The main driver behind yesterday’s latest FANG plunge, was a report in Axios, according to which it was not Facebook that Trump wants to go after, but rather Amazon:
“He’s obsessed with Amazon,” a source told Axios. “Obsessed”, and added that Trump has allegedly talked about changing Amazon’s tax treatment because he’s worried about mom-and-pop retailers being put out of business. Another Axios source said that POTUS has “wondered aloud if there may be any way to go after Amazon with antitrust or competition law.”
Trump’s deep-seated antipathy toward Amazon surfaces when discussing tax policy and antitrust cases. The president would love to clip CEO Jeff Bezos’ wings. But he doesn’t have a plan to make that happen.
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However, as we countered, none of this is new and Trump’s feud with Amazon reemerges periodically, although on Wednesday it came at an especially sensitive time for the tech sector, which had gotten clobbered in recent days, making it especially sensitive to negative news (one almost wonders if someone had bought AMZN puts ahead of the Axios news).
And, as if to underscore what we said yesterday, moments ago Trump himself said that he has stated his concerns with Amazon “long before the Election” and said that “unlike others, they pay little or no taxes to state & local governments, use our Postal System as their Delivery Boy (causing tremendous loss to the U.S.), and are putting many thousands of retailers out of business!”
I have stated my concerns with Amazon long before the Election. Unlike others, they pay little or no taxes to state & local governments, use our Postal System as their Delivery Boy (causing tremendous loss to the U.S.), and are putting many thousands of retailers out of business!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) March 29, 2018
In other words, nothing has changed in the two or so years since Trump launched his campaign against Jeff Bezos (who also owns the Washington Post, which has made it overly clear what its feelings toward Trump are over the past year).
So will today’s confirmation that Trump is on the war path against Amazon serve as today’s tech selloff catalyst? Keep an eye on the price of Amazon stock for the answer.
SCAMAZON!!! ‘Nuff said.
Amazon and other online retailers are now putting big box retailers under the same way the big box retailers put the mom and pop retailers under and for the same reason.
The retail business model is changing and the new (online) one is more competitive in today’s world than the older big box models.
Yep..nailed it.
Amazon Close to Breaking Wal-Mart Record for Subsidies
https://www.goodjobsfirst.org/news/amazon-close-breaking-wal-mart-record-subsidies
A Good Jobs First report entitled “ Will Amazon Fool Us Twice” shows the company during those years collected $241.3 million in subsidies on 22 projects in 14 states ( for more details on these subsidies, see chart below). The December 2016 report points to several megadeals, including $43 million in tax credits, reductions, loans and grants for a facility in Baltimore, Md.; $32.1 million in tax increment financing and income tax credits for a facility in Kenosha, Wis.; and $29.5 million in income tax credits and reductions for a facility in Joliet, Ill.
LeRoy said another basket of subsidies totaling almost $100 million has been announced in the last two months, including:
Up to $30 million in property tax abatements and other benefits for a warehouse and sorting facility in Fresno, Calif.;
$13 million in benefits under the Illinois Economic Development for a Growing Economy tax credit program two facilities in Aurora, Ill.;
$7.5 million in tax benefits through the Michigan Strategic Fund for a facility in Livonia, Mich.; and
$1.3 million in loans for a distribution center in Cecil County, Md.
Additionally, Amazon struck a deal in January with the Kentucky Economic Development Finance Authority providing $40 million in tax incentives to support a $1.49 billion investment in an air cargo hub attached to the Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky International Airport.
Yep..nailed it.
Amazon Close to Breaking Wal-Mart Record for Subsidies
https://www.goodjobsfirst.org/news/amazon-close-breaking-wal-mart-record-subsidies
A Good Jobs First report entitled “ Will Amazon Fool Us Twice” shows the company during those years collected $241.3 million in subsidies on 22 projects in 14 states ( for more details on these subsidies, see chart below). The December 2016 report points to several megadeals, including $43 million in tax credits, reductions, loans and grants for a facility in Baltimore, Md.; $32.1 million in tax increment financing and income tax credits for a facility in Kenosha, Wis.; and $29.5 million in income tax credits and reductions for a facility in Joliet, Ill.
LeRoy said another basket of subsidies totaling almost $100 million has been announced in the last two months, including:
OK. but what about WalMart which killed off Mom and Pop retail? Not only was town square shopping murdered across rural America , but the jobs off shored and subsequently the massive trade imbalanced that followed was also subsidized by American taxpayers. Cheap Chank crap and all it cost US was loss in billions of personal income and funded by our very own tax dollars .
And nothing but crickets from the shit eating cucked GOP.
Free market my ass.
http://www.walmartsubsidywatch.org/
How Wal-Mart Has Used Public Money in Your State
A secret behind Wal-Mart’s rapid expansion in the United States has been its extensive use of public money. This includes more than $1.2 billion in tax breaks, free land, infrastructure assistance, low-cost financing and outright grants from state and local governments around the country. In addition, taxpayers indirectly subsidize the company by paying the healthcare costs of Wal-Mart employees who don’t receive coverage on the job and instead turn to public programs such as Medicaid. This website brings together available information on both kinds of subsidies involved in Wal-Mart’s “double-dipping.” In the future we will add data on other ways Wal-Mart relies on taxpayers to finance its growth.
As I said ” the same way the big box retailers put the mom and pop retailers under”.
I posted before seeing you comment. See reply.
It’s a bitter-sweet kinda situation.
Used to be if you need some odd item, you had to make 10’s of phone calls, to figure out where to buy it. But now you can Google a query. There you have it – any you don’t have to drive around town, or find out if it’s out of stock.
I’ve remodeled two bathrooms. All the faucets / lights / plumbing fixtures / bath tub / toilet / vanity – all purchased on the internet.
Although we all dread the employees at Home Depot / bLowes – it’s much better than dealing with the morons at lumber yards. All the lumber is inside, dry, and warm.
I wouldn’t be surprised if the Feds put a flat tax on internet business – each box or order shipped – like $3 -$5. It would be passed on to the consumer.
I suspect that Amazon is going to fall the same way most of the FANGS are going to be taken out. TSLA is the current case study, and is just further along, but they are ALL going to end up at zero. Here is why – profit. Simple as that. See, when money was free (or damn close to it) these companies did not need to make money organically, they simply could under price everyone else, and subsidize it with Wall Street free money. However, now that the Fed is raising rates (largely to avoid social unrest) the money gate is closed. Now, in order to continue the fight, they must make a profit. If they raise prices, Walmart will destroy them, Walmart has a local presence, and does not NEED the local post office. Already Amazon is subsidizing their operations with profits from AWS, however cloud is a commodity, and is getting cheaper by the minute. Very little gain there. And their stock price is at a premium nose bleed level that CANNOT be maintained in any form without Fed printing. I would say that anyone holding 2020 Amazon puts are probably sitting on a lottery ticket at this point, it just has not paid out yet. This would be the reason why Trump saying what he did, this time caused a flair up. The insiders were already pressuring it, it was just held up because of superficial “buyers” and momentum. The way to tell a change in the markets structure is to look at reactions to the same news. Notice that the wall of worry has somehow now stopped being climbed? Hmmm.
Amazon’s P/E ratio is 511. Tesla P/E is 0 – they have never had any earnings! These companies have ‘no value’. Everything is plowed back into growth of the stock price. This is the 100 car, fully loaded coal train, barreling down the mountain to an open switch.
A good value stock would have a P/E of 15 – 21.