🗞️ 84% of Americans support voter ID

GREETINGS!

🔔 In today’s email:

🪙 Trump considers eliminating federal income tax
✅ 84% of Americans support voter ID

🚨 Key Story:

🗣️ Takeaways from Kamala Harris’ CNN town hall
💸 Friday Finance update

-Mike

QUICK BITE

Trump considers elimination of federal income tax

After suggesting this plan in June, Trump is once again proposing eliminating federal income tax.

• Some have asked, with no Americans paying federal income taxes, how would the US supplement the loss revenue?

• Ready with an answer, Trump says the solution is to replace funds with increased tariffs which he’s talked about putting into place.

• While financial analysts have praised some of Trump’s past economic decisions and future economic plans, many aren’t too sure about his latest proposal.

• However, even with a majority Republican Congress, it’s unlikely legislators will back Trump’s plan.

QUICK BITE

84% of Americans support showing ID to vote

New Gallup polls reveal the majority of Americans agree on several election related topics.

• The highest percentage, 84% of Americans support making it necessary to show ID to vote.

• 83% say there should be a requirement of citizenship to vote and 76% favor the idea of early voting.

• While a lesser percentage, but a majority nonetheless, 60% are in favor of automatic voter registration.

• 64% support taking people off of voter registration lists after five years of not voting and 588% believe there should be fewer locations to return absentee ballots.

KEY STORY

Takeaways from Kamala Harris’ CNN town hall

At CNN’s Town Hall Wednesday night, Harris spoke to a crowd of undecided Pennsylvanian voters. (Trump declined the chance to speak at the Town Hall and is currently campaigning in Georgia–another key state where Trump and Harris are neck and neck.)  

The biggest talk of the night was Harris’s answer to Anderson Cooper’s question: “Do you think Donal Trump is a fascist?” She replied, “Yes I do,” echoing sentiments from retired General Mark A. Milley and Trump’s former chief of staff, John Kelly. Harris expanded on their comments adding, “They have said, explicitly, he has contempt for the Constitution of the United States. They have said he should never again serve as president of the United States. We know that is why Mike Pence is not running with him again; why the job was empty.” 

While Pence is refraining from endorsing either candidate due to his personal convictions, Harris did bring up the support of former GOP former Rep. Liz Cheney. Overall, Harris took several opportunities to appeal to voters who are looking for a more unitive, moderate candidate than Trump. As part of these efforts, Harris stated she would continue to work across the aisle and move past the culture of partisan politics. 

Addressing this campaign tactic, Political analyst, Jim Geraghty, criticized Harris for relying too heavily on the “lesser of two evils argument.” Geraghty explained if Trump’s scandals, convictions and polarizing antics haven’t  been enough for people to stop supporting Trump, then voters may need more from Harris. Washington Post’s political analysts further pointed out that in their view of it, at the town hall Harris didn’t seem convicted on several topics, specifically while talking about tax policy, expanding the Supreme Court, fracking and health care. 

That said, Harris did address the most important issues for Americans including the economy, abortion and warfare in the Middle East. Economically, Harris spoke on her proposed ban on price-gouging,” a tactic she believes will especially lower grocery prices. For context, during Harris’s time as Vice President, inflation arose after 2020 and has continuously gone down following 2022. Prices remain up by 20% since 2020, but Americans are growing to trust Harris more with economic plans. While most polls have Trump holding a significant lead in this category, his lead is shrinking. 

Abortion might be the topic Harris spoke most directly about. She brought up eliminating the filibuster, which would lower the Senate’s necessary 60 votes to 51, so that pro-abortion legislation could more easily advance. Then while talking about the Israel-Palestine conflict Harris was more vague. Harris expressed that with the killing of Hamas leader Yahyna Sinwar there could be a pathway to a ”two-state solution…where Israel and the Palestinians in equal measure have security, where the Palestinian people have dignity, self-determination, and the safety that they so rightly deserve”.

Lastly, in response to a question from Cooper, Harris uncharacteristically spoke more openly about her Christian faith following a controversial interaction with christian protestors. At the Town Hall, Harris talked about an intimate conversation she had with her pastor while deciding what to do after Biden stepped down from the democratic presidential nominee. Bringing up the scripture her pastor shared with her, Harris said, “There’s a part of the scripture that talks about Esther, ‘such a time as this’, and that’s what we talked about…And it was very comforting for me.”

