# Thoughts, or thoughts and prayers?… **URL:** \ **Category:** Uncategorized\ **Created:** [April 2, 2025, 11:22pm UTC](https://community.clark.com/t/thoughts-or-thoughts-and-prayers/7401 "2025-04-02T23:22:10Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 16\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![kcflyer](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex016/user_avatar/community.clark.com/kcflyer/32/3346_2.png) [@kcflyer](https://community.clark.com/u/kcflyer)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2025, 12:43pm UTC](https://community.clark.com/t/thoughts-or-thoughts-and-prayers/7401/21 "2025-04-05T12:43:25Z")
> [@mgm](#): > > But there is no reason this has to be true, right? We have some of the most fertile land in the world. And nobody to pick it. ---
**Author:** ![mgm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ebca7d/32.png) [@mgm](https://community.clark.com/u/mgm)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2025, 12:53pm UTC](https://community.clark.com/t/thoughts-or-thoughts-and-prayers/7401/22 "2025-04-05T12:53:26Z")
> [@kcflyer](#): > > So why slap our friends like Canada and Mexico and France and…heck…the whole dang world? I believe it’s to correct the trade deficit and generate revenue to help pay off the $36 trillion debt. It’s not about being friends. It’s business. It’s putting US self interests first. That’s what these other countries are doing (and there’s nothing wrong with that). They don’t care anything about the US or fairness. Now, whether this is a good idea and will work, not many seem to think so, but we’ll see. ---
**Author:** ![kcflyer](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex016/user_avatar/community.clark.com/kcflyer/32/3346_2.png) [@kcflyer](https://community.clark.com/u/kcflyer)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2025, 1:10pm UTC](https://community.clark.com/t/thoughts-or-thoughts-and-prayers/7401/23 "2025-04-05T13:10:20Z")
> [@mgm](#): > > It’s not about being friends. It’s business. It’s putting US self interests first. That’s what these other countries are doing (and there’s nothing wrong with that). They don’t care anything about the US or fairness. Might I ask why he didn’t focus on this when he renegotiated the best trade deal ever (his words)? The replacement of NAFTA in which addressed tariffs? Now he violates that very treaty. ---
**Author:** ![butler](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ac91a4/32.png) [@butler](https://community.clark.com/u/butler)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2025, 3:29pm UTC](https://community.clark.com/t/thoughts-or-thoughts-and-prayers/7401/24 "2025-04-05T15:29:54Z")
> [@kcflyer](#): > > Indeed…the sitting president said that groceries were the reason he won the election. Do you think that is the reason he won ? Or could it have been the main issue that was ignored by the previous administration. Or could it have been how a nearly dead guy was propped up and certified as healthy ? ---
**Author:** ![H200h](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e79b87/32.png) [@H200h](https://community.clark.com/u/H200h)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2025, 3:40pm UTC](https://community.clark.com/t/thoughts-or-thoughts-and-prayers/7401/25 "2025-04-05T15:40:24Z")
> [@butler](#): > > Do you think that is the reason he won ? Or could it have been the main issue that was ignored by the previous administration. Or could it have been how a nearly dead guy was propped up and certified as healthy ? He won because the opposition party was asleep. ---
**Author:** ![mgm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ebca7d/32.png) [@mgm](https://community.clark.com/u/mgm)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2025, 4:02pm UTC](https://community.clark.com/t/thoughts-or-thoughts-and-prayers/7401/26 "2025-04-05T16:02:05Z")
> [@kcflyer](#): > > Might I ask why he didn’t focus on this when he renegotiated the best trade deal ever (his words)? The replacement of NAFTA in which addressed tariffs? Now he violates that very treaty That was $8 trillion in debt ago. That’s 22% of the total current debt added in the last 5 years. So, it’s a new day. One thing is certain: if we don’t make some changes, the country will go bankrupt. ---
**Author:** ![butler](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ac91a4/32.png) [@butler](https://community.clark.com/u/butler)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2025, 4:12pm UTC](https://community.clark.com/t/thoughts-or-thoughts-and-prayers/7401/27 "2025-04-05T16:12:03Z")
> [@H200h](#): > > He won because the opposition party was asleep. If that helps you…go with that… ---
**Author:** ![mgm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ebca7d/32.png) [@mgm](https://community.clark.com/u/mgm)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2025, 4:14pm UTC](https://community.clark.com/t/thoughts-or-thoughts-and-prayers/7401/28 "2025-04-05T16:14:09Z")
> [@butler](#): > > Do you think that is the reason he won ? IMO, the economy was the #1, but, yeah, the competition was the worst I have seen in my lifetime. ---
**Author:** ![H200h](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e79b87/32.png) [@H200h](https://community.clark.com/u/H200h)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2025, 4:41pm UTC](https://community.clark.com/t/thoughts-or-thoughts-and-prayers/7401/29 "2025-04-05T16:41:23Z")
> [@mgm](#): > > IMO, the economy was the #1, but, yeah, the competition was the worst I have seen in my lifetime. So now the economy is all better! 😃 ---
**Author:** ![B\_Cooper](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex016/user_avatar/community.clark.com/b_cooper/32/3189_2.png) [@B\_Cooper](https://community.clark.com/u/B_Cooper)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2025, 11:52pm UTC](https://community.clark.com/t/thoughts-or-thoughts-and-prayers/7401/30 "2025-04-05T23:52:52Z")
> [@ochotona](#): > > Come back in a year and opine again about DOGE and tariffs. i just set a reminder (hit the 3 dots) for next april 5th just to see if we get a reply LOL ---
