QuickTakes

The most concise analysis of the key variables driving the global economy and financial markets.

Short-form takes on current market events.

Stocks Rise On Latest Trump Pivot

Any day with a Trump Pivot is a good day for the stock market. Shares of automakers closed higher today after President Donald Trump said he is looking to “help some of the car companies” with his 25% auto tariff (chart).

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Tit-For-Tat: The Opposite Of Panda Diplomacy

The trade war between the US and China is heating up, increasing the risk that China will invade Taiwan. Let us explain. On April 11, Reuters reported the following: “Shipments of seven rare earths placed on an export control list last week

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ECONOMIC WEEK AHEAD: April 14–18

The economic week ahead will provide updates on the goods-producing sector, consumer spending, and inflation. Macroeconomic data may be drowned out by more explosive volatility in the financial markets attributable to Trump’s Nitro Tariffs (TNT). In addition, the Q1

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MARKET CALL: Follow The Bouncing POTUS

In our December 17 Morning Briefing, we wrote: “With bullishness abounding, contrarian indicators are flashing red, and we see the potential for a market correction early next year.” Our major concern was that the stock market’s bulls were discounting too

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Bond Vigilantes Remain Unhappy

It was not a happy day in the bond market. Neither was it a happy day in the stock market: Bond Market. The 10-year Treasury bond yield rose to 4.45% this evening, up from a recent low of 4.01%

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Bond Vigilantes Hit Another Homerun

“Bond investors are the economy’s bond vigilantes. … So if the fiscal and monