Welcome to a special bonus edition of Fear and Greed, daily business news for people who make their own decisions. I'm Michael Thompson, and good afternoon, Sean Aylmer.

Welcome to a special bonus edition of Fear and Greed, daily business news for people who make their own decisions. I'm Michael Thompson, and good afternoon, Sean Aylmer.

Good afternoon, Michael.

Good afternoon, Michael.

As Sean, We've just seen the first of two US presidential debates between US President Joe Biden and former President Donald Trump. Wrap Up this episode is a quick take on what was said, who won, what it means for the US election in November this year. This was, of course a CNN presidential debate live from Georgia. The way it was set up was that there were two anchors, no audience in the studio, so it created quite almost quite a sterile environment where there was no audience reaction to any of the comments that were being made or any of the speeches that were being delivered. Essentially, there were questions peppered throughout from the two anchors. Microphones were turned off when their opponents were speaking, which limited the potential for interjections and distractions, creating really what was quite a union unique debate environment, which was a unique debate in general, because this is the first time that you've had a former president taking on a current president in a presidential debate.

As Sean, We've just seen the first of two US presidential debates between US President Joe Biden and former President Donald Trump. Wrap Up this episode is a quick take on what was said, who won, what it means for the US election in November this year. This was, of course a CNN presidential debate live from Georgia. The way it was set up was that there were two anchors, no audience in the studio, so it created quite almost quite a sterile environment where there was no audience reaction to any of the comments that were being made or any of the speeches that were being delivered. Essentially, there were questions peppered throughout from the two anchors. Microphones were turned off when their opponents were speaking, which limited the potential for interjections and distractions, creating really what was quite a union unique debate environment, which was a unique debate in general, because this is the first time that you've had a former president taking on a current president in a presidential debate.

What did you make of it, Jean, Well, if you were watching this without the sound on, no doubt Donald Trump wont it. He just looked better if you had the sound turned on. Then it probably began as a Donald Trump show. Then Joe Biden clambered back into it, and at times he actually looked pretty good. But I tell you what, Donald Trump, in terms of the public relations push, kind of looked more capable, shall we say, than Joe Biden. Now, of course, if you actually listened to some of the answers, you might have a totally different view. Mike, maybe we'll jump into some of the stuff that they were talking about. I think generally Donald Trump didn't answer any questions. I think that came through. He basically rebuked a lot of stuff Joe Biden said, and it just seems that the debate rules allowed for that. And so if you're looking at so immediate feeds during it, people were saying, why don't they get him to answer the question. Well, the debate rules were set and agreed upon by the Biden administration, so he ended up having Donald Trump and Joe Biden to some extent, really having a crack at each other. I don't think Joe Biden inspired a lot of confidence. His delivery was faltering. He stumbled over some of the facts, which adds to all that criticism about his age. Trump, you know, he didn't answer many questions. It was actually frustrating listening to Trump when you're trying to look for policy. As one point there, Donald Trump said this shouldn't be a debate. I don't think it was. I mean, like, there weren't many debate about ideas anyway, what do you reckon?

What did you make of it, Jean, Well, if you were watching this without the sound on, no doubt Donald Trump wont it. He just looked better if you had the sound turned on. Then it probably began as a Donald Trump show. Then Joe Biden clambered back into it, and at times he actually looked pretty good. But I tell you what, Donald Trump, in terms of the public relations push, kind of looked more capable, shall we say, than Joe Biden. Now, of course, if you actually listened to some of the answers, you might have a totally different view. Mike, maybe we'll jump into some of the stuff that they were talking about. I think generally Donald Trump didn't answer any questions. I think that came through. He basically rebuked a lot of stuff Joe Biden said, and it just seems that the debate rules allowed for that. And so if you're looking at so immediate feeds during it, people were saying, why don't they get him to answer the question. Well, the debate rules were set and agreed upon by the Biden administration, so he ended up having Donald Trump and Joe Biden to some extent, really having a crack at each other. I don't think Joe Biden inspired a lot of confidence. His delivery was faltering. He stumbled over some of the facts, which adds to all that criticism about his age. Trump, you know, he didn't answer many questions. It was actually frustrating listening to Trump when you're trying to look for policy. As one point there, Donald Trump said this shouldn't be a debate. I don't think it was. I mean, like, there weren't many debate about ideas anyway, what do you reckon?