**Author:** ![mgm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ebca7d/32.png) [@mgm](https://community.clark.com/u/mgm)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2025, 12:24pm UTC](https://community.clark.com/t/thoughts-or-thoughts-and-prayers/7401/31 "2025-04-06T12:24:15Z")
> [@H200h](#): > > So now the economy is all better! 😃 As of today, the economy looks good in terms of jobs and prices. We’ll have to see how the tariff situation and others affects it going forward. I follow Clark’s advice, and I don’t put money in the stock market that I need within the next 5 years. Otherwise, it’s in capital preservation things like bonds, money markets, or HYSA. The stock market going down means next paycheck I will buy some great funds at a very low price. ---
**Author:** ![Lavarock](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex016/user_avatar/community.clark.com/lavarock/32/119_2.png) [@Lavarock](https://community.clark.com/u/Lavarock)\ **Post date:** [April 7, 2025, 6:08am UTC](https://community.clark.com/t/thoughts-or-thoughts-and-prayers/7401/32 "2025-04-07T06:08:20Z")
As a farmer I can tell you that growing things is not easy. Oh yes, you can grow some vegetables and spices however you get tired of them fast. You can wait a year or more for a crop and eat it up in a few days, but there was a lot of watering, fertilizing and care you spent over that time. It is not unusual to see someone has left a box on the outside Post Office Counter with fruit they could not eat nor sell and just give it away. You can tire very quickly of the same thing. [Here is proof](https://youtu.be/MNfV9FU9A-I?si=-XfwAgt2zBihC_Ez). I grew coffee and had to fight the Coffee Borer Beetle, Coffee Rust and Coffee Root Disease. The Borer Beetle took out some to most of each coffee farm crop. I then planted citrus, specifically oranges, lemons, limes, finger limes, avocados, mangoes, rambutan, sapote, sapadilla, allspice and so on. Mine is a fairly small farm considering. The cost to harvest is high and profit low. I was going to just plat a whole lot of orange trees which I could then sell at farmers markets. The problem is that if I had a lot of that fruit, I would have to cut my price (and any profit) to sell them all. Any other farmer with the same product would soon hate me because they would also have to drop their price to sell what little they had. Now there is Citrus Greening and Citrus Canker. Then there is Avocado Root Rot and Avocado Scab. Papayas have Ring Spot Virus. There is Powdery Mildew and Root-Knot Nematodes. Here we have limited diseases but on the mainland there can many other varieties. During COVID I lost coffee crop because i personally could not take care of all the trees. We had many workers who did not want to venture out and can still have issues finding workers. Yes, some people can live off the grid and be self sufficient, however having a garden and expecting that to help you get along I think is not as empowering as you might think. I am waiting to see what people have to pay for coffee. Won’t it be funny if the cheapest coffee you can buy is from the United States, and we all know Kona Coffee is not that cheap. ---
**Author:** ![ochotona](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex016/user_avatar/community.clark.com/ochotona/32/293_2.png) [@ochotona](https://community.clark.com/u/ochotona)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2025, 7:01pm UTC](https://community.clark.com/t/thoughts-or-thoughts-and-prayers/7401/33 "2025-04-11T19:01:52Z")
The U.S. markets and economy are at the mercy of tariffs that are rewriting long-standing global trade policy. How can investors keep calm amid extraordinary volatility? > **[Charles Schwab](https://www.schwab.com/learn/story/tariffs-continue-to-fuel-market-uncertainty)** The administration’s ever-evolving trade and tariff policy has sent the markets on a wild ride not seen in two decades. In this episode of WashingtonWise, host Mike Townsend dives into what’s driving the administration’s tariff agenda and how the markets are responding. He also considers the broader implications for the U.S. economy, the tricky task facing the Fed, and the struggle on Capitol Hill to move forward with the president’s tax agenda. Stephanie Shadel, a senior wealth manager at Schwab, joins Mike to discuss what investors can do in the face of these unprecedented challenges. WashingtonWise is an original podcast for investors from Charles Schwab. ---
**Author:** ![MyCC](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex016/user_avatar/community.clark.com/mycc/32/3075_2.png) [@MyCC](https://community.clark.com/u/MyCC)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2025, 7:20pm UTC](https://community.clark.com/t/thoughts-or-thoughts-and-prayers/7401/34 "2025-04-17T19:20:53Z")
Our so called friends have not been our friends. ---
**Author:** ![H200h](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e79b87/32.png) [@H200h](https://community.clark.com/u/H200h)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2025, 8:21pm UTC](https://community.clark.com/t/thoughts-or-thoughts-and-prayers/7401/35 "2025-04-17T20:21:17Z")
> [@MyCC](#): > > Our so called friends have not been our friends. Are those flowers for Putin? ---
**Author:** ![kcflyer](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex016/user_avatar/community.clark.com/kcflyer/32/3346_2.png) [@kcflyer](https://community.clark.com/u/kcflyer)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2025, 8:55pm UTC](https://community.clark.com/t/thoughts-or-thoughts-and-prayers/7401/36 "2025-04-17T20:55:05Z")
> [@MyCC](#): > > Our so called friends have not been our friends. Then why wasn’t this addressed in 2018, when NAFTA was renegotiated by the sitting president. A president who claimed at the time it was the greatest trade deal ever. And even negotiated tariffs in that beautiful agreement. And then he steps away for four years and acts like that agreement, that two of our friends were abiding by all that time, and in the stroke of a pen, violate the very agreement that former president negotiated? Did someone tell him it was Obama or Biden who negotiated that? [Previous page](https://community.clark.com/t/thoughts-or-thoughts-and-prayers/7401.md?page=1)