Financial Issues - 08.21.2025

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
Hello, Welcome to Financial Issues, where we join reality with truth,
helping you make the most of your money by honoring
God with your investments. Now listen in as we give
you the practical tools and advice you need to become
a biblically responsible investor.

Speaker 2 (00:23):
Marty, everyone, welcome back to Financial Issues. It is great
to be here with you all today. Excited to have you, Seth,
you Dinski joining you this morning. Thanks for spending your
Thursday morning with us. We'll be here live the next hour.
Happy to have you. Folks. Got a busy show today here,
so let's get right to it, shall we. Later in
the show, we're going to have author and economist Spencer Morrison.
He's going to join me to share his expertise on
the potentially wide ranging benefits of the Trump tariffs. Now,

(00:48):
it's interesting. We had a guest on earlier this week,
Michael Austin, who was a little bit more down on
these tariffs. So we're going to hear kind of the
other perspective from Spencer Morrison on the opinion that maybe
the tariff could be a pretty good thing. Stay tuned
for that, folks. I'm interested for that conversation. Trying to
give you the full picture. The full picture here, folks,
exactly right. Speaking of which we're al's gonna have Melanie Colette.

(01:08):
Melanie is the author and policy analyst for the Committee
for a Constructive Tomorrow. She joins me to discuss Costco's
recent decision to avoid selling the abortion pill mif of pristone.
You're gonna want to stick around for that conversation. We'll
also get your comments and questions also, Sam finding this
fascinating here. People always get investing and gambling confused all

(01:29):
the time, right, We've talked about that on the show
all the time. They get him confused here.

Speaker 3 (01:32):
It all the time that the stock market is just
the world's biggest, biggest casino for rich people, exactly.

Speaker 2 (01:38):
So we try to shine the light on the truth
of this that there actually are massive differences between investing
and gambling. Gambling, there's really nothing good about it at all. Investing,
there are some very good things about it, and we
would urge Christians to consider investing. However, we're being undercut
by one very popular investment platform who is now conflating
the two by offering sports betting as one of its

(02:00):
options on its investing platform. We'll save that for later
on in the show. I'll try to mask my frustration
at that at least save it for later in the show,
and we talk about it, Sam, But it's great.

Speaker 4 (02:10):
To be here.

Speaker 2 (02:10):
We're going to be the whole shows. We get a
good derail V interview, We had a good rant yesterday
and we might get one today as well. Well, we'll
just have to see how that goes. But before any
of that, folks, we did get some more earnings out
this morning. Walmart reported earnings. This was probably i'd say
the biggest one of the week in terms of retail,
and we did have a couple big ones. They did
not beat earnings per share, they fell a little bit short,

(02:32):
sixty eight cents ajusted versus seventy four expected, but they
did beat on revenue. So that's what that was looking
like there for Walmart. Sam. Anything important that we need
to know from Walmart's earnings in your research.

Speaker 3 (02:45):
Well, from what I can tell, most of the issues
that they were having this quarter were one off, so
it really didn't have anything to do with the fundamental
elements of the business.

Speaker 2 (02:53):
Yep, yep. So good stuff there, Sam. Also, we got
the FMC minutes released yesterday from their July meeting, the
meeting summer, there was really nothing of note to report
about it, But there's a divergence of opinion among the
central bankers who would have thought they are whether or
not to hold the key rate steady or to lower
rates despite objections at least two FED governors, and I

(03:13):
wonder if there's maybe more at this point who are
arguing in favor of cutting. So we'll be keeping an eye.
I think it's less than a month now, we'll be
at the next FED meeting and we'll see if indeed
the Fed will cut rates. Last numbers I saw was
eighty six percent is believing that they will cut rates.

Speaker 3 (03:29):
And there could be even more shake up because Trump's
now investigating one of the governors for mortgage frauds, so
that could get juicy real quick.

Speaker 2 (03:35):
It certainly ken, So we'll be keeping an eye on that.
All that stuff there, folks. Markets meanwhile, yesterday, so the
tech sell off from Tuesday continued into Wednesday. The major indices,
led by the Nasdaq, continued downward. By midday, all three
were in negative territory late afternoon much the same by
the closing bell again, the dal Jones which has been
resilient this past week, was able to finish with its

(03:56):
head above water. The S and P five hundred, meanwhile,
was down a order and the Nasdaq suffered back to
back losses. Down not as bad though as it was
on Tuesday, only down about two thirds of a percent.
Pre markets this morning are pricing in somewhat negative, with
the Dow Jones down about two fifths, same with the
SB five hundred and the NASDAK creeping down towards one

(04:17):
half of a percentage point down. So we'll see what
the markets do today with all the information that they've
gotten from earnings in the FOMC and things like that.
All right, Sam, let's move to this headline here. I
think this is an interesting one. I think it's one
that we need to talk about as well, especially from
a biblically responsible investing perspective. The Trump administration is cracking
down on Chinese slave labor. What can you tell us
about this, Sam? That's right, very important for our ministry.

Speaker 3 (04:37):
So often when we talk about BRI we talk about
issues like the LGBT agenda and abortion, but there's so
many other things as well, including this, the issue of
human rights abuses slave labor things like that, and Donald
Trump is now taking an interest in this issue. As
you're right, The Department of Homeland Security is now increasing
scrutiny of Chinese imports suspec it of being produced with

(04:59):
slave labor, particularly those weager Muslims, which China has been
rounding up and using them for slave labor for some
time now. According to Fox, Business, products such as Chinese steel, copper, lithium,
caustic soda, and even red dates have now been designated
as quote high priority for inspection, and as a result,
these imports will face now enhance scrutiny by US Customs

(05:23):
and Border Protection. As of August first of this year,
approximately three point seven billion dollars worth of goods have
been flagged for additional inspection, with nearly nine hundred million
of them being denied entry into the United States. Nine
hundred million dollars worth of goods. That is, by the way,
a twenty twenty report identified eighty three major global brands

(05:44):
allegedly benefiting from this slave labor, either either directly or indirectly.
That includes major companies like Apple, Amazon, Nike, Samsung, and
many many more, and of.

