Stock Rally Stalls as Trump Tariff Threats Increase

A two-day rally in stocks appears to be winding down this morning as US index futures are trading up 0.1%-0.2% after US indices soared 1.4% to 2.3% yesterday. Speculation that President Trump may scale back on his “Liberation Day” plan to introduce widespread reciprocal tariffs starting April 2 has faded. Instead of standing down like […]
Stocks Retreat as Investors Digest Central Bank News

Yesterday afternoon’s relief rally which pushed US indices to gains of 0.9% to 1.4% has evaporated overnight. This morning finds US index futures down 0.4%-0.6%, while in Europe, the Dax is down 1.5% and the FTSE is down 0.3%. The US Dollar is rallying today, gaining 1.1% against the Australian Dollar, 0.6% against the Euro […]
Disappointing Economic Numbers From the US and Canada

The new trading week has kicked off with a series of disappointing economic reports out of North America. US retail sales slowed significantly from a year ago (3.1% vs previous 3.9%) as retail sales over month disappointed (0.2% vs street 0.7%). The Empire State Manufacturing Index staged a severe and surprising drop (-20.0 vs street […]
Semiconductor Selloff and Rising Layoffs Drag on Markets

The weight of high AI growth expectations and valuations appears to be catching up to the Semiconductor sector. Last night Marvell Technologies beat the street by a penny on both EPS and guidance. That news, however, clearly was not good enough for many investors as Marvell shares are down 18.6% premarket and dragging other chipmakers […]
Winds of Change Steer Stocks Upward

Much of the focus of investors has been on change in and related to the United States since President Trump returned to office in January. There have been developments on government spending, tariffs, the Ukraine War, international relations, domestic issues and more, capped off by President Trump’s speech to Congress last night. Today, the focus […]
March Starts Strong Led By Crypto Recovery

Last week’s uncertainty and caution has quickly gone by the wayside as bulls have roared back to life to kick off March. President Trump’s announcement of a Strategic Cryptocurrency Reserve has lit a fire under the cryptocurrency market. Bitcoin has rallied from just above $80,000 to above $92,500, currently up about 10.6%. The prospect of […]
Stock Selloff Continued Overseas Overnight

The last trading day of February finds stocks trying to stabilize following yesterday’s selloff that saw the Dow lose 0.4%, the S&P fall 1.6% and the NASDAQ drop 2.8%. Today finds NASDAQ futures flat and Dow futures up 0.4%. Chipmaker Nvidia which plunged 8.5% yesterday post-earnings remains under pressure, however, down another 1.8% premarket. Asia […]
Bank Earnings Start Strong; Cryptocurrencies Crumble

US index futures are trading flat to up 0.1% this morning as they try to regain their footing from recent losses, including declines of 0.5% for the S&P 500 and 1.2% for the NASDAQ yesterday. European markets are climbing this morning with the Dax up 0.25% and the FTSE up 0.5%. The biggest action this […]
Stirred, Not Shaken

The last 24 hours have seen significant divergences in performance across world markets including overnight and into this morning. In the US, Dow futures are down 0.4%, adding to yesterday’s 1.0% Dow loss. NASDAQ futures are up 0.3%, clawing back most of yesterday’s 0.4% NASDAQ loss. Overseas, the Hang Seng soared to 4.0% to close […]
Stocks Pause Ahead of the Long Weekend

With a long weekend approaching in North America, traders appear inclined to take profits following yesterday’s rally. Soft US retail sales and mixed earnings don’t appear to be helping sentiment either. US headline retail sales (-0.9% vs street -0.1% and previous +0.7%), and retail sales ex autos (-0.4% vs street +0.3%) showed an abrupt and […]