Well, the funny thing is that that Trump showed a very good ability to bring it back to what are his couple of key points. And if you were watching this and you go, there's really only one policy that I can kind of take out of it, and that is immigration, that this is an election that he is trying to fight on immigration. Because he managed to bring everything back to immigration, and in particular back to the Mexican border. Childcare came back to immigration, healthcare came back to immigration, Medicare, medicaid, immigration, social security, immigration, even the opioid crisis when that was brought up, what are you going to do about the opioid crisis? Somehow that came back to immigration as well. He really stuck to his talking points and clearly what has been identified as a strong point and a really something that's going to connect with his voters, and everything came back to immigration.

Well, the funny thing is that that Trump showed a very good ability to bring it back to what are his couple of key points. And if you were watching this and you go, there's really only one policy that I can kind of take out of it, and that is immigration, that this is an election that he is trying to fight on immigration. Because he managed to bring everything back to immigration, and in particular back to the Mexican border. Childcare came back to immigration, healthcare came back to immigration, Medicare, medicaid, immigration, social security, immigration, even the opioid crisis when that was brought up, what are you going to do about the opioid crisis? Somehow that came back to immigration as well. He really stuck to his talking points and clearly what has been identified as a strong point and a really something that's going to connect with his voters, and everything came back to immigration.

It got a bit silly. I mean, there was an argument about who had the better golf handicap and who could hit the ball further. That was ridiculous. There was also an argument about who's more likely to start World War three, and you know, it was actually childish, which both I think Trump said made some comment like that, and it was it was totally childish at one point. I did love the discussion about who was the worst president in American history?

It got a bit silly. I mean, there was an argument about who had the better golf handicap and who could hit the ball further. That was ridiculous. There was also an argument about who's more likely to start World War three, and you know, it was actually childish, which both I think Trump said made some comment like that, and it was it was totally childish at one point. I did love the discussion about who was the worst president in American history?

Yeah, and that we talked about this on fear and greed before, and about the fact that there was a big study done not so long ago, wasn't it, And that was quoted on a couple of occasions by Biden where Trump was identified as the worst president in US history. So at least it was kind of using something that has been got a bit of data behind it, potentially.

Yeah, and that we talked about this on fear and greed before, and about the fact that there was a big study done not so long ago, wasn't it, And that was quoted on a couple of occasions by Biden where Trump was identified as the worst president in US history. So at least it was kind of using something that has been got a bit of data behind it, potentially.

Yeah, I think. So what was interesting Biden mostly avoided jumping into the Trump's New York haush money trial, but then Trump talked about he called Joe Biden's son Hunter a convicted felon. You could see Biden physically react to that, So then he went on to talk about Trump's case directly by saying Trump had sex with the porn star while his wife was pregnant. It did get pretty personal at times, which I don't think was particularly pleasant when you're looking at people who basically are going to lead the free world. Where Biden looked best, I reckon was when he was talking about how great America is. He did a lot of that, and actually he looked really good. Then Trump's been the whole time saying how poor it is.

Yeah, I think. So what was interesting Biden mostly avoided jumping into the Trump's New York haush money trial, but then Trump talked about he called Joe Biden's son Hunter a convicted felon. You could see Biden physically react to that, So then he went on to talk about Trump's case directly by saying Trump had sex with the porn star while his wife was pregnant. It did get pretty personal at times, which I don't think was particularly pleasant when you're looking at people who basically are going to lead the free world. Where Biden looked best, I reckon was when he was talking about how great America is. He did a lot of that, and actually he looked really good. Then Trump's been the whole time saying how poor it is.