Speaker 2 (05:55):
Course sam those companies that automatically would disqualify them from
being biblically responded. Yes, for not just that reason, other
reasons as well, but that's an important one. Sam, I'm
glad you brought that up. This is tremendous to see.
I like what the Trump administration is doing here, and
I think another reason to be in favor of their
efforts to isolate the CCP. This is happening through tariffs
and now it's also happening here as well, bringing light

(06:16):
to something that is a serious issue. Sam, You're exactly right.
The common bri issues that we've talked about over the
last several years have really been dominated by abortion and
the LGBTQ agenda, and rightfully so, because that's what's on
the national consciousness. But folks, there are a litany of issues.

Speaker 3 (06:33):
And because companies willingly disclosed that they're supporting those things,
I can't think of a single company that's so important. Yeah,
we're pro slave labor and we're actually benefiting from that.
Companies are pretty reluctant to share that kind of thing.

Speaker 2 (06:44):
Companies will come right out and say we offer abortion
travel for employees because it's under healthcare, they'll say, or
they'll say we're accepting the LGBT community because it's seen
as social justice or whatever it is. None of them
will come out and say we enslave people to sell
our products. A lot of them will do that. Okay,
So there's extra research that needs to happen. And this
is so important for us, folks. We cannot look past

(07:05):
this grotesque human rights abuse that it's committed by a
litany of companies, including those Sam just mentioned, in some way,
shape or form. These companies profit off of the now
latest numbers I hear is it's fifty million, fifty million
enslaved people in the world today. It's the most ever.
Number shocked me. When I first heard it growing up,
I heard the number was around twenty seven million. So
that's double what that is there, Folks, listen, slavery, slavery

(07:29):
just like the abortion, just like the gay stuff. It's
an abomination. Okay, it's an abomination. We as the people
of God there for we must not turn the blind
eye to modern day slavery. We have to stand against this.
This is why our strategy matters, really is we want
to push back against the darkness of modern day slavery
as much as we want to against the darkness of abortion,
and against the darkness of pornography, and against the darkness

(07:50):
of the LGBTQ anti family agenda. And you know, this
hits home for me, Sam in particular as a father
having three young children of my own, realizing the reality
that many modern day slaves sadly are children, and some
of them even as young as my children are. Furthermore,
many of these children are trapped in one of the
most grotesque forms of slavery, which is sexual slavery. The

(08:12):
number I saw was somewhere around twenty two million people,
many of them probably underage, live in forced marriages, which
is a form of slavery. Four out of five cases
of sexual exploitation, so sexual slavery are women and girls
and human trafficking. Get this generates somewhere around one hundred
and fifty billion dollars per year, with well over half

(08:34):
of that profit coming from sexual slavery. It also hits
home when you realize, you know, another thing that we
screen out against here at the Ministry, folks, is pornography.
And this is just me using my eyes and using
the the common sense that the Lord has given me
that pornography is oftentimes a front of sexual slavery that many,

(08:56):
many times you see in pornographic industry that the oftentimes
women and girls who are being pornographied, they're not doing
it of their own volition. It's usually either in part
or in full against their will. That's human trafficking. It's
the same thing. So this is happening here. You have

(09:17):
this crossover now of things that we're trying to screen against, folks.
How do we fight against this? I think it's really
pretty simple. I think we need to start by keeping
our money out of the hands of companies who will
do wicked things with it. We don't want to have
any part of companies that will enslave other human beings
with the money that we invest in them.

Speaker 3 (09:36):
That's why our strategies, and then you make money off
of their enslavements, So you really do not want that.
If there's tainted money, if I can think of any
it would be this.

Speaker 2 (09:44):
Yep, that's exactly right. We talk about blood money. I
think that's a pretty good example of it there, folks.
So that's why our strategy is so important here. I'm
loving what I'm seeing with the Trump administration doing that.
I hope that they're that even more comes to light
and that it can be stopped absolutely from our mortal enemy,
the Communist Chinese Party. Folks did want to make a
couple of announcements here before the end of this break,

(10:06):
before we have Spencer join the show in the next segment.
We do have a partner conference call later today. Okay,
please mark your calendars, make a note to be there
twelve pm Central time, one pm Eastern time today. You
should have gotten an email with the call number and
access code. Just follow that dial that in again twelve
pm Central time, one pm Eastern time today. You'll get

(10:27):
to hear Shannon's great insight. I'm looking forward to it
as well. We also have more than five hundred signatures
on our Tesla petition. You have less than forty eight
really about thirty six hours left to sign this petition.
You gotta sign it, folks. If you haven't signed it,
do it right now. We just talked about how we
want to screen against things that God hates, and we're
trying to do that with Tesla here. We want them
to change their ways and stop using investor dollars to

(10:49):
fund the abortion and trans industries. So sign that petition
today at Financial Issues dot Org. We'll be right back
after this. Welcome back to the show, folks. Good to
be here with you today. I got a special guest
on the program with me. Always exciting to invite voices
on the program you could speak to these deep issues

(11:11):
of the day, and I've got one here. I've got
Spencer Morrison.

Speaker 4 (11:13):
Now.

Speaker 2 (11:13):
Spencer's the editor in chief of the National Economics Editorial.
He's also the author of Resure, How Tariffs Will Bring
Our Jobs Home and Revive the American Dream. Spencer, Welcome
to Financial Issues, brother, thanks for joining me today.

Speaker 4 (11:26):
That's my pleasure to be on the program.

Speaker 2 (11:28):
Absolutely so. As you know, Spencer, the financial news cycle
has been I think rightly dominated in recent days by
President Trump's tariffs and their implications on the American economic
ecosystem as it were.

Speaker 4 (11:40):
Now.

