@Jim-from-Ohio The US with tariffs is threatening a trade war with China, while China with gunships is threatening a shooting war with Taiwan?  And you're buying Chinese stocks?  That's brave.  I'm not impressed by the Temu ads that Google decides to insert on my desktop monitor, but I'm not much of a consumer.  Trying to figure out how to spend enough next month to meet my $3,000 spend requirement to qualify for 75,000 miles on a new credit card. 

I know you don't have time to chat with clients about the economy, but I just bite my tongue when some of them tell me how bad they are. And I look at their financial situation, which seems to be improving.  I'm just here to do their tax returns.  Although I did get into a discussion with my client who owns a lot of Apple, about all those mining deaths in Congo.  Meanwhile, the latest poll:

• 55% believe the economy is shrinking, and 56% think the US is experiencing a recession, though the broadest measure of the economy, gross domestic product (GDP), has been growing.

• 49% believe the S&P 500 stock market index is down for the year, though the index went up about 24% in 2023 and is up more than 12% this year.

• 49% believe that unemployment is at a 50-year high, though the unemployment rate has been under 4%, a near 50-year low.