United States National Economic Council Director Kevin Hassett told CNBC on Monday that President Donald Trump is considering pausing tariffs for all countries except China for a period of 90 days.
More to come…
Black Monday hits Europe, DAX sinks 8%
European markets plunged again Monday as investors reacted to US President Donald Trump’s sweeping tariffs of 20% on the European Union, and 25% on all foreign cars. The continued sell-off followed Trump’s Sunday remarks claiming tariffs were the only fix for the “massive” trade deficit with the bloc and other major economies. EU trade ministers are expected to plan a joint response today amid growing pressure to counter Washington’s aggressive stance.
At 9:00 am CET, the German DAX sank 8.04% or 1,663 points as Commerzbank slumped 12.20%. The Euro Stoxx 50 dipped 6.83% with Siemens AG crashing 10.07%. The British FTSE 100 fell by 4.57% as F&C Investment Trust nosedived 8.38%. The French CAC 40 fell by 2.12% with Bureau Veritas retreating 8.59%. Italy’s FTSE MIB plummeted by 7.50% as Assicurazioni Generali slid 7.13%. Switzerland’s SMI lost 5.94% with Roche Holding tumbling 4.39%. Spain’s IBEX 35 nosedived by 5.30% with ACS crashing 22.42%.
The euro traded 0.35% higher against the dollar at 8:59 am CET to sell for $1.10017. Simultaneously, the pound sterling was flat against the United States currency to change hands for $1.29010.
Bitcoin falls below $75,000, lowest since November 2024
The cryptocurrency market dipped on Monday, with Bitcoin trading at its lowest since the November 2024 US election rally. The cryptocurrency market experienced significant losses as global markets faced considerable stress due to the US administration’s implementation of reciprocal tariffs. At the same time, Ripple’s XRP dropped by 20%, BNB fell by 9%, and Solana declined by 17%. At 2:44 am ET, Bitcoin was down 4.32%, selling at $74,981.94. Ethereum posted even deeper losses, falling 7.18% to $1,466.22.
nn; our bitcoin unit trust is making a killing on the bitcoin wipeout we have long predicted….. and the best is yet to come!
Nasdaq futures crash 4%, Dow dives 1,000 points amid trade war
Wall Street is set to extend its crash on what could be called the next Black Monday as concerns over the tariffs imposed by United States President Donald Trump continue to affect markets around the world, index futures showed.
The Nasdaq 100 futures nosedived 4.27% at 1:50 am ET, the Dow Jones futures slumped 2.75% or 1,000 points and the S&P 500 futures plummeted 3.44% at the same time.
The euro gained 0.50% against the dollar to sell for 1.10209 at 2:02 am ET.
NN: trump calls this medicine temporary in nature. I call this a bear market and the start of a great depression
U.S. stocks see biggest 2-day wipeout in history
market loses $11 trillion since Inauguration Day
Roughly $11.1 trillion has been wiped away from the U.S. stock market since Jan. 17, the Friday before President Donald Trump took the oath of office and began his second term, according to data from Dow Jones Market Data.Some $6.6 trillion of that figure was lost on Thursday and Friday alone — the largest two-day wipeout of shareholder value on record, Dow Jones data showed. U.S. Market CapU.S. stocks have wiped away more than $11 trillion since Inauguration DaySource: Dow Jones Market Data
Many investors were caught flat-footed on Wednesday when Trump unveiled sweeping global tariffs that were much larger than expected.
Financial markets have since been heaping pressure on the administration to step in and pare back the planned levies or to announce meaningful progress toward a deal, said Kathleen Brooks, research director at XTB, in emailed commentary Friday. President Trump earlier in the session touted a productive phone call with the leader of Vietnam in a post on Truth Social. Shares of Nike Inc. Recession risks remained front and center Friday. Even a stronger-than-expected March jobs report wasn’t enough to lift investors’ mood. As the weekend approached, fears were focused on a trade-war escalation where “the U.S. doesn’t back down,” said Jay Woods, chief market strategist at Freedom Capital markets, in comments shared with MarketWatch via email. “If we are to punch back, you could have damaging effects to not only the tech sector, but the economy overall. This could throw us into a recession and could end the bull market as we know it.”
NN: See BlackMask Breaking News: Blood Bath
Nasdaq 100 Is Now in Bear Market Amid Growth
A selloff in stocks deepened, bonds climbed and oil tumbled to a four-year low as Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell signaled the damage of a trade war will be bigger than anticipated, with the potential effects including higher inflation and slower growth. Despite the economic risks from President Donald Trump’s trade war such as China’s decision to retaliate, Powell reiterated a wait-and-see approach on rates. The S&P 500 saw its worst two-day plunge since March 2020 in a sellof that slashed over $5 trillion in value, with the gauge down 6% on Friday. The Nasdaq 100 entered a bear market. Treasury 10-year yields slid three basis points to 3.99%. The dollar rose 1%.
“The action within the market is shouting recession,” said Doug Ramsey, chief investment officer at the Leuthold Group. “And market action itself is very often the final catalyst that pushes you into recession.”
Trump blasted China for retaliating against his sweeping tariff plan and vowed his economic policies “will never change.”Later, the president noted he had a “very productive call” with Vietnam, spurring a rally in firms that have large manufacturing operations in the country, including Nike Inc. and Lululemon Athletica Inc. Megacaps plunged, with Nvidia Corp. and Tesla Inc. slumping over 7%. US-listed Chinese stocks like Alibaba Group Holding Ltd. and Baidu Inc. also tumbled. A gauge of big banks hit the lowest since Aug. 7. The Cboe Volatility Index jumped to the highest since April 2020.