Speaker 2 (11:40):
I was really fascinated to read the title of your book,
and once again, that title, folks, is Resure, How Tariffs
will Bring Our Jobs Home and Revive the American Dream. Spencer,
my guest, based on that title is that you believe,
in some sense these tariffs will accomplish this twofold goal.
First of all, let me ask you this, why are
you confident that this could happen.

Speaker 4 (12:02):
Well, the main reason is that it's based on a
sound historical precedent and economic logic. I just want to
paint a picture for you, a picture of the history
of this country. Yeah, this is great guy. He may
have heard of him. His name is Alexander Hamilton. He
wrote A good guy, very pretty good guy. He wrote.
I think there's a Broadway play about him. I think
that's why.

Speaker 2 (12:25):
The young people know rather than history books.

Speaker 4 (12:28):
Right. Yeah, Well, as it turns out, he not only
is in the history of books, he wrote one of
the most important history books in terms of American economic history,
and that's called The Report on Manufactures. This was sort
of Alexander Hamilton's magnum opus in which he said that
tariffs were the core to the American system of economic development.
And the reason for that is twofold number one. They're

(12:49):
a great way to fund the government because they are
a small government solution. Why because if you raise tariffs
too high, people just stop buying foreign goods instead they
buy American and the tax based drives up. So you
can never have a government that goes out of control
if it's funded based on tariffs. Because tariffs are in
optional tax number two, and this is the more important element.

(13:10):
Tariffs were explicitly designed in order to prioritize American economic
production as opposed to imports. So what happened at the
time of the American Revolution is the American Revolution almost
didn't get off the ground. The reason for that is
that America couldn't manufacture enough of the materials that it
needed to actually win the war, and we actually relied

(13:32):
on imports and donations from particularly France, in order to
win the revolution. For example, they provided over eighty thousand
firearms to the revolutionary army. Of course, the revolution couldn't
have been one without those eighty thousand firearms. So what
Alexander Hamilton realized is that you can't have political freedom,
you can't have an independent country without an independent productive economy.

(13:56):
So tariffs were all designed to industrialize America and to
make it into economically self sufficient, and that's why President
George Washington signed the Terriff Act of seventeen eighty nine,
which was the first major piece of legislation that set
America along a course of industrializing and developing its economy

(14:16):
under the protection of tariffs. Throughout the eighteen hundreds, America
had the highest average tariff rates on planet Earth. And
of course America grew into the biggest economy on planet Earth.
And that's because those two things are related. America had
to become self sufficient because they couldn't just buy everything
cheap from Europe. Fifty years ago, we flipped that paradigm

(14:38):
on its head and instead we started buying all of
these products from foreign countries rather than building them. And
of course what's happened. America's economy has been turned upside down.
The middle class has been ravaged. We've lost tens of
thousands of factories. You know, we're producing not what we need.
We're not producing the stuff that we need anymore, right

(15:00):
like silicon chips. We relying computer chips from China, pharmaceuticals
from China. It's a total disaster. So when you know,
so when I wrote this book How Tariffs Will Rebuild
our Economy, it's based entirely on our own economic history,
and that's what's really important to understand.

Speaker 2 (15:19):
You know, I so appreciate you bringing that up, Spencer,
First of all, the lesson of needing to learn your
history and know your history, but second of all, seeing
the real reason behind these tariffs, I think is so
very important for us. So my question for you here
in regarding that there, Spencer, is, in your opinion, what
should the end goal of these particular tariffs that the
Trump administration is administering be. Is it bring back manufacturing

(15:41):
to the US, get tariff revenue from other nations, just
get what we want from other nations, make America great
on the world stage again, a mixture of all of those,
what would it be?

Speaker 4 (15:52):
Yeah? I mean, the arroifts are a really interesting tool
because they have both a political function and an economic function. Right,
So you've mentioned that can be used to get political
leverage over other countries, and that's certainly the case. But
my focus is not on the politics. My focus is
on the economic side of the thing. What I'd love

(16:12):
to see happen is for the teriffs to be raised
high enough and to make sure that they're stable enough
that American businesses and foreign businesses decide to reallocate their
production to America. They reshore the factories from places like
China or India or Mexico and they reshore them to America.
And the reason for that is because that's what drives

(16:35):
long run economic growth. You know, In the short term,
we've got great things. We've got more jobs, we have
more purchasing power, we have an increase in wages. That's
all excellent for the American middle and working class. But
in the long run, we need to focus on what
actually drives the economy, and what drives the economy is
technological growth. And the reality is is that we're not
going to have long run technological growth when all of

(16:56):
our technological manufacturing is a right. How are we going
to be innovating on the next big computer chip when
we don't manufacture the computer chips here? It just doesn't
make any sense, folks.

Speaker 2 (17:10):
Again, speaking to Spencer Morrison, Spencer's the editor in chief
the National Economics Editorial, author of re Sure How Tariffs
will Bring Our Jobs Home and Revive the American Dream. Spencer,
I appreciate that insight there. One of the concerns that
I have, and this is generally for the Trump administration
as a whole, is the sustainability of it. I love
everything that the Trump administration is doing. My concern is

(17:31):
twenty twenty nine comes and there's another administration in and
then everything just reverts back to what it was under
the Biden administration, for example, the gains not being sustainable.
What are your thoughts on this and how the Trump
team can make strides These strides that they're making here permanent,
should for example, a JD. Vance or another member of
the Trump team might not be sitting in the Oval

(17:53):
office next presidential term.

