Michael Crouch

Lover of remote areas, coffee, adventures, pets and damask patterns.

[Michael Crouch @mikeycrouch]

@VGrubsky @MattDevittWX If you go back to the map, directly above it you can click "show SST anomaly map" for this view which is what I believe you are looking for.

[Turnbull @cturnbull1968]

We have now joined this distinguished list of countries that added living leaders to their currency.

Philippines – Marcos
Uganda – Idi Amin
Malawi – Banda
Iran – Shah Pahlavi
Iraq – Saddam Hussein
Libya – Gaddafi
Syria – Bashar al-Assad
North Korea – Kim Jong Un
China – Mao

[Michael Crouch @mikeycrouch]

@elonmusk @grok were the Irish welcomed when they came to America?

[Michael Crouch @mikeycrouch]

@Rainmaker1973 My cats would love this

[Mike and Jeff show @AgrisAcademy @AgrisAcademy]

My Venezuela experience as head of trading in the region for Cargill.

Cargill was/is the leading producer of critical staple ingredients such as flour, pasta, vegetable oil, and rice in VZ. I am not saying I agree with grabbing the dictator, but I did have a front row seat to the damage a kleptocracy did to innocent people.
1. The government took over our "minute rice" facility at gunpoint because we were "gouging" the nation's poor. The government was never able to run the plant. It never ran again. It was returned years later with no equipment inside
2. There are 1000's of generals in the army. They are each given a slice of the economy to loot. The large number of generals made it difficult to organize a coup against the regime.
3. The government opened grocery stores and sold staples below the cost we sold them to the government. In theory they used petro oil money to lower grocery prices. Our regular grocery outlets were forced out of business. When the government demanded we sell them products below cost we simply had to shut down. The populous became ever more dependent on the government handouts. (PS this is the mayor of New York City's proposal.
4. Dollars- We needed dollars to go buy raw materials like wheat from places like the US and Canada. The government would periodically allocate us some dollars that could only be spent for raw materials and freight. Eventually only the local companies that can and would pay bribes got dollar allocations. We had several facilities closed for lack of raw material
5. My employees liked working for Cargill. The office was an armed compound with access to a gym, high speed internet, global communications, and a weekly box of basic staples. Cargill provided a safe and secure environment if only for the working hours.
6. Employees became very close to others inside the apartment building. Going out on the street with a desperate population was not advisable.
7. I needed wood pallets for feed. We tried to export wood pallets to swap for grain. We refused to pay the bribes it would take to export the pallets
8. I once tried to set up a closed loop wheat planting to flour mill supply chain. A. They came and stole all the seed wheat for food. When we tried to ship in seed wheat in containers via US donors there was no way to get it out of the port without it being stolen
9. Livestock- Our feed business completely collapsed. Even if you could raise a pig, you couldn't defend it from being stolen. People with guns were hungry.
10. Employees- In the end my highly skilled team alone with other highly educated people chose to leave. Cargill often found jobs for them in other Latin countries. The regime was more than happy to see the well-educated leave the country. Setting these employees up with high quality stable jobs after fleeing remains one of the best things I ever did in my career. No one remembers millions in trading earnings.

This is a short list. In my opinion the first money spent needs to happen now and it needs to be food. The US is already on the clock. The current regime does not care if it starves the population. The orgy of theft will actually accelerate if they believe their days are numbered. VZ should be an outstanding customer of US grown ag products. Rice, bread wheat, veg oil ect. Feed the people first.

Jeff Kazin
Former head trading Cargill

[Michael Crouch @mikeycrouch]

@garretfeliciano @Rainmaker1973 First thing I saw too. How long till you get shot with arrows in the lineup?

[Michael Crouch @mikeycrouch]

@SaiKate108 Ugh @grok please fact check

[Michael Crouch @mikeycrouch]

@jayplemons @chamath 15 years ago quantum physics was considered a useless degree.

[Michael Crouch @mikeycrouch]

@Pro__Trading @KobeissiLetter Yes, let’s take money from businesses and redistribute it to lower income Americans. Thanks for rebranding American Socialism! 😂

[Michael Crouch @mikeycrouch]

@KobeissiLetter If taking money from businesses (and consumers) importing products into the United States and redistributing it to lower income Americans isn’t socialism then what is?

[Michael Crouch @mikeycrouch]

@DarienOfMcLean @kylascan @Carloxxxx2 https://t.co/FsB8Gp7IBk

[Michael Crouch @mikeycrouch]

@DarienOfMcLean @kylascan @Carloxxxx2 This is an interesting question... JBS is a Brazillian company that is one of the largest meatpackers in the USA (and the world). They just got approval for listing on the NYSE in June.

[Michael Crouch @mikeycrouch]

@DarienOfMcLean @kylascan @Carloxxxx2 One would think they're up against some headwinds with Brazil tariffs and immigration enforcement (labor pool) - But they also donated $5 million to the Trump campaign, so sounds like they got a pretty good ROI there.

[Michael Crouch @mikeycrouch]

@WaxmyAxoff @JDoubMontana @piyushmittal Fake news!
https://t.co/PsvZAI9eEL

[Michael Crouch @mikeycrouch]

@d2fl @SailorBliss @EdKrassen @grok where is the name Finnell from? Were those people persecuted when they came to the US?

[Michael Crouch @mikeycrouch]

@zerohedge Taco trade

[Michael Crouch @mikeycrouch]

@RaeJacksonX @willnitze Hey @grok how much coffee is grown in the USA? How much coffee is consumed in the USA?

[Sam Parr @thesamparr]

Tariffs are the #1 thing CEOs are talking about right now in Hampton.

We surveyed them and it’s pretty wild:
- 92% of the respondents are impacted by tariffs
- 21% say it will cost them an additional $50k+ every month
- 83% will have to absorb the cost of the tariffs themselves
- 63% will pass all or some of the costs on to their customers

The most common theme seems to be that bringing manufacturing into the US is just not an option.

My team put a little montage of those quotes.

[Michael Crouch @mikeycrouch]

@atrupar https://t.co/31NZNyKp6O

[Michael Crouch @mikeycrouch]

@sweatystartup Someone that only sees two options is a boring person.