is beyond bananas on this issue.

President Trump has stated his intention to make the nominee from a previously compiled list, with a few additions.  The potential nominees are:

• Amy Coney Barrett of Indiana, U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit
• Keith Blackwell of Georgia, Supreme Court of Georgia
• Charles Canady of Florida, Supreme Court of Florida
• Steven Colloton of Iowa, U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit
• Allison Eid of Colorado, U.S. Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit
• Britt Grant of Georgia, Supreme Court of Georgia
• Raymond Gruender of Missouri, U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit
• Thomas Hardiman of Pennsylvania, U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit
• Brett Kavanaugh of Maryland, U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit
• Raymond Kethledge of Michigan, U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit
• Joan Larsen of Michigan, U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit
• Mike Lee of Utah, United States Senator
• Thomas Lee of Utah, Supreme Court of Utah
• Edward Mansfield of Iowa, Supreme Court of Iowa
• Federico Moreno of Florida, U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida
• Kevin Newsom of Alabama, U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit
• William Pryor of Alabama, U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit
• Margaret Ryan of Virginia, U.S. Court of Appeals for the Armed Forces
• David Stras of Minnesota, U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit
• Diane Sykes of Wisconsin, U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit
• Amul Thapar of Kentucky, U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit
• Timothy Tymkovich of Colorado, U.S. Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit
• Robert Young of Michigan, Supreme Court of Michigan (Ret.)
• Don Willett of Texas, Supreme Court of Texas
• Patrick Wyrick of Oklahoma, Supreme Court of Oklahoma

SOURCE

My only hunch is that the nominee will be female.

With new spark plugs, Kuddles was thrilled to discuss the latest economic key performance indicators.  National Economic Council Chairman Larry Kudlow talks about the health and growth of the U.S. economy with Maria Bartiromo.

Today Canada released an updated list of retaliatory tariffs designed as countermeasures to the U.S. Steel and Aluminum tariffs [SEE HERE] which will begin Sunday, July 1st.

Additionally, Foreign Minister Chrystia Freeland, Innovation Minister Navdeep Bains, and Employment and Labour Minister Patty Hajdu, announced they would initiate an emergency program to use Canadian taxes compensate workers, expand unemployment benefits, and subsidize impacted industry.  Yes, in a transparent display of political ideology (throwing capitalism directly out the window), Canada doubles-down on centralized government subsidies to offset market impacts.   Brilliant ‘eh!

Chrystia Freeland made the announcement on the floor of a Hamilton steel factory Friday. In a rare backdrop, Ms. Freeland actually entered a factory with machines and things, to deliver the carefully choreographed political message (video below – watch the last minute to understand).

Team U.S.A. have applied tariffs to Canadian softwood lumber, Steel and Aluminum as Canada refuses to negotiate new terms for NAFTA where North American products are prioritized.  Canada demands the ability to continue importing Asian, mostly Chinese, products for their assembly-based market.

With the latest counter-move by Justin and Chrystia from Canada, it is increasingly likely President Trump will levy a 20% tariff on imported Canadian automobiles.  Last month (May) the Canadian economy dropped over 31,000 Full-Time jobs.

Here’s the full video of the announcement.  The Q&A Session starts at 16:40 and is really the only part that matters:

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Canada has put themselves into a tough spot.  The current Canadian government cannot support any NAFTA agreement that requires the actual manufacturing of goods in North America. Both Canada and Mexico have structured their economies to import goods from Asia, mostly China, and use their access into the U.S. market to trans-ship their final goods.

Chinese central government, as well as Asian and EU corporations, pay Canada and Mexico (through trade agreements) for U.S. market access.  Essentially Mexico and Canada are trade brokers or pass-throughs.  Neither Canada nor Mexico have the actual raw material, infrastructure or processes in place to manufacture goods in North America; they both generally only assemble parts made overseas into finished products.

Because of this structural flaw, the Canadian government is doubling down on their intent to keep the status quo in place. However, this approach also makes it a futile exercise to continue talking about renegotiating NAFTA.

Mexican elections are being held July 1st (Sunday), it is yet to be determined if Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador (AM LO), Mexico’s virtually guaranteed-to-win next president, will support a Mexican withdrawal from NAFTA.

Earlier today President Trump delivered remarks celebrating the six month anniversary of the U.S. Tax Cuts and Jobs Act.   Today is also the last business day of the second quarter.

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Long time CTH readers might note in 2015 when we first saw candidate Trump’s economic policy initiatives, we began outlining the sequential economic possibilities if President Trump won. So far, all is going according to plan – STUNNINGLY According To Plan.  Seriously, go back and look –FEBRUARY 2016– two-and-a-half years ago.

The possibilities were obvious.  As a result we predicted repeatedly that Q2 of 2018 would be the beginning of the largest period of U.S. GDP and wage growth in the past 30 years.  Q2 2018 ends tomorrow and the results of Q2 will be announced in the next few weeks.  Everything is happening in a logical sequence as a result of Trump’s MAGAnomic plans.

We are now in the third MAGAnomic phase where all international trade agreements are being structured around ‘reciprocity’.  Eventually, if President Trump can continue the pressure, all global trade barriers and tariffs will be removed.

This is history.

We are living in most consequential economic period in modern history.

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On the six-month anniversary of the tax cut/tax reform legislation passage, Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin sits down with Maria Bartiromo to discuss the current status of all MAGAnomic initiatives.

Tomorrow is also the last day of the second quarter (April, May June), and today is the last business day of Fiscal Year 2018 third quarter (fiscal years start Oct. 1st).

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Segment two below. Ivanka Trump joins Secretary Mnuchin to discuss results.

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In segment three. NEC Chairman Larry Kudlow joins Secretary Mnuchin.

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