Yeah, And I think that was interesting. When they did get into the Stormy Daniels the hush money case that you were right, that was the first time you actually saw some real emotion on Joe Biden's face, And that line Trump has the morals of an alley cat, I thought was probably quite effective. A couple of other quick things that Joe Biden did seem to lose his way on a couple of occasions where he just wasn't quite as sharp as he probably needed to be in a debate where age is a big issue and there's only three years between them, yet the difference today did seem more pronounced than that, And part of that was there was some briefing done by the White House, by the President's office basically saying he has a cold. At the moment, it's not COVID. He has a cold. That is the reason why he has quite a shaky voice, and maybe he's not kind of seeming as stable. So clearly they were also aware that this was how he was being perceived at that time. There are a couple of other things that I thought on foreign policy, some points that Donald Trump made about the fact that Ukraine wouldn't have been invaded if he was president, wouldn't have been invaded by Russia, repels president, and that Israel wouldn't have been attacked by Hermas that in these cases, in particular with Russia, that Russia and Putin respected Trump because of his strength, and so he was really trying to use that to nail Biden as a week president and seen internationally as a week president. And unfortunately he used a lot of facts and a lot of examples that I don't think are necessarily supported by the truth and fact check websites are going to have a field day with it, but Biden did not do the best job in refuting those examples.

Yeah, And I think that was interesting. When they did get into the Stormy Daniels the hush money case that you were right, that was the first time you actually saw some real emotion on Joe Biden's face, And that line Trump has the morals of an alley cat, I thought was probably quite effective. A couple of other quick things that Joe Biden did seem to lose his way on a couple of occasions where he just wasn't quite as sharp as he probably needed to be in a debate where age is a big issue and there's only three years between them, yet the difference today did seem more pronounced than that, And part of that was there was some briefing done by the White House, by the President's office basically saying he has a cold. At the moment, it's not COVID. He has a cold. That is the reason why he has quite a shaky voice, and maybe he's not kind of seeming as stable. So clearly they were also aware that this was how he was being perceived at that time. There are a couple of other things that I thought on foreign policy, some points that Donald Trump made about the fact that Ukraine wouldn't have been invaded if he was president, wouldn't have been invaded by Russia, repels president, and that Israel wouldn't have been attacked by Hermas that in these cases, in particular with Russia, that Russia and Putin respected Trump because of his strength, and so he was really trying to use that to nail Biden as a week president and seen internationally as a week president. And unfortunately he used a lot of facts and a lot of examples that I don't think are necessarily supported by the truth and fact check websites are going to have a field day with it, but Biden did not do the best job in refuting those examples.

So bottom line for me, Donald Trump looked better, more able, more vibrant. But Joe Biden, if you listen to what the candidate said, certainly had a lot more substance to him. But if you're going to pick winner Trump, what about you?

So bottom line for me, Donald Trump looked better, more able, more vibrant. But Joe Biden, if you listen to what the candidate said, certainly had a lot more substance to him. But if you're going to pick winner Trump, what about you?

Michael, I think you're right. I think you were right. I think that in the end, in a debate where we're one of the main things that you're looking for is the effective communication and the ability to convey this point, to stick to your main message, and I think Trump executed that more effectively today.

Michael, I think you're right. I think you were right. I think that in the end, in a debate where we're one of the main things that you're looking for is the effective communication and the ability to convey this point, to stick to your main message, and I think Trump executed that more effectively today.

I must say the debate left me with disappointment, maybe that they're the two best possible candidates to be president of the USA.

I must say the debate left me with disappointment, maybe that they're the two best possible candidates to be president of the USA.

I think you might be right. I think it's a little bit alarming, isn't it that in the end, this is kind of where we are. So it's going to be seawan a very interesting few months between now and November. There's so much theater, so much drama around it. But in the end, it is vitally, vitally important because this is essentially the election for the leader of the free world, and this decision does have flow on effects right around the world.

I think you might be right. I think it's a little bit alarming, isn't it that in the end, this is kind of where we are. So it's going to be seawan a very interesting few months between now and November. There's so much theater, so much drama around it. But in the end, it is vitally, vitally important because this is essentially the election for the leader of the free world, and this decision does have flow on effects right around the world.

It's going to be a fantastic few months to report on indeed.

It's going to be a fantastic few months to report on indeed.

Well, thank you very much, Sean, Thank thank you very much for joining us on this special edition, this special bonus edition of Fear and Greed. Remember follow on the podcast and please join us online on LinkedIn, Instagram, x TikTok and Facebook. I'm Michael Thompson. Have a great day.

Well, thank you very much, Sean, Thank thank you very much for joining us on this special edition, this special bonus edition of Fear and Greed. Remember follow on the podcast and please join us online on LinkedIn, Instagram, x TikTok and Facebook. I'm Michael Thompson. Have a great day.