The Natives are getting restless. All around the country people "COMING OUT" from isolation. In some areas, Governors have rolled back restrictions and started the "phased re-opening". In other areas, Governors have NOT started the re-openings and people are just doing it anyway. Last weekend here in NJ the parks and golf courses were opened (they never should have closed). This week many people decided on their own that the beaches were open (They're not.. looks like next week or week after). So, the Coronavirus takes anywhere from 3-14 days to make you sick.. I guess we should look for a spike in cases sometime this week?? In Iran, 20 are dead after a IRGC Naval exercise went wrong. It appears a ship was struck by friendly fire. Trump was wrong. The US Navy doesn't have to engage the IRGC Navy in the straits of Hormuz. Just sit and watch as they kill themselves. CRACK SUICIDE SQUAD!!!! Tesla head, Elon Musk, has sued Alameda County and is threatening to move all production of Teslas to Nevada or Texas. Musk says the factory remains closed due to "an unelected, ignorant, 'Interim Health Officer' ignoring the California and US Constitution". The "health commission" says that Tesla, "does not meet the criteria to re-open". This has stoked a battle with some saying, "Tesla wants to move because California won't let them endanger their workers". and..'If you go you have to give back the tax incentives".. The "Other Side" tells Musk to go ahead and leave because California craps on the Constitution... I wonder if they have rules on Mars? That's were Elon wants to go... Carnival Cruise Lines announced they will begin running a few cruises in August...and Get this, they are selling out quickly !! I guess some see it as a good deal that's too hard to pass up. I will NOT be joining them ... The "Georgia Shooting" case involving Amhaud Arbery is likely headed toward a Federal Investigation. New video showed that Arbery wasn't "just jogging". There is doorbell camera footage from across the street of Arbery walking into a house under construction, just as the shooters claimed. It is unclear whether Arbery stole anything. But, it IS CLEAR that the guy that shot him was NOT a cop and should not have gone after Arbery with a gun .... and... In Da Swamp: Some reports say that VP Mike Pence went into self-isolation this weekend after several staffers and Secret Service have tested positive. Pence says the reports are not true and he will be at work today. Don't these people get tested every day? You wonder how it got into the White House if they test everyone... and.. The "New Theory" about the General Flynn case (which Trump is now calling, "Obamagate") is that Comey and Brennan knew that Flynn was an experienced Intelligence guy and if he became head of the NSA would be able to piece together the "Spying on the Trump Campaign disguised as a Russia Probe". The false FISA records and lack of evidence would have shown the entire thing was made up so that they could surveil Trump and his campaign. This is NO BUENO.. I wonder if anyone goes to jail ... NBC's "Meet the Press" is under fire for deceptively editing an interview with Attorney General Barr. They wanted to make dropping charges against Gen. Flynn look political so they cut off the second part of Barr's comments. The producers apologized (on Twitter, not on TV) for "inadvertently editing important parts of Barr's answer". Yeah, "Inadvertent" .. or "accidentally" .. Can any of you point to ONE "error or omission" that was POSITIVE about Trump or his Administration? There are HUNDREDS that go against him ... SPORTS: Justin Gaethje stepped in to fight Tony Ferguson in UFC 249 because Khabib Nurmagomedov couldn't make the trip (coronavirus) ...and Gaethje actually WON. The upset surprised the UFC world but not Justin. He was handed the "Interim Belt" and he threw it away and said, "Ill wait for the REAL one" ... and.. With no other Sports going on.. we had the Michael Jordan show.. I mean.. "The Last Dance" Chicago Bulls documentary. This week, you found out that Michael Jordan was kind of a JerkFace at practice. His teammates said it lots of ways... some just came out and said he was an azzhole. But, they said looking back.. he was effective. Jordan did not deny the claims. He said, "Winning has a price" .. CELEBRIDIOTS: The Cannes Film Festival is NOT Happening this month so I will not have the opportunity to complain that rapist Roman Polanski has a film that some people are watching.. and I won't have a chance to explain why actresses should have worn something else.. .. So.. we'll talk about... ART ... To some, Photography is Art. To others, its just people that take a million pictures and eventually something looks cool or interesting.. For the British GQ article on Emily Ratajkowski the interviewer did a Zoom Meeting and used photos that Emily's husband took in their apartment. Which begs the question, if you're taking pictures of her does it matter if you have any clue how to take picture? You pretty much can set the camera to "Auto" then take shots from a few angles with a few different types of light and you are GOING to get some good photos of her.. Right? HERE .. I would have gone with "less coat, more Emily" .. but.. to each his own.. and.. All of that led me to the models that some photographers say, "you can't take a bad picture of.. they don't have a good side and bad side.. its all good" .. If you wonder what I mean, look closely at pictures of famous people. Most will have a "pose" and you see them face the camera in a certain way every time. For instance, Ariana Grande has a goofy right eye so she likes to be photographed from her left. HERE ... If you see her the other way its likely the shot is "flipped" or that she didn't know it was coming.. So... The two models other than Emily .. Petra Nemcova HERE .. and.. Alessandra Ambrosio HERE .....that don't have a "Bad side" or "Bad Angle" So, if you had ONE choice. You can take 10 pictures only for a magazine shoot... Who'd YOU pick ?? .. and if you have another example, LET's HEAR IT !!!! ... From SeekingAlpha.com The electric vehicle maker sued local authorities in California on Saturday as it pushed to reopen its Fremont factory, but things appeared to get heated very quickly. Elon Musk announced he would move Tesla's (NASDAQ:TSLA) "HQ and future programs