Radicalized By A Trip To Moscow
In a post last week ("A Good Weekend For Russia"), when news broke that Tucker Carlson was in Moscow and might be interviewing Putin, we wrote:
Even if he doesn't get an interview with Putin, Tucker is likely to report what he sees there, and what he's going to see is a city that looks like it's doing well economically (on top of being cleaner and safer than American cities like New York or Los Angeles).
It turns out we were right. In an interview at the World Governments Summit in Dubai, said the trip to Moscow radicalized him:
What was radicalizing, very shocking, and very disturbing for me was the city of Moscow, where I'd never been. The biggest city in Europe, 13 million people--and it is so much nicer than any city in my country, I had no idea. My father spent a lot of time there in the '80s, when he worked for the U.S. government, and barely had electricity. And now, it is so much cleaner, and safer, and prettier--aesthetically: its architecture, its food, its service--than any city in the United States that you have to ask...How did that happen? [...]
And at a certain point, I don't think the average person cares as much about abstractions as the concrete reality of his life. And if you can't use your Subway, for example, as many people are afraid to in New York City because it's too dangerous, you have to sort of wonder like isn't that the ultimate measure of leadership? And that's true, by the way, it's radicalizing for an American to go to Moscow (I didn't know that, I learned it last week), to Singapore, or to Tokyo, or to Dubai in Abu Dhabi, because these cities--no matter how we're told they're run, on what principles they're run, are wonderful places to live. They don't have rampant inflation, you're not going to get raped... [the interviewer interrupts at this point].
See For Yourself
You can watch the full interview below, in which Tucker also weighs in on Biden's mental competency, the war in Gaza, and other topics. Here's a guide to the times when different topics come up, if you'd like to skip to them:
- 00:00:00 Interview Against U.S. Opposition: Tucker overcomes government spying to secure a Putin interview.
- 00:01:30 Political Neutrality of Interview: Tucker emphasizes truth-seeking over political bias in interviewing Putin.
- 00:03:13 Leadership of Putin vs. Biden: Tucker contrasts Putin's effectiveness with Biden's shortcomings.
- 00:06:08 Decline of U.S. Cities vs. Moscow: Tucker attributes U.S. urban decline to policy failures, contrasting with Moscow's improvements.
- 00:07:33 Putin's Willingness for NATO Compromise: Tucker discusses Putin's diplomatic efforts and rejection by NATO.
- 00:09:15 Reaction to Putin Interview: Tucker reflects on negative media and political responses to his Putin interview.
- 00:15:11 Media's Role in Democracy Erosion: Tucker criticizes media alignment with power, undermining democracy.
- 00:19:41 U.S. Foreign Policy Morality Questioned: Tucker questions the ethical stance of U.S. foreign engagements including on Gaza.
- 00:23:15 Uncertainty in U.S. Political Leadership: Tucker highlights the unpredictability of American politics and the value of admitting ignorance.
Let's wrap this up with a brief trading update, since we have to make more money in America to insulate ourselves from the problems here Tucker describes.
Trading Update
Here's how we did on last week's earnings trade exits:
Call spread on Snap (SNAP 6.80%↑). Entered at a net debit of $0.22 on 2/6/2024; expired worthless on 2/10/2024. Loss: 100%.
Call spread on Affirm Holdings (AFRM 0.25%↑). Entered at a net debit of $0.20 on 2/8/2024; expired worthless on 2/9/2024. Loss: 100%.
Call spread on ELF Beauty (ELF 1.02%↑) (buying the $172.50 strike calls and selling the $175 strike calls). Entered at a net debit of $0.90 on 2/5/2024; exited at a net credit of $1.00 on 2/8/24. Profit: 11%.
Call spread on ELF Beauty (ELF 1.02%↑) (buying the $162.50 strike calls and selling the $165 strike calls). Entered at a net debit of $1.10 on 2/5/2024; exited at a net credit of $2.24 on 2/8/2024. Profit: 104%.
Call spread on Estée Lauder (EL 2.44%↑). Entered at a net debit of $0.40 on 2/2/2024; exited at a net credit of $0.95 on 2/5/2024. Profit: 138%.
Put spread on NetGear (NTGR -10.69%↓). Entered at a net debit of $0.35 on 2/7/2024; exited at a net credit of $0.85 on 2/8/2024. Profit: 143%.
Let’s see if we can do better this week. We’ve got two trades (one bullish, and one bearish) teed up on companies reporting after the close today. If you'd like a heads up when we place them, feel free to subscribe to our trading Substack/occasional email list below.
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