Markets fell today as Trump threatened government shutdown

I had a hard time getting to work this morning because of Trump's ego-boosting campaign stop here last night. I had the misfortune of driving from the north-eastern part of the city towards downtown Phoenix at the same time as the Trump motorcade & of course, traffic was horrible. All of it, because Trump decided to have a rally where he spoke such nonsense, even some of his supporters left early because they were bored:

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/post-politics/wp/2017/08/23/as-trump-ranted-and-rambled-in-phoenix-his-crowd-slowly-thinned/

"But as the night dragged on, many in the crowd lost interest in what the president was saying.

Hundreds left early, while others plopped down on the ground, scrolled through their social media feeds or started up a conversation with their neighbors. After waiting for hours in 107-degree heat to get into the rally hall — where their water bottles were confiscated by security — people were tired and dehydrated and the president just wasn't keeping their attention. Although Trump has long been the master of reading the mood of a room and quickly adjusting his message to satisfy as many of his fans as possible, his rage seemed to cloud his senses."

But back to Trump's motorcade heading out of town this morning (which was the reason I & many others were late for work today & the reason why f'n traffic was horrible): all those workers being late, I wonder how much money it will cost Phoenix in lost productivity?

But Trump wasn't just affecting Phoenix, he was also affecting the economy in general. Apparently, worries about politics (& what Trump said here in Phoenix last night) are affecting the markets. The Dow Jones fell to 21,812.09 (despite all the fanfare about it passing the 22,000 milestone a few weeks ago):  

"US Stock Indexes Sag as a Two-Day Rally Peters Out"

https://www.nytimes.com/aponline/2017/08/23/us/ap-financial-markets.html

"Worries about politics were a big reason for the market's stumbles in recent weeks. In Washington, the concern is about whether the government can push through tax cuts and other pro-business policies that were considered slam dunks early this year. Now, the market seems to have little to no expectation for much help coming from Washington, said Katie Nixon, chief investment officer at Northern Trust Wealth Management."

"In a speech late Tuesday, President Donald Trump said that "if we have to close down our government, we're building that wall" that he wants on the border between Mexico and the United States. He also said that he thinks the U.S. government will "end up probably terminating" the North American Free Trade Agreement with Canada and Mexico, though he also said that he has yet to make up his mind."

So according to the Donald, now we're paying for the wall (not Mexico as promised by Trump). & if we don't, Trump will shut down the government (another broken promise by a business-as-usual politician). 

But enough about Trump. 

Market futures, for now, are down. Nevertheless, most major indexes in Asia made gains despite Wall Street falling:

https://www.cnbc.com/2017/08/23/asia-markets-focus-on-trump-remarks-dollar-jackson-hole.html

"With little data due to be released during the Asian trading session, markets are likely to return their focus on a central banking conference in Jackson Hole beginning Thursday U.S. time.

"A sense of anticipation can be felt across the financial markets ahead of the Jackson Hole Symposium later this week," said FXTM research analyst Lukman Otunuga in a Wednesday evening note."

As noted in the last two articles linked above, markets are looking forward to the symposium where the heads of the Federal Reserve and the European Central bank are expected to speak tomorrow in Wyoming. And afterwards, investors will be expected to respond accordingly if any new policy messaging is delivered.