to Texas/Nevada immediately" and said retaining manufacturing in California would be "dependent on how Tesla is treated in the future." Tesla built nearly half a million vehicles at its Fremont plant in 2019, while Wedbush analyst Dan Ives estimates it could take the company 12 to 18 months to relocate production. TSLA -3.3% premarket. Go deeper: Tesla secures lending line in China. Coming off last week's rally Traders are kicking off the week with some mixed feelings as U.S. stock index futures wavered between gains and losses overnight. As of the last reading, S&P 500 futures were off 0.7%, signaling weakness in the wake of last week's economy-defying rally, while oil fell 3% to under $24/bbl. "Much of the eventual improved growth and virus news is already priced into markets," said Bob Baur, chief global economist at Principal Global Investors. "Because so much future growth and uptrend potential is priced in, we expect a period of relapse and consolidation through June." Worse before better The jobs numbers on Friday, which displayed an unemployment rate of 14.7% in April, are "probably going to get worse before they get better," Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin told Fox News. "What I said is you're going to have a very, very bad second quarter," he added, saying that "next year is going to be a great year" and the U.S. could see "permanent economic damage" if the country does not reopen. The White House is also talking about more fiscal measures to ease the economic pain, but doesn't want to bail out states that were "poorly managed." Go deeper: Fed unlikely to consider negative interest rates. EU threatens Germany It's a little complicated, but the latest legal drama taking place in Europe highlights a power struggle that could undermine the euro. The European Commission is threatening to sue Germany after the country's top court last Tuesday questioned the legality of the ECB's bond buying program and gave the ECB three months to justify the scheme or else the Bundesbank might have to quit it. The announcement is not likely to trigger an infringement procedure, but is more of a deterrent to show who has final say in these scenarios. "The last word on EU law is always spoken" by the European court, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen declared. "Nowhere else." U.K. tries to get economy moving again Starting today, British citizens who cannot work from home are being "actively encouraged" to go back to work, but avoid using public transport if possible. "If there are outbreaks, if there are problems, we will not hesitate to put on the brakes," added Prime Minister Boris Johnson. The country has suffered the highest numbers of deaths in Europe, with nearly 32K people dying from COVID-19, while BOE Governor Andrew Bailey said the economy could shrink by as much as 35% in Q2 if lockdown measures - imposed on March 23 - continued. Semi self-sufficiency As concerns grow about reliance on Asia as a source of critical technology, the Trump administration and semiconductor companies are looking to develop chip factories in the U.S., WSJ reports. Officials are discussing new foundries with Intel (NASDAQ:INTC) and Taiwan Semiconductor (NYSE:TSM), and are interested in helping Samsung Electronics (OTC:SSNLF) expand operations. "This is more important than ever, given the uncertainty created by the current geopolitical environment," Intel CEO Bob Swan wrote in a letter to the U.S. Department of Defense. Effects of COVID-19 on shopping malls? Initial results will be seen today as Simon Property Group (NYSE:SPG), the biggest U.S. mall operator, reports first quarter figures, followed by the earnings of rival Macerich (NYSE:MAC) tomorrow. Their outlooks for the next few months will be more closely watched than ever before, with malls slowly beginning to reopen and tenants that have either gone out of business or are nearing the edge. Mall operators collected only 15% of April rent and trends are looking worse for May, according to CenterSquare Investment Management. Latest retail bankruptcy Stage Stores, which operates brands including Gordmans and Beall, is the latest retailer to file for bankruptcy since the pandemic began, following J.Crew and Neiman Marcus. It will start selling off inventory when 557 of its stores reopen on May 15, while the rest of its stores are scheduled to reopen in phases on May 28 and June 4 as it searches for prospective buyers. "Given the conditions, we have been unable to obtain necessary financing and have no choice but to take these actions," declared CEO Michael Glazer. Go deeper: Coronavirus drives Avianca to bankruptcy. Temp checks the new normal at airports? Airlines for America, which represents the largest U.S. airlines including American (NASDAQ:AAL), United (NASDAQ:UAL), Delta (NYSE:DAL) and Southwest (NYSE:LUV), is backing the TSA checking temperatures during the coronavirus pandemic. The measure will "add an extra layer of protection for passengers as well as airline and airport employees... and provide additional public confidence that is critical to relaunching air travel and our nation's economy." No decision has been made on whether to mandate the checks, but they would follow the industry requiring facial coverings for all flying passengers. What else is happening... States will distribute Gilead's (NASDAQ:GILD) remdesivir to fight COVID-19. Focusing on vaccine, Pfizer (NYSE:PFE) turns to outsourcing. Eric Schmidt no longer advisor at Alphabet (GOOG, GOOGL). Vroom (VROOM) set to test the IPO market. Model 3 (TSLA) sales in China plunge 64% in April. Richard Branson must pick between space and planes. Bookings surge for Carnival Cruises (NYSE:CCL). Today's Markets In Asia, Japan -1.1%. Hong Kong -1.5%. China flat. India -0.3%. In Europe, at midday, London -0.3%. Paris -1.4%. Frankfurt -0.7%. Futures at 6:20, Dow -0.7%. S&P -0.7%. Nasdaq -0.4%. Crude -3% to $23.99. Gold -0.9% to $1698.30. Bitcoin -0.5% to $8810. Ten-year Treasury Yield flat at 0.69% Today's Economic Calendar 12:30 PM Fed's Evans Speech 1:00 PM Results of $42B, 3-Year Note Auction Regards, Roger “Raj” Searing rajsearing@gmail.com "Raj Searing™”, "Read this First™", "@rajsearing™", "TheRantRoom™" and “TheRantroom.com™” are Trademarks of RRRAJ, LLC. All Rights Reserved. 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