FINANCE

Stocks closed Thursday with mixed results, with the Dow continuing its downward trajectory and the S&P 500 and Nasdaq rising. The tech-heavy Nasdaq gained momentum thanks in large part to Tesla, which announced its highest quarterly earnings in over a year on Wednesday evening. This great performance sent Tesla's stock skyrocketing to an 11-year high, demonstrating the company's resiliency in a hard market. As we approach the end of the year, Tesla's performance could provide a jolt of hope for the IT sector and beyond. Bitcoin continues to climb with many investors expecting it to reach $90,000.00 by the end of the year.

Top Stories this week:

• Boeing Workers Reject 35% Pay Hike To $140K, The Strike Continues

• Spirit (SAVE -21.43%) and Frontier Airlines (ULCC +1.90%) are in the works of trying to merge.

• Rite Aide filed for bankruptcy, Walgreens closing 1,200 stores.

REAL ESTATE

• 30-year: 6.91%

• 15-year: 6.38%

This goes without say but a lot of homebuyers expected home prices to fall as mortgage rates rose, but this has not happened. The uncertainty in the market, interest rates, and the uptick in home prices have left several Americans in the sidelines waiting for their first home.

One expert provides a few reasons why:

Foreclosures are historically low, resulting in fewer super-cheap homes on the market. Supply is low because homeowners are clinging to their low interest rates. Outside of the Great Recession, the only year before WWII in which home values fell was 1963, indicating that home prices rarely decline regardless of mortgage rates.

Home price appreciation, combined with higher mortgage rates, continues to erode affordability. Redfin said on Tuesday that seasonally adjusted prices increased by 0.5% between August and September. This was the quickest monthly rate of growth since April. Prices increased by 6% over the previous year.

Interest rates have seen a significant upswing in October. The average 30-year conforming mortgage rate stood at 6.61% on Tuesday, marking a rise of 15 basis points from the previous week and up 30 basis points since September 18, when the Federal Reserve cut benchmark rates by 50 basis points. Meanwhile, the 15-year conforming rate has surged even more dramatically, climbing from 5.7% on September 18 to 6.15% on Tuesday. These rising mortgage rates are dampening expectations for both lenders and consumers who had anticipated more affordable borrowing costs just a few months ago.

CRYPTO

• BTC: $68,162 (+1.62%)

• ETH: $2,531 (+0.74%)

• SOL: $176.93 (+2.24%)

Bitcoin is on track to close the week down over 1%, according to CoinDesk Indices data, having struggled to maintain momentum above the $68,000 mark. BTC is still up over 1.2% in the last 24 hours, outperforming other major cryptocurrencies, which have seen more modest gains. Ethereum (ETH) and Solana (SOL) have each risen about 0.75%, while Dogecoin (DOGE) has climbed nearly 1%. The broader digital asset market, as indicated by the CoinDesk 20 Index, has increased just under 0.8% and remains a lucrative investment especially if Donald Trump gets elected as his administration favors Crypto.

ECONOMY

• US10YEAR: 4.20% (-0.03%)

• US2YEAR: 4.07% (-0.01%)

• GOLD: $2,736 (+0.72%)

No surprise here but gold has been a strong bull rally this past month. Historically speaking, people often turn to gold during times of uncertainty. Even with the Federal Reserve easing recession fears and positive reports about the U.S. economy, many remain skeptical due to factors like a contentious presidential election, ongoing inflation concerns, and rising geopolitical tensions in Ukraine, and the Middle East. Amid these challenges, gold has surged nearly 31% this year. Costco has even reported the amount of people purchasing gold bars have increased demand. Central banks are also renewing their interest in gold. According to The Economist, gold made up 11% of reserves last year, a notable increase from 6% in 2008, though still well below the 40% seen in 1970.

Stocks are experiencing a bit of a rebound as a decline in U.S. bond yields alleviates some recent pressure on risk appetite. The benchmark 10-year yield (^TNX) fell to approximately 4.18%, pulling back from a three-month high of over 4.25% reached earlier in the week.

HEADLINES
Here’s some small talk ammunition

FROM THE EDITOR

You’re a special kind of person if you reached the end of the road here. :)

-Mike