Are you ready? I think this is gonna be a rough couple years.

[Magus]

I don't believe Russia is our enemy, China is. I think it's a good thing for the US to normalize ties with Russia. I don't have a problem with US mining companies going in to Ukraine to mine the rare earth minerals. That will mean a lot of good paying jobs for American miners.

Chyna isn't anybody's friend, not even Rocketman.

 

[elkhound]

35 trillion reasons we cant continue as we have !

we been living fake prosperity.....!!

 

[Hardcalibres]

I don't believe Russia is our enemy, China is. I think it's a good thing for the US to normalize ties with Russia. I don't have a problem with US mining companies going in to Ukraine to mine the rare earth minerals. That will mean a lot of good paying jobs for American miners.

Russia and China are in a "No Limits Partnership" so as much as you may want to separate them, they are inseparable.

Russia created the BRICS economic block......when that manages to dump the USD as the world trading currency, Russia will be your enemy then.....

American mining companies employ a tiny number of Americans in their offshore mines.

>95% of Employees in offshore mines are locals......many of the other 5% are other nationalities.

American mining companies are not big in Lithium or Rare Earths......and both those commodities are technically difficult to mine and extremely difficult to process.

 

[Duncan]

Stock market down, consumer confidence down, fed uneasy about inflation....Maybe the first whispers of what is to come.

Federal Reserve uneasy about inflation? Not surprising; if the present administration continues with their talk (and maybe action) about:

• Ridding the country of ilegales who keep us fed ($13 a head for lettuce?);
• Probably ridding our country of a couple tens of thousands of those farmers who went broke trying to harvest their crops without help -- and couldn't get the financing or expertise from the US Department of Agriculture (remember them?)'
• Taxing other regimes like the PRC a value-added tax (VAT) of about 25% to which the Chinese and any other nations to merely pass along to the end-user (that's us, folks); and finally
• Treating our best friends Canada and Mexico, as well as all the Europeans (you remember them; they're the ones from whom most of us got our culture and language) as a bunch of furriners just a leeeetle bit too stupid to care for themselves, but they have to anyway.

I'm not a stock-market weenie, so I dare not deign to pontificate.

Consumer confidence? Not surprising from my point of view: retail prices -- groceries, clothes, cars, etc. -- are still rising in price. Some of them shouldn't be traced to the present administration: a politician can't cure bird flu or stop a hurricane dancing among the offshore oil platforms in the gulf of Mexico . I think that most consumer confidence is driven by prices and Elon Musk. I have no idea how either of those two things are going to play out.

I do have two "predictions", based solely on gut feelings, some of which I've changed since last January.

• The United States is pretty much finished as a political and military, (but not necessarily commercial) power in both Europe and the Mideast. Given our attitudes to them and the fact that they have plenty other suppliers and customers willing to trade, the US can't set demands on someone from either the UK or the UAE and expect them to fall in line. Our brand is now poor and will some become worthless in those two areas.
• The United States will be involved domestically a regional uprisings, perhaps verging on full-scale civil war, within the next two years

 

[Mountain trapper]

Russia and China are in a "No Limits Partnership" so as much as you may want to separate them, they are inseparable.

American mining companies employ a tiny number of Americans in their offshore mines.

>95% of Employees in offshore mines are locals.

American mining companies are not big in Lithium or Rare Earths......and both those commodities are technically difficult to mine and extremely difficult to process.

I've worked for companies overseas for years. You're right, the majority of employees are locals, but mid and upper management are Americans. That's still a lot of people. Mining companies hire best experts available to mine whatever mineral they decide to go after. There are some small scale lithium mines in the US now.

 

[Hardcalibres]

I've worked for companies overseas for years. You're right, the majority of employees are locals, but mid and upper management are Americans. That's still a lot of people. Mining companies hire best experts available to mine whatever mineral they decide to go after. There are some small scale lithium mines in the US now.

These days not even the middle to upper management (on foreign mine sites) are mostly Americans.

Freeport McMoRan......few Americans on site
Newmont......few Americans on site
Southern Copper.....few Americans on site
Alcoa.....almost no Americans on site

Those same companies do employ plenty of Americans in their US head offices and their US operations.....but you were posting about out on foreign sites.

You are correct that they employ the best people they can get......and these days, there are several nations with bigger and smarter mining industries than the US. There are not even many universities in the US that offer Mining Engineering degrees anymore.

 

[Pearl]

These days not even the middle to upper management (on foreign mine sites) are mostly Americans.

Freeport McMoRan......few Americans on site
Newmont......few Americans on site
Southern Copper.....few Americans on site
Alcoa.....almost no Americans on site

Those same companies do employ plenty of Americans in their US head offices and their US operations.....but you were posting about out on foreign sites.

You are correct that they employ the best people they can get......and these days, there are several nations with bigger and smarter mining industries than the US. There are not even many universities in the US that offer Mining Engineering degrees anymore.

That doesn't mean Trump is going to continue with how things are run now!!

 

[elkhound]

all efforts inside our borders and pay off debt and fixing things.

no more aid to anyone unless its a natural disaster and to save lives...period.

bring everything my tax dollars bought back home...down to spent brass..except for a few key bases.... tired of it...our war crap has done zero for decades now other than spread chaos...look at Vietnam and Afghanistan....we wasted our time effort and lives.

guard our coast...it burns my rear end to see u.s. coast guard around the globe....get your buts on our coast do it here....coast guard for u.s......if they are here operating and more no one is pulling up to our shore to off load invasion force...if they do...blow them out of water with extreme force and be done with it.

dont like everything trump is doing but he is putting more effort into it than others for awhile...he just needs to tone it down on flapping his gums so much about pointless stuff that wont happen period. be friends with canada and mexico....first.

we at point globally we need to steward resources way better...certain things its been proven if all was mined its not enough to do the things govt and some private corps say..its bs crap. we got to start recycling on larger and regional scale.

set more lands aside now to protect for future...set lands aside for timber and fiber production and more.

protect water ways and watersheds...get coastal fish runs back up and running...it will be food source in future one day as various fuels run out being pumped from the ground.

tired of what is happening to our military people the way they are treated..before anyone runs off at me..i come from military family and friends..both past and present...and i know exactly what is going on currently .

clean up our messes around the globe..both here on our soils and abroad...i.e. greenland....i cant believe we left all that mess under the ice....what a crock of S--T !

 

[Hardcalibres]

all efforts inside our borders and pay off debt and fixing things.

no more aid to anyone unless its a natural disaster and to save lives...period.

bring everything my tax dollars bought back home...down to spent brass..except for a few key bases.... tired of it...our war crap has done zero for decades now other than spread chaos...look at Vietnam and Afghanistan....we wasted our time effort and lives.

guard our coast...it burns my rear end to see u.s. coast guard around the globe....get your buts on our coast do it here....coast guard for u.s......if they are here operating and more no one is pulling up to our shore to off load invasion force...if they do...blow them out of water with extreme force and be done with it.

dont like everything trump is doing but he is putting more effort into it than others for awhile...he just needs to tone it down on flapping his gums so much about pointless stuff that wont happen period. be friends with canada and mexico....first.

we at point globally we need to steward resources way better...certain things its been proven if all was mined its not enough to do the things govt and some private corps say..its bs crap. we got to start recycling on larger and regional scale.

set more lands aside now to protect for future...set lands aside for timber and fiber production and more.

protect water ways and watersheds...get coastal fish runs back up and running...it will be food source in future one day as various fuels run out being pumped from the ground.

tired of what is happening to our military people the way they are treated..before anyone runs off at me..i come from military family and friends..both past and present...and i know exactly what is going on currently .

clean up our messes around the globe..both here on our soils and abroad...i.e. greenland....i cant believe we left all that mess under the ice....what a crock of S--T !

I honestly don't have a solution for the fiscal situation.

I don't think there is a solution to the debt.

That is why I assess the US is doomed.

But that doom could happen sooner rather than later if the wrong foreign and economic policies are applied..

I am also concerned that the oligarchs in the US hope to get the last bit of blood out of the US before it dies.

Some of these policies seem like they are aimed at making the most of the death of the US.....and what comes after that.

Some are just the insanity/desperation that comes when an empire is dying.

 

[M0del_31]

It seems to me the best way to weaken China is to stop buying from them. Tariffs also seem like a way to counteract their currency manipulation. Hot wars tend to extract a high cost from US patriots but not a whole lot from the hate US crowd. Tariffs, OTOH, can raise prices for everyone, spreading the sacrifice around lightly and not focusing the sacrifice mostly on our most courageous and patriotic citizens. We’ll be in far better shape if we tax China, then create jobs by making the stuff at home and not printing money to fight wars with our best men against enemies we built up by buying their wares.

 

[Mountain trapper]

These days not even the middle to upper management (on foreign mine sites) are mostly Americans.

Freeport McMoRan......few Americans on site
Newmont......few Americans on site
Southern Copper.....few Americans on site
Alcoa.....almost no Americans on site

Those same companies do employ plenty of Americans in their US head offices and their US operations.....but you were posting about out on foreign sites.

You are correct that they employ the best people they can get......and these days, there are several nations with bigger and smarter mining industries than the US. There are not even many universities in the US that offer Mining Engineering degrees anymore.

There are at least 15 mining schools and universities in the US, how many are needed? Mining companies will have quite a few Americans working in top level jobs, especially in corrupt countries like Ukraine. Locals cant be trusted. There will be a lot of American support companies that will hire American workers too, in high level positions. I don't see where any of this will be a bad thing.