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 […]
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 […]