Doug Kass: Trump Vs. Powell and the Bull Rage Is All Theater of the Absurd
As we say goodbye to celebrity strongman Hulk Hogan, let's wrestle with the fact that today's markets are now unhinged from reality.
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"To all my little Hulkamaniacs, say your prayers, take your vitamins and you will never go wrong."
- Hulk Hogan
In the steel cage match since the market's lows in April, the bulls have been virtually unbeatable — like Muhammed Ali and Hulk Hogan.
But, as we all know, all the WWF matches were fixed. The bears have shared this feeling of a fixed game over the last three months as retail, zero days to expiration option traders and volatility-controlled funds have aggressively bought every dip contributing to the generation of animal spirits and fear of missing out.
We also get this feeling after watching the insane exchange between Pres. Trump and Chair Jerome Powell over the supposed cost overruns of the Federal Reserve building renovations that actually included the cost of work for a building finished five years ago.
After that news, I watched this CNBC interview with the Office of Management and Budget Director Russell Vought. In the later case, the level of delusion (that tariffs will have no inflationary impact) is now beyond the pale. It simply seems the administration is following the Roy Cohen strategy on inflation and tariffs — in that if you repeat "The Big Lie" enough (in this case that tariffs aren’t raising prices) people will come to believe it.
Yesterday we learned of the death of Hulk Hogan at age 71. The first time I saw the Hulkster was at the Madison Square Garden when I took my sons to WrestleMania I.
The feature match was Mr. T and Hulk Hogan vs. Mr. Wonderful (Paul Orndoff) and Roddy Rowdy Piper. (Liberace rang the bell and Muhammed Ali was the outside referee).
It was a classic! It was theater and it was staged.
So are today's markets, which are now, in this observer's opinion, unhinged from reality.
This commentary was orginally posted in Doug's Daily Diary on TheStreet Pro.
