Trump Supporters Fading as Venezuela Wins WBC over USA, Iran Hammers U.S. and Israel, PPI - even without recent energy price hikes - Up 0.7% in February

Wednesday is shaping up to be a rough day for the Trump White House and the remaining dozens of MAGA loyalists.

A day after the irony of Venezuela topping "USA-USA-USA" in the World Baseball Classic, the BLS release of February PPI figures sent stock futures sliding into a bottomless pit.

President Trump might take a victory lap for Venezuela, since, in the bizarre world in which he exists, he's been "running" Venezuela after deposing that heinous drug-running, cartel-leading former-president Nicolas Maduro, and the country is doing so well it's now got the best baseball team in the world.

In a saga that is surely more destructive than ironic, the economy that has been touted as strong and vibrant for, oh, maybe the last century, seems to have developed a few jams in the otherwise smooth flow. This morning's release of PPI showed the early effects of tariff-led inflation, with inflation at the wholesale level up 0.7%.

The Producer Price Index for final demand increased 0.7 percent in February, seasonally adjusted, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. Final demand prices moved up 0.5 percent in January and 0.4 percent in December 2025. On an unadjusted basis, the index for final demand rose 3.4 percent for the 12 months ended in February, the largest 12-month advance since increasing 3.4 percent in February 2025.

Adjusted or unadjusted, February PPI does not factor in the massive spike that's coming in March, due to the expected rise in energy prices from the stupid war that Trump started with Iran on February 28. Now nearly three weeks along, the U.S. Navy has fully retreated from the theater of war, since large, floating objects have become easy targets for Iranian missiles and drone strikes, Israel is being demolished on a daily basis, most of the U.S. military bases have been destroyed, the U.S. and Israel have run out of defensive Patriot and THAAD missiles, and there's growing concern that both are beginning to run low on offensive supplies.

With U.S. Markets due to open in minutes, stock futures are diving. Dow futures: -277; NASDAQ futures: -127; S&P futures: -35.

Can it get any worse for the Epstein gang? Oh, yeah, lots worse!

At the Close, Tuesday, March 17, 2026:
Dow: 46,993.26, +46.85 (+0.10%)
NASDAQ: 22,479.53, +105.35 (+0.47%)
S&P 500: 6,716.09, +16.71 (+0.25%)
NYSE Composite: 22,315.54, +56.96 (+0.26%)