The Trump Slump: The stock market took a nose dive yesterday on fears and confusion over President Trump’s fight with Amazon and his plans for tariffs on foreign imports. The markets that rose on optimism that Trump would be great for investors is now retreating because he scares them.

The Dow Jones was down by almost 700 points in mid-afternoon and recovered to close down by 459. The markets are still 20 percent higher than they were on election day 2016 when Trump won the presidency.

Trump’s word war against Amazon has cost them a fortune in stock value. He tweeted yesterday, “Only fools, or worse, are saying that our money losing Post Office makes money with Amazon. THEY LOSE A FORTUNE, and this will be changed.” Trump has shown no proof that the Postal Service loses money shipping for Amazon.

Investors and major companies are also in a twist over Trump’s tariffs on Chinese imports, and Chinese retaliation. The NY Times reports that General Electric, the investment company Goldman Sachs, agricultural businesses have lodged complaints with the White House, saying there’s a danger they will be cut off from the huge Chinese market.

There’s no doubt the Chinese play rough. They have high anti-competitive tariffs and force American companies to share their technology with Chinese partners, but there’s a fear that Trump will only make things worse.

Borderlines: President Trump is stepping up his campaign to crack down on illegal immigration. The President has been ranting on twitter yesterday. This morning he wrote, “The big Caravan of People from Honduras, now coming across Mexico and heading to our “Weak Laws” Border, had better be stopped before it gets there. Cash cow NAFTA is in play, as is foreign aid to Honduras and the countries that allow this to happen. Congress MUST ACT NOW!”

These caravans of people leaving Honduras have occurred for several years. They usually end in Mexico, and they can’t just drive into the United States.

Moving on, proposals produced in the White House include making it more difficult to apply get asylum in the US, turning back children arriving illegally without their parents, and detaining families for longer periods while immigration authorities decide what happens to them.

Math Lessons: Teachers in Oklahoma and Kentucky are demonstrating, demanding higher pay and more money to run the schools. Oklahoma schools are expected to be closed today because of a teacher walkout.

Oklahoma teachers were just given a $6,100 increase but they say that’s not enough after 10 years without a raise. They are among the lowest paid teachers in the country … staring salary is $31,000 and the average for experienced teachers is less than $40,000. Many teachers also say their classroom furniture is broken and the books are in tatters.

In a column about income inequality, NY Times columnist Paul Krugman writes that, “Some states, like Kansas and Oklahoma — both of which were relatively affluent in the 1970s, but have now fallen far behind — have gone in for radical tax cuts, and ended up savaging their education systems. External forces have put them in a hole, but they’re digging it deeper.”

Hoop Dreams: Villanova pulled ahead in the first half to enter the locker room with a 37-28 lead over Michigan. They went on the clean the floor with Michigan, 79-62 to win the NCAA basketball tournament. Villanova guard Donte DiVincenzo scored 31 points. It’s Villanova’s second championship in three years.

The Obit Page: Winnie Mandela, the wife who carried on with the anti-apartheid movement while her husband Nelson spent 27 years in South African prisons, has died at age 81.

The Mandelas were married just six years before Nelson was sent to prison for life on a 1964 conviction for sabotage and plotting to overthrow the government. Winnie was a tireless campaigner for Nelson until he was released from prison in 1990, leading to the end of apartheid four years later.

The Mandelas divorced six years after Nelson was freed and Winnie’s life dissolved into scandal. In the waning years of apartheid she was accused of heading a brutal enforcement squad known as the “Mandela United Football Club,” which, along with Winnie, was blamed for the murder of a 14-year-old boy suspected of being an informer.

Still, she is being hailed in death as a national hero.

Sympathy for the Devil: Vogue editor Anna Wintour, who inspired the book and the movie “The Devil Wears Prada” is about to be pushed out, The NY Post reports. She runs the operation with a firm hand. We’re only passing this along because the Post headline says, “The Devil is Nada?

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