Author: Daniel Wilson
The markets sank back toward session lows on Thursday after President Trump announced that tariffs on goods and services from Mexico that fall under the US-Mexico-Canada trade agreement (USMCA) would be delayed until April 2. However, the president did not say the same about Canada. “After speaking with President Claudia Sheinbaum of Mexico, I have agreed that Mexico will not be required to pay Tariffs on anything that falls under the USMCA Agreement. This Agreement is until April 2nd,” Trump wrote on Truth Social. “I did this as an accommodation, and out of respect for, President Sheinbaum,” he added. SNP…
This is The Takeaway from today’s Morning Brief, which you can sign up to receive in your inbox every morning along with: Everyone wants to believe pain and anguish won’t show up at their doorsteps. Bad things happen to everyone else, right? Well, that is the WRONG way to be thinking right now when putting money to work in the markets! If you believe Trump tariffs are bluffs that won’t happen (or if they do to any extent, won’t be a big deal), you need to wake up and smell the sauce cooking on the wide-open gas flame. Expect pain!…
Donald Trump stood behind his ambitious tariff plans, lavished praise on Elon Musk’s controversial DOGE effort, vowed to end a Biden-era chips subsidy law, and pledged to look for rare earth minerals in the US during a 90-minute joint address to Congress Tuesday night. “It has been nothing but swift and unrelenting action,” Trump said of his early weeks in office, adding: “And we are just getting started.” It was a speech marked by culture war standoffs which saw one Democratic member removed from the chamber by the House sergeant at arms in a night that appears unlikely to calm…
This is The Takeaway from today’s Morning Brief, which you can sign up to receive in your inbox every morning along with: The dust has settled on the latest Nvidia (NVDA) earnings week frenzy. And I think it’s important to take stock of where things stand for the world’s most important stock (sorry, Apple (AAPL)). Why? Because you should be thinking about whether the pullback in Nvidia is a buying opportunity or the start of a deeper sell-off as expectations are reset. We know Nvidia’s margins in the first half of the year will be below their usual robust levels…
Donald Trump’s latest tariff deadline arrives tonight with potential new duties starting as soon as tomorrow on America’s top three trading partners: Canada, China, and Mexico. It’s a threat that Trump has partially delayed once before but if he follows through on even a sliver of his many upcoming promises, it could match or surpass the economic toll of his entire first term. There is “no room left for Canada or for Mexico,” Trump reiterated Monday afternoon at the White House, saying he wouldn’t pare back his tariffs levels on those two countries. The president is planning 25% duties on…
The first week of March will bring investors a crucial jobs report and a range of key retail earnings that could have the potential to either stoke or allay fears about the US economy and the consumer showing some signs of stress.The February jobs report out Friday is expected to show hiring rose modestly last month while the unemployment rate held steady at 4%.Last week, the major averages were a mixed bag in the end, with the Dow (^DJI) eking out a weekly gain while the tech-heavy Nasdaq (^IXIC) lost over 4%. After forfeiting its year-to-date gains at the week’s…
BlackRock (BLK) CEO Larry Fink is notching some early wins in the new Trump era. The latest came Tuesday as the world’s largest money manager announced that a BlackRock-led investment coalition would take control of two key ports on either end of the Panama Canal for the price of $22.8 billion. The move essentially gives President Donald Trump something he asked for — a larger American presence at this vital shipping lane where he had alleged Chinese interference. The ports being picked up by BlackRock are owned by Hong Kong-based conglomerate CK Hutchison Holding. The canal itself is still controlled…
By Howard Schneider WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The smallest U.S. businesses shed jobs in February and average revenue fell, a sign of pressure in one vulnerable sector of the economy that preceded the Trump administration’s announcement of sweeping new import taxes that could make the outlook even cloudier. An index developed by software firm Intuit, which provides payroll and other business software to companies, estimated that employment at firms with one to nine workers fell by around 125,000 over the month, to 12.5 million, a nearly full percentage point decline. While spanning industries, the drop was proportionately largest in leisure and…
By Kevin Buckland TOKYO (Reuters) – Tech stocks led advances in Asia on Thursday, taking their cue from Wall Street’s gains after tepid inflation data allayed concerns over the state of the U.S. economy. U.S. Treasury yields remained elevated after pulling further away from recent lows the day before, on escalating tit-for-tat tariff battles between the United States and trading partners. The euro was steady after slipping back from a five-month high on Wednesday, when President Donald Trump warned of a response to the European Union’s threatened counter-tariffs on U.S. goods. However, the shared currency continued to garner support from…
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The number of Americans filing new applications for unemployment benefits fell last week, but sharp government spending cuts and an escalating trade war threaten labor market stability. Initial claims for state unemployment benefits slipped 2,000 to a seasonally adjusted 220,000 for the week ended March 8, the Labor Department said on Thursday. Economists polled by Reuters had forecast 225,000 claims for the latest week. Claims have settled after spiking in late February amid winter storms and difficulties adjusting the data for seasonal fluctuations around the Presidents Day holiday. Though the labor market remains on solid ground, policies…