Speaker 4 (17:57):
Well, and this is why people have to put their
pressuring their congressman to get this done right, because we
all know that the Constitution says the power of the
purse rests with Congress, not with the president, not with
the executive, not with the courts. It rests with Congress.
What President Trump has been doing is he has been
exercising delegated authority. He's been exercising the authority in certain

(18:20):
statutes that says the executive can do tariffs, you know,
to accomplish this goal or this goal. But they're all temporary.
Until Congress takes President Trump's tariffs and trade deals and
wraps them up into actual legislation, there's not going to
be any long term stability. So Congress needs to get
this done. And President Trump's focus, now that he's got
tariffs in place, should be working with Congress for the

(18:41):
rest of the term to get these codified so that
the terroriffts remain in place, you know, after he's gone.
Because you're right, the big problem right now is that
they're temporary and businesses don't like to see that. Businesses
want to see that the terroifts are going to be
in place so that they can recoup their investment. Because
if you're a big company and you're going to invest,
you know, manufacturing America, your capital costs could very well

(19:03):
be a billion, two billion, you know, ten billion, depending
on what you're doing. And if the tariffs aren't going
to be in place for more than two or three years,
why would you make that capital investment? Doesn't make any sense, right,
That's why tariffs are a long term solution. So Congress
needs to get off their hands and they got to
get this done.

Speaker 2 (19:21):
Speaking with Spencer Morrison here, folks, Spencer, I got to
ask a question that I personally have been wondering here.
The sixteenth Amendment, so Congress have power to laan and
collect taxes on incomes, one of the most grotesque overreaches
of government power in my opinion, Is there any hope
that these tariffs could get big enough to where the
question could be asked, can we do away with the

(19:42):
sixteenth Amendment. What are your thoughts?

Speaker 4 (19:45):
Oh?

Speaker 5 (19:45):
Yeah, God, bless brother, that's what I'd love to see,
I wish right.

Speaker 4 (19:49):
Yeah, Well this so this is actually the problem that
I that I talked about running the start, and this
is part of the reason that the government was originally
founded to operate on tariffs. Tariffs are a beautiful thing
because if you raise the rate too high, people just
don't buy the imports anymore. They buy American products, right,
So you can't have unlimited taxation. And if you can't
have unlimited taxation under tariffs, the corollary to that is

(20:12):
that you can't borrow infinite money because the lenders know
that you're not actually good for it. So that's how
tariffs keep the government, the size of government in check.
The only it was only after nineteen thirteen when America
instituted the income tax that not only did the taxation
go knots, but more importantly, the borrowing went nuts as well.

(20:35):
Because it is because now the government can simply raise
income tax on everybody, and basically the banks know that
they're good for it, right, so they'll lend them essentially
infinite amounts of money. And this is this is that
cycle that's been in place since then. So what I'd
love to see happen is a shift away from domestic

(20:55):
taxes and a focus on instead tariff revenue. But that's
going to require the cooperation of I mean, frankly, all
levels of government, because everybody in government is benefiting from
the income tax. The American people are getting destroyed over
of course, but they don't.

Speaker 2 (21:12):
They don't seem to care about the regular people, unfortunately,
not and that goes with both both political parties as well. Sadly, Spencer,
I so appreciate the conversation we've been able to have.
Hey tell us quickly. You're the editor in chief of
the National Economics Editorial. What does your organization do? How
do you guys raise this kind of awareness that we
need to have a good, strong economy America? First, what

(21:34):
do you guys do for that?

Speaker 4 (21:35):
Yeah? So I've founded the National Economics Editorial in twenty fifteen,
and I've been writing about these topics ever since. Unfortunately,
during COVID, the entire project got censored quite heavily. I
lost my Facebook following of eighty four thousand followers. We've
got delisted on Google, my Twitter was suspended, our YouTube
channel was taken down, and accordingly, since then, the NEEE

(21:59):
has really been reduced to a blog on my substack page,
unfortunately due to the censorship. But what I do, you know,
is really spread awareness of these issues in conjunction with
my book and appearances, and I do my best to educate,
to educate the American people and you know, people in

(22:19):
academia and our government on tariffs. For example, I recently
debate a debate at Mis's University on the question of
free trade, and I think I'll be speaking at the
University of Florida in the next couple of months. So
there's a lot of work that needs to be done,
lots of hearts and minds that need to be changed,
and I do my best to make that happen.

Speaker 2 (22:38):
Well, you know, I'll tell you what, Spencer, we don't
have time for in this interview, but i'd love to
have you back on sometime to even address some of
those maybe criticisms that we've heard from the other side
about tariff's jacking up prices, different things like that. Unfortunately,
we'll have to save that for the next time. But
before we go, Spencer, you mentioned your book again. Re
Sure How Tariffs Will Bring Our Jobs Home and Revive
the American Dream. Where can our listeners learn more about

(22:58):
this book and get a copy of it if they
are so interested.

Speaker 4 (23:02):
Yeah, the books available on Amazon, the books available from
the publisher directly at calamopress dot com. And then, of
course i'd encourage people to stay in contact with me.
You can do that by following me on x at
real sp Morrison or following me on substack at real
sp Morrison. And then the publication would be the National
Economics Editorial. That's where you're going to get all of

(23:22):
my up to date information. No, I write columns as well.
I'm on the Blaze Media for example. But follow along, everybody.
Let's keep this keep the ball rolling.

Speaker 2 (23:32):
Well, said Spencer. Folks against Spencer Morris, an editor in chief,
National Economics Editorial, author of re Sure How Tariffs Will
Bring Our Jobs Home and Revive the American Dream. Spencer,
I enjoyed our conversation very much, brother, and I look
forward to the next time. We've got more financial issues
coming up. Folks on the other side of this break,
if you have to leave us, we hope you have
a great day for the rest of you stick around
more coming up after this. Welcome back, folks, going to

(24:01):
be here with you today. I hope you enjoyed that
interview with Spencer. I'll be sure to have Spencer back
on the program sometime soon. Quickly, here, we've got the
markets just opened up. Everything indegative territory looking not as
down as they were, but still down somewhat significantly. The
dal Jones has turned course, is now down about almost
half a percent, sp five hundred and quarter percent down.

(24:22):
NASDAK same thing, quarter percent down. The Nasdaq is nursing
a two day losing streak, so we'll see if it
can turn around later in the day today. Okay, folks,
I have another special guest joining me here. I've got
Melanie Collette. Melody is an author and she's also a
policy analyst for the Committee for a Constructive Tomorrow. And
very excited to talk to Melanie now. Melanie, welcome to
the show. Thanks for joining us today.

Speaker 6 (24:43):
Thank you so much for having me.

Speaker 2 (24:45):
You're very welcome. So in the last several weeks, Melanie,
we saw news that Costco came out and asserted that
it will not sell the abortion pill MIFA pristone. We
hear at financial issues. Very excited about that and of
course celebrating this. It does lead to some questions and
that's where I'd like to get your expertise on this.
First off, it appears that this came about from pressure

(25:05):
from Christian's faith based groups putting pressure on the company.
And whether and that's true, whether Costco is admitting it
or not. I'd love for you to speak to this
collective power of Christian money managers and investors coming together
to get something done like this. How did this happen?

Speaker 6 (25:18):
And the thing is, you know, it has to do
with the free market, which is what I love about this.
You don't necessarily have to get outside with your signs
and protests and yell and scream at people. You can
actually put pressure on the market and allow that to happen.

Speaker 2 (25:35):
So as more people.

Speaker 6 (25:36):
Get educated I think from conservative groups and anti apportion
groups got educated on what this pill does, and then
more we spread the word and said, hey, these are
all the side effects. These are how it's negatively affecting women,
not to mention it's killing babies. You need to stop
selling this drug. I think that is how it happened.
Like I said, the biggest part of the story. Is

(25:56):
the only thing that I love more than the fact
that less women will be injured, less babies will die
in utero, is the fact that it was the financial industry,
it was the free market that spoke loudly and said
stop selling this pill.

Speaker 2 (26:09):
And that's exactly what the free market's supposed to do,
right Melany, It's supposed to offer that kind of checks
and balance like that. I love that too. That's absolutely awesome,
and that was certainly that was part of what I
was going to ask you next. Is it seems like,
you know, Costco's claiming it's just because of fallen sales
and doesn't seem to be like they're giving much time
of day to the concerted effort from conservatives and Christians.
What are your thoughts on that. Are both those things

(26:31):
true where it kind of was from falling sales and
also from the effort or is it more one or
the other.

Speaker 6 (26:35):
I think that there are following sales, but I don't
quite pardon me, but I don't quite buy that it's
totally because of that. Only because those abortions in this
day and age are done via those.

Speaker 2 (26:46):
Drugs, via that pill.

Speaker 6 (26:47):
People are not really going to play a parenthood because
it's uncomfortable, and you know, pro lifers like myself have
made it uncomfortable. Why you would be uncomfortable with somebody
praying for your soon to be un alive child is
beyond me.

Speaker 2 (26:59):
But that's a different story why you.

Speaker 6 (27:01):
Would be so bothered by that. But you know, I
think that that has something to do with it, but
not not by and large, because like I said, two
thirds of abortions are now performed this way. But even
when that pill works effectively, it's very ugly with how
the process, if you will. It's nine o'clock in the morning,

(27:22):
so we're not going to get into detail, but it's
a very ugly process. And when it doesn't work well,
women can be subjected to sepsis and ruptures and infections
and things like that and the sense of the er.
So I also think that it's more education about those
things have gotten around that probably lowered the lowered the
sale of those pills.

Speaker 2 (27:40):
You know, I'm so glad that education is going around. Melanie.
By the way, folks speaking to Melanie Collette. Melanie is
the policy analyst for Committee for a Constructive Tomorrow. Melanie,
you had just mentioned that there I'd like to kind
of pick up on that. You know, the fact that
mith of pristone is such an ugly drug not only
for the babies it kills, but for the women it harms.
Give us a picture here of the potential life saving

(28:01):
impact not only for babies, but for women and girls also, So.

Speaker 6 (28:07):
To be clear when we're talking about the life saving
when you just look at the number of babies that
have been killed in utero just in general, and do
a multiplier on how many lives that you have killed off,
it's frightening millions today, over sixty million babies killed. And
when we talk about the side effects, the side effects

(28:29):
and the damage that it possibly does, we're literally talking
about eleven percent in reality according to one study, as
opposed to the half percent that it says on the
label in the packaging. So we're talking about saving lives
and saving women from possible permanent damage and every productivity
just because you know, the timing is often they didn't

(28:50):
want to have that baby at that time and took
that pill. So it's a crazy amount of lives saved
when you look at it in the macro and you
look at like lives over lives, particularly in the black community.
I always think about this and I always bring this
to people's attention when we talk about the fact that,
you know, black folks are only like thirteen percent of
the population in the United States, right, and you think

(29:11):
about the fact that we are killing our own children.
The multiplier of that, and how many black folks there
would be here if they weren't, if there weren't a
planned parrot on every corner, and drugs like that, like
that pill. I'm having trouble pronouncing it, like that pill
on the market. Yeah, So it's a multiplier effect that
people don't think about.

Speaker 2 (29:32):
So important to you know, understand that. So it's a
funny melanie because when we talk about this drug methipristone,
I have a sarcastic thought in my mind, and it's
always the one of you know, how are we surprised
that a drug that is designed to kill a human
being also has side effects that might harm the other
human being that is currently the one that the human

(29:53):
being who's getting killed is inside of. It's a shocker
to so many people, but no, the reality is, of
course it's harmful, and of course it needs to be stopped.
And I'm so excited to see this happening. And so
my last question for you, Melody in this regard is
is this merely a one off for retailers selling this
deadly drug or is there hope that we can see
Costco started a fire here and maybe Walmart, maybe CVS,

(30:15):
maybe others might start following suit. What are your thoughts on.

Speaker 6 (30:17):
That it would be great to see them follow suit.
I'm hoping that they follow suit. I am sure that
the pro life movement and the investors and everyone else
who put pressure on Costco to do this are putting
the same pressure. And matter of fact, I know for
a fact that they have written letters to these to
these other drug pharmacies and said, hey, you need to
follow suit and do the same thing as what Costco

(30:40):
is doing. And I hope they do follow suit. If
for no other reason, then the drug seems to be
way more dangerous than advertised and it really should be
under medical supervision. There are pro life lifebgyns who have
talked about how pharmacists really aren't qualified. We're skilled enough
to be prescribing as drug on the rare, rare, rare

(31:02):
occasions that this could possibly be used, it should be
done under a doctor supervision.

Speaker 2 (31:07):
Well said Melanie. I appreciate that a lot, folks. Again,
Melanie Collett, author policy analyst for the Committee for a
Constructive Tomorrow See Fact. Melanie, I'd like you to tell
our audience your first time on the show, So tell
our audience about yourself and the work that you do
with the Committee for a Constructive Tomorrow.

Speaker 6 (31:21):
Well, thank you so much. The sole purpose, I shouldn't
say the sole purpose is the main purpose of a
Committee for Constructive Tomorrow has to do with a conservative
angle on environmentalism. However, we do do work as far
as free market capitalism and preservation of the world and humanity,
and this certainly falls right within that wheelhouse, which is

(31:44):
why we decided to comment on this particular issue that's
a little bit outside the realm of the environment. But
we are pro humanity and pro free market and this
was certainly initiative fell right into that category absolutely quickly.

Speaker 2 (31:59):
Here, Melanie, give our listeners a taste of some of
those other initiatives that you are involved. As you guys
are pro humanity, what are some other things that you
do at c fact.

Speaker 6 (32:06):
Certainly one of the biggest fights that we have now
is offshore wind we've been fighting offshore wind for years.
There's nothing clean about it. Its effect on climate change
is negligible and it's nothing but a grift. You should
look out for an op ed coming out soon about
the effect on AI and utility prices and the building

(32:27):
of data centers. There's also another and these are just
these are mine.

Speaker 2 (32:30):
There's another.

Speaker 6 (32:31):
There's we have several and you should definitely hop onto
c fact dot org to check us out. And there's
another one coming out about the Global Plastics Treaty talks
that happened in Switzerland last week, so you should look
out for that from c Fact.

Speaker 2 (32:45):
We'll do that c fact dot org. Melanie, thank you
so much for joining me on the show. It's a
pleasure to have you this morning and I look forward
to the opportunities that we have to get to speak
again folks again. Melanie call Ott, author policy analyst for
ce FACT. That's the Committee for a Constructive Tomorrow. You
can check them out at sea fact dot org. Here
comes Creig Howgard with our agport folks. Then we'll be
back with more financial issues around the other side of
this break.

Speaker 5 (33:06):
This is Craig Houguard with your financial issues agg update
for August twenty first well, the Pro Farmer Tour showed
strong corn yields yesterday and portions of Indiana and Nebraska.
The Indiana and yield came in at and estimated one
hundred and ninety three point eight bushels breaker up from
one hundred and eighty seven point five last year, while
Nebraska the crops go outs, estimating yield at one hundred
and seventy nine point five bushel's breaker up from one

(33:28):
hundred and seventy three point twenty five a year ago.
December corn finished the day three quarters was sent higher
at four dollars and four cents per bushel. The Pro
Farmer Tour found podcasts in Indiana bolol last year's numbers
that helps support soybeans from a longer term perspective. I
remained focused on China. The American Soybean Association to send
a letter to President Trump warning that the US growers
are facing severe financial distress if the trade war would

(33:51):
China persists. China has yet to book any new crops
soybeans from the US looking at old crop Chinese soybean
imports from Brazil in July rose by thirteen point nine
percent from your earlier numbers, while US imports fell by
eleven and a half percent in the same period. November
beings finished the day two and a quarter cents higher
at ten thirty six. The wheat market hit some new

(34:11):
lows and then had a bit of a technical bounce
as a little technical buying came into the market. At
the close, we had Minneapolis December we'd opinion a half
higher at five eighty nine. Kansas City also rose by
a cent and a half to close at five twenty
three and a quarter. Chicago was seven cents better at
five twenty eight and a quarter. Cotton futures inch higher.
In yesterday's trade. We had December futures up four points

(34:32):
at the closing bell at sixty seven sixty. Live cattle
and feeder cattle both set record highs during yesterday's trade.
October live cattle finished the day three dollars and fifty
cents higher two hundred and thirty four dollars and eighty
five cents per hundredweight. September feeder cattle were five dollars
sixty seven and a half cents higher, closing out today
at three hundred and fifty eight dollars and ten cents

(34:52):
per hundred and October Leen hogged futures they were twenty
cents lower, but eighty nine dollars and ninety five cents
per hundredweight.

Speaker 2 (34:58):
Class three milk futures.

Speaker 5 (35:01):
Saw there recent rally kind of run out of gas
at the closing bell. We had September of futures down
thirteen points as they settled out today at eighteen seventy five.
List has been Craig Hollguard with your financial issues Egg update.
We'll be right back with more financial issues after this.

Speaker 3 (35:28):
The opinions and recommendations expressed on this program do not
necessarily represent the opinions of the station or any of
the program sponsors. Additionally, all products or services offered by
the program sponsors may not be known by the program.

Speaker 2 (35:46):
Thanks for joining us on financial issues today, folks. It's
been a good show and I'm grateful for each of
you on the chat this morning and you those of
you listening on social media, the radio, our TV feed.
Happy to have you all, folks. Lisa from Texas, Good
morning to you, Lisa, Steven from Oklahoma, Brian and Kara.
Great to see you guys. Nelson, thanks for putting the
Lincoln there for Sea Fact Nelson from Louisiana. Good to

(36:08):
see Mark in the chat. And Elijah or Elijah in
the chat as well as Sam. I see Sam in
there too, so Sam, I'm saying hello to you here
and also on this.

Speaker 3 (36:15):
I get lonely during the interviews, so I need to
get in the chat.

Speaker 4 (36:18):
Yep.

Speaker 2 (36:18):
Claude is there. Claude, Good to see you, brother. Brian
from Virginia. Great to see Brian. Ann. Hello Ann, good
to see you, and I do appreciate you bringing up
that particular stock. I'm going to look into that for you.
We'll see if we can get to the bottom of
that one. We've also got John from Alabama. Good to
see John. I'm trying to see if I missed anyone here.
I think we got all of them. If I missed you,

(36:40):
give me a shout out in the chat, say hey, Seth,
you missed me, knucklehead, and I will try to get
to you there as well before we sign off on
the other show today. Conference golf Folks today twelve pm
Central Time, one pm Eastern. Don't miss it again. Conference
call today. You should have gotten the log in information
to call on information. If you didn't get it or
you don't see it in your spam full or perhaps

(37:01):
you accidentally delete the email or something like that, go
to the partner side of the website, the alerts page,
and you should have it right there at top of
the alerts page there. Speaking of which, also, folks on
the partner side, we will have the conference call posted
hopefully sometime this afternoon shortly thereafter once compliance folks confirm it.
So should be all good there, Sam. Let's get to
now the stuff that we teed up at the beginning

(37:23):
of the show today. When it comes to the conflation,
which we don't like, but a lot of unfortunately people
think that, you know, they're conflated similar things investing in gambling,
Robin Hood seth.

Speaker 3 (37:33):
I was not doing any fake, wonderful job of controlling
your emotions.

Speaker 1 (37:36):
It's over this.

Speaker 2 (37:37):
I appreciate that. We'll see how we do at the
end of this. Thought you were going to kill it
the geo during the interviews. Yeah, I'll tell you what
it's it's nonsense. But what do we have here, Sam?
What kind of gobbledygook is Robin Hood getting into? Yeah?

Speaker 3 (37:47):
So, sadly it's true. Online stockbroker Robin Hood is now
getting into sports betting, posting in a statement customers can
now trade. So already that's a questionable phrase right there. Trade,
I e. Gamble on the outcome of the most popular
pro in college football games, including regular season pro matchups
and all college power for schools and independence. I don't

(38:08):
know college football. I don't know what that means. All
I know is that you can bet on the outcome.

Speaker 2 (38:12):
Yeah. The lesson is there's a lot of college football
you can bet on. That's Robin Hood's loving it because
there's a lot of operations. Yeah.

Speaker 3 (38:17):
Now what's interesting about this is they're trying to claim
it's not actually sports betting. They said, quote, unlike sports betting,
where the firm like the bookie, sets a line, event contracts,
which is what they're offering, leverage the power and rigor
of financial market structures and are offered in a marketplace
where buyers and sellers interact to set the price. So

(38:38):
I don't know what you think about that set, but
to me, that seems like a whole lot of a
distinction without a real difference. So what they're basically saying
is the only difference is that the odds operate through
a shifting market so the odds change throughout the game,
rather than traditional sports betting where the odds are fixed
by the sports book. So in the end you're still
putting money on the outcome of the game. Though, and

(38:59):
by the way, this is an entirely new for Robinhood.
They have offered betting or speculation for some time on
stuff like this, offering bettings for example, on the presidential
election last year.

Speaker 2 (39:10):
Thank you, Sam. See, this is why, Robinhood, this is
why you're the reason why we can't have nice things.
Robin Hood, Like this is so stupid, This is this
is exactly undercutting what long term investors are trying to
share with the public, that that there's a difference, folks,
there is a difference. Here's the deal. In all seriousness, Sam,
Robinhood is a trading platform which I have a lot

(39:30):
of uneasy feelings about as a trading platform, and I
don't particularly use it. They seem to be the anti
hero when it comes to long term investing, certainly, you know,
not necessary, like Robin Hood villain, kind of like Robinhood
the whole Yeah, Robin the Robin, the rich feeding the
poor thing. I think Robinood, the historical Robin Hood, or
at least the legend was maybe a little more heroic

(39:52):
than this Robinhood is. But it seems to be Sam
this poor or getting them the gamble, stealing from the
poor and tricking them into thinking that they can win
all this money if they just use it. Yeah, this
platform is right for this kind of stuff, though it
really is. They seem to be more a breeding ground
for betting style investing, which is really just day trading,
which is really just I would say betting in kind

(40:15):
of more of an investment language. Let me give you
a few reasons, folks, why this particular platform is controversial.
In addition to what we just heard from Sam, which
is very controversial, About four years ago, our founder Dan
Celia had some very very harsh words for Robinhood and
even warned listeners to move away from using it as
a trading platform. We did have a clip of that.

(40:36):
The clip is a little too long to play on
the show, but you can find that clip really easily. Now.
Dan warned against Robinhood not for br reasons, because once again, folks,
we have to remind you, if you're using an investment platform,
you're not investing in the investment platform. You're just using
the goods or services. So it wasn't for br reasons,
but it was for what appeared to be legal reasons
surrounding an SEC filing. If you search on YouTube for

(40:59):
the clip title it's time to get out of robin
Hood on financial issues, It's time to get out of
robin Hood. You can find that clip there while I'm talking,
maybe when when whenever Sam jumps in, because I you know,
multitasking is not always the easiest thing to do, I'll
grab that clip and put it into the you can't
talk type. Look up a video. I just if I
two males for four hands, it's a shame set. That's exactly.

(41:20):
You were better than this. I know, I know, I'm sorry,
but listen, we're trying to criticize Robinhood, not me. No,
exactly exactly more than one exactly exactly. It's time to
get out of Robinhood is the name of the clip. Folks,
So search that it's time to get out of robin Hood.
Really good clip. So that was one thing. It's also
worth noting Sam a lot of the trading that took

(41:42):
place in the game stop stock run up of twenty
twenty one. Guess where it happened. Most of it happened
on Robinhood. They had to shut it down, and then
they just shut it down so they had liquidity issues. Yep,
it's exactly right. So Sam, tell me if I'm getting
this right. They shut down the ability to buy robin Hood,
but you could see. It's exactly right. You could buy
it in the run up.

Speaker 3 (42:01):
Once the run up got really hot, they stopped letting
you buy it, but you could sell it absolutely.

Speaker 2 (42:05):
So there's a lot of concerning things about this particular
trading part, which.

Speaker 3 (42:08):
Again it's ironic because the whole game stop thing it
made a lot of novice investors rich, so it's really
anti robin Hood to stop those people from making money.

Speaker 2 (42:19):
That's exactly right, Sam, And Sam thank you for your
comment there because it gave me time to put the Hey,
look at much I'm helping. That link there, folks of
Dan's clip is now in the chat. It's on YouTube.
Follow that link. You can watch that after the show today.
It's really really good. Again, we just didn't have time
for it on the show today. Here's the point Sam,
that I'm really trying to get to. Where there is smoke,
there's fire, that's that's a good foundational wisdom piece that

(42:41):
you learn. If there's smoke, chances are there's fire. This
particular trading platform is right for such things like this.
It's no surprise that this is happening here.

Speaker 3 (42:50):
And in fact, even in the regular investing that you
do on robin Hood, they kind of treat it like gambling.
When you make us sell and it makes you money,
they give you confetti, like if you scored on a
slot machine or something like that, just to get your
emotions to run high. Yesterday we were talking to Mark
Manila and he said, emotions are the worst thing in investing,
and Robinhood makes it so so easy to get riled

(43:13):
up about these things.

Speaker 2 (43:14):
They actually encourage it.

Speaker 3 (43:14):
It's almost like you're playing a video game when you're
using Robinhood. I tried it a little bit when I
first started getting into investing. I'll say the best thing
about it is the user interface is really good. But
that's kind of the insidious part, right. They make it
really amazing to use for people who have never tried
to invest before, and then because of that they can
make you make really risky decisions by rewarding behaviors that

(43:37):
might not be best for your portfolio.

Speaker 2 (43:39):
It's a funny sam how some of the most foolish
things look the best. They look so good when you
first start it, and then once you're in it and
you realize how foolish it is, you see the ugliness
of it.

Speaker 3 (43:50):
It's well said, man. You know the reason why Vegas
is so fun to look at. You had all the knees,
then sign.

Speaker 2 (43:55):
Right once you get into it, boy, watch out, you know.
I think the lesson we can learn here is that
there's a lot of wisdom in not just biblically responsible investing,
but picking a good trading platform too. This is not
a bri I issue, folks. We don't believe that you
need to avoid any particular trading.

Speaker 3 (44:12):
Oh yeah, if you're using Robinhood and you like it,
keep using it. Just just be wary of how they operate.

Speaker 2 (44:17):
Just be very very wary. Absolutely. Like I said, I
don't particularly use it. I don't plan to. There are
a lot of trading platforms out there. Most of them
are not bur You don't have to worry about that
because you're not investing in the trading platform. You're using
the good or service that the trading platform offers, for example,
Fidelity or Charles Schwab or one of those other ones,
or Robinhood. We don't recommend one particular trading platform over another. However,

(44:41):
we will give you signs of wisdom and things to
look out for if we see warning signs with any
platform in particular. And I think, Sam, what we just talked
about with Robinhood pretty good warning sign. I think, so
good to talk about that, folks. Sam. I think we
made it through without me blowing a gasket, so I
think that was good.

Speaker 3 (44:59):
Yeah, gaskets are as unblown, so that's good.

Speaker 2 (45:02):
Why don't we finish on a little bit of a
lighter note here, Sam, Gary is sixty eight. He's asking
a question for us. Why don't get to Gary's here?

Speaker 4 (45:08):
Yeah?

Speaker 3 (45:08):
Speaking about user interface, Gary says he loves the asset
allocation models and portfolio tracker. He says, it makes it
so much easier to be diversified. That's the point, Gary,
So I'm glad you're making use of it.

Speaker 2 (45:19):
He says.

Speaker 3 (45:19):
He's looking at the top of the tracker though, and
he sees different tab options, and he wants to know
does this mean he can create two different asset allocations
to track one for him who's in the income allocation,
and he'd like to also open one for his granddaughter's
college in a growth model. He says, everything in his
granddaughter's portfolio right now is already in the fim bylist.

Speaker 2 (45:40):
Gary, that's awesome, awesome all around. I love that you
can certainly do that. That's a great thing for you
to do. One of the really good features of our
new website is you can now have multiple portfolios under
the same profile. It's very easy, just click through between them.
Sam tell me if I'm correct on this. But if
you're on the partner side and you go to the
portfolio tracker, when you see your portfolio, there's a plus
button that's the ad of portfolio button, so you click

(46:02):
that and you just follow the.

Speaker 3 (46:03):
Enstright above the dollar amount at the top, so you'll
see probably your name, whatever you name to your portfolio.
Right your portolo, you'll see a little plus button that
means you can create a new one.

Speaker 2 (46:11):
So Gary, I would just tell you, you know, make
it your granddaughter's portfolio. I would certainly do the growth
model absolutely, because you're going off of her age, so
she's got a lot of time, and I think that's excellent, man.
It's a tremendous thing for you to do. And I
love to see Gary. It's such a palate cleanser after
what we just talked about with Robinhood that you are
using wisdom also such a loving actitude and want to
put money away for your granddaughter and hopefully maybe even

(46:34):
get to teach her a little bit about investing along
the way. So cool, So well done, brother. You can
definitely do that, and it's a great thing for you
to do. Folks, it was a joy to be here. Hey,
did you want to remind you tomorrow's Bible study. If
you've got questions about Daniel seven, you can email those
to me at Seth at fis dot TV. We also
have a lot We already have a lot of questions,
so we might not have time to get through all
of them, but she would be a good time tomorrow morning.
Conference call later today one pm Eastern time twelve pm

(46:58):
Central time. Make sure that you join us. Remember it's
all his. Let's be found good and faithful stewards. If
what God is given to us, God bless them.

Speaker 6 (47:08):
If we ever forget that we're one nation under God,
then we will be a nation gone under.

Speaker 1 (47:14):
Thank you for joining us