Easing Technology Tariffs Sends Stocks Soaring
A shortened trading week has kicked off with stock markets around the world rallying in hope that the tariff war may ease. Over the weekend, the White House announced that it is removing technology (smartphones, computers, semiconductors, memory devices and more) from the reciprocal tariff program, as it prepares a separate technology tariff program to […]
Stock Rally Fades as Investors Await Friday’s Earnings Season Start
Yesterday’s decision by President Trump to postpone reciprocal tariffs on countries who agree to not fight back and come to the bargaining table continues to send shockwaves through world markets. Following on from one of the strongest single days in US history where the S&P 500 gained 9.5% and the NASDAQ soared 12.1%, the Nikkei […]
Unusual Action in Bonds and Currencies as the Trade War Escalates
The growing trade war, especially between the US and China, continues to escalate. President Trump’s tariffs went into effect overnight, and this morning China announced new retaliatory tariffs against the US, raising their tariff on US goods to 84% from 34%. Growing concern about the potential impact of tariffs on the world economy has put […]
World Markets Bounce Back
We now appear to be moving into a new phase of market reaction to the external shock of President Trump following through on his tariff threats last week. Following Thursday’s initial negative response, Friday’s panic selloff, and Monday’s stabilization, today we have a big bounce underway with short sellers taking profits and bargain hunters stepping […]
The US Versus The World
The new trading week has started with Asia Pacific markets catching up to last Friday’s panic selloff. Hong Kong plunged 13.2%, Shanghai fell 7.3%, and Tokyo lost 7.8%. European markets, which partly participated on Friday are seeing less extreme losses with Frankfurt down 4.2% and London down 3.8%. All eyes are now on the US […]
Trump Tariffs Crush World Markets
Although President Trump has been threatening to increase tariffs for months and has been talking about yesterday’s “Liberation Day” round of new tariffs for weeks, which included a 10% baseline tariff plus reciprocal tariffs against pretty much everyone except for Canada and Mexico, some people still appear to have been caught off guard. Stocks and […]
Investors Await “Liberation Day” Tariff Announcements
The big day which investors have been awaiting or dreading has finally arrived. At 4:00 pm EDT this afternoon, just after North American markets close, President Trump is expected to make a number of announcements related to new and reciprocal tariffs, a moment that he has been calling “Liberation Day” for weeks. Previous tariff announcements […]
Shaky Start to a Big Week for World Markets
The first day of the new trading week, which is also the last trading day of the month and the quarter, finds stock markets around the world under heavy selling pressure. Overnight, the Nikkei plunged 4.0%, while the Hang Seng fell 1.3%. European trading finds the Dax and CAC both down 2.0%, with the FTSE […]
New Tariffs Weigh on the Auto Sector
Yesterday afternoon, President Trump announced a new 25% tariff on all vehicles not made in the United States and threatened to raise tariffs against Canada and the European Union if they work together to fight his tariffs. To some extent investors had been expecting another round of tough talk on tariffs as US indices fell […]
Copper Hits a Thirty-Year High
Somehow lost in all of the political and market volatility of the last several months is that Copper has been on a tear since the start of this year. Back in December Dr. Copper, the commodity most sensitive to global economic conditions, was trading near $4.00/lb. Today, Copper is up 1.3% and trading above $5.25/lb […]