Nasdaq 100 Enters Bear Market
Several forecasters are turning ice cold on US equities, telling investors to refrain from buying the selloff amid the specter of a recession. Bank of America Corp.’s Michael Hartnett told investors to “short” risk assets until Trump pivots away from tariffs and toward tax cuts, higher energy supply, deregulation and an aggressive increase in the debt ceiling. UBS Global Wealth Management’s Mark Haefele cut his rating on US stocks to neutral. The chief executive officer of Roubini Macro Associates, whose doom-laden warnings accompanied key moments of the financial crisis in 2008, predicted that the stock market correction may deepen before investor sentiment then stabilizes as Trump dials down his global trade onslaught. “Even if in the next few weeks it looks like we’re going to start negotiations, and you get a de-escalation, I think the market corrects a little bit more, bottoms out,” Nouriel Roubini said at a gathering of economists and business leaders on the banks of Lake Como in Cernobbio, Italy.
S&P 500 Wipes Out Over $5 Trillion in Two Days
The fastest US stock market selloff since the depths of the Covid pandemic has left valuations looking cheap. But if a recession is inevitable due to the global trade war, the definition of inexpensive becomes relative. JPMorgan Chase & Co. said it now expects the US economy to fall into a recession this year after accounting for the likely impact of tariffs announced this week by the Trump administration. “We now expect real GDP to contract under the weight of the tariffs, and for the full year (4Q/4Q) we now look for real GDP growth of -0.3%, down from 1.3% previously,” the bank’s chief US economist, Michael Feroli, said Friday in a note to clients, referring to gross domestic product. Economists generally expect that tariffs will lift inflation and slow growth, keeping the Fed in wait-and-see mode.
NN: so much for the ai boom….. now cones the bust as wall streets harvest another group of suckers money
Buffett denies supporting Trump’s tariffs
Berkshire Hathaway denied on Friday that its billionaire CEO Warren Buffett voiced support for the tariffs imposed this week by United States President Donald Trump. “There are reports currently circulating on social media (including Twitter, Facebook and Tik Tok) regarding comments allegedly made by Warren E. Buffett. All such reports are false,” the company stated. The statement came after Trump posted a video that claimed that Buffett said the president was “making the best economic moves he’s seen in over 50 years.”
Cruz: Trump’s tariffs could have terrible outcome
United States Senate Commerce Committee Chair Ted Cruz expressed concerns over the latest tariffs imposed by US President Donald Trump, saying that he is “not a fan.” “If we’re in a scenario 30 days from now, 60 days from now, 90 days from now, with massive American tariffs, and massive tariffs on American goods in every other country on earth, that is a terrible outcome,” Cruz stated in his podcast released on Friday, expressing concerns about other countries retaliating against Washington. Cruz, who ran against Trump in 2016 GOP primaries but then endorsed him ahead of the 2024 election, warned that Republicans could suffer in the 2026 midterms as a result of the tariffs and their impact on the economy. “If we go into a recession, particularly a bad recession, 2026 in all likelihood, politically would be a bloodbath,” he pointed out.
Nick note:
You really need to pay attention here because we are flirting with disaster. This tariff war can easily spin out of control and devastate the global economy. the last depression was caused by the world economy shutting down in 1930 because of trade wars. It was caused by he Smoot–Hawley Tariff Act. It was a protectionist trade measure signed into law in the President Herbert Hoover. the act raised tariffs on over 20,000 imported goods in an effort to shield American industries from unfair foreign competition. sound familiar? There is no discussion the US suffers the unfair trade practices. It was allowed because politicians wanted cheap consumer goods for American citizens. The cost is d-industrializing the country. destroys the US mining including oil, farming and manufacturing base including software. Wealth is created in these places. And anything that disrupts a countries ability to have these resources domestically will eventually end in disaster. And stopping the flow of manufactured goods, food, raw materials and digital products across borders is the road we are headed\down
When goods and services stop crossing border then armies willl
Trumps mistake here is abruptly stopping the flow of goods and services and materials with the entire world. He is dramatically increasing the cost of those goods. This is going to spin out of control. Let me warn you the odds are 70% that we will be in a global recession in the next 6 months. And the odds are more than 60% that that global recession will lead to a global depression. It may be too late to stop it. Calmer heads need to prevail immediately and slow escalation of tariffs which are taxes. These abrupt changes as you are seeing has led to a stock market that now is a major correction in just 3 days. An economy that’s going into a nosedive. Most important thing is the psychological effects on people as they watch their retirement accounts wipe out and their costs of food and goods increase by 25% across the board. You should be damn scared and rightly so. Here’s my warning to you this could end up in the 1929 depression and stock market wipe ou.t But hear me it’s far worse this time because there’s a huge amount of debt by citizens corporations and governments and that has a great chance of being defaulted on. That’s when it’s game set match. We have to reorganize the world out of the ashes of World War III cuz could. come from this
Oil crashes 8% as China retaliates with tariffs on US
Crude oil prices plunged over 8% on Friday after China announced sweeping new tariffs on US goods. This escalated the global trade war ignited by US President Donald Trump’s aggressive protectionist policies earlier this week. The selloff deepened after OPEC+ advanced its plan to boost production in May. Goldman Sachs cut its 2025 oil price forecasts, citing heightened recession risks and increased supply pressures in a worsening trade environment. As of 8:21 am ET, West Texas Intermediate crude oil was down 8.27% at $62 a barrel, while Brent crude fell 7.53% to $65.3. Both are on track for their lowest close since April 2021.
Oil sinks over 4% to lowest since December 2021
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Crude oil prices extended losses on Friday as markets worry about a possible drop in demand resulting from trade tariffs imposed by the United States. Meanwhile, OPEC+ announced yesterday that it will increase output by 411,000 barrels per day in May, more than expected.