The Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) statement and updated “dot plot” will dominate financial markets this week.Interestingly, President Trump has also been saying that he expects a “big cut” from the Fed on Wednesday. Specifically, Trump said, “I think you have a big cut” and “It’s perfect for cutting.” In other words, if the FOMC only cuts 0.25% versus 0.5%, President Trump is expected to continue to bash Fed Chairman Jerome Powell.President Trump on Truth Social called for companies to start announcing their sales and earnings every six months, versus quarterly announcements currently. Specifically, Trump said, “Subject to SEC Approval, Companies and Corporations should no longer be ‘Required’ to report on a quarterly basis … but rather on a Six (6) Month Basis.” I suspect that the push to switch to bi-annual versus quarterly accounting will get some pushback, since it was entirely unexpected.President Trump is scheduled to talk to Chinese President Xi on Friday, where they are expected to announce a TikTok deal. On Truth Social, President Trump said, “The big Trade Meeting in Europe between The United States of America, and China, has gone VERY WELL! It will be concluding shortly. A deal was also reached on a ‘certain’ company that young people in our Country very much wanted to save. They will be very happy!”In the meantime, China announced that a preliminary investigation found Nvidia violated the country’s antimonopoly law in connection with the acquisition of Mellanox Technologies, an Israeli company that it acquired in 2020. China’s antitrust regulator said the investigation was continuing, and it didn’t elaborate on the alleged violations or say whether it would punish Nvidia. I suspect that China needs leverage on President Trump and that this Nvidia investigation is just part of that leverage. In the meantime, any pullback in Nvidia is a great buying opportunity.China’s National Bureau of Statistics announced that August retail sales rose at a 3.4% annual pace, which was below economists’ consensus forecast of a 3.9% annual increase. The National Bureau of Statistics also announced that industrial output grew at a 5.2% annual pace in August, which was also below economists’ consensus estimate of a 5.7% annual pace. The pace of retail sales in China has steadily declined in the past three months, while the pace of industrial output has declined for two consecutive months.Fixed asset investment or what we refer to as capital expenditures has collapsed in China, but the worst sign is that property investment has been negative for years and declined at a 10% annual pace through August. This lack of investment in China is one reason that deflation has been widespread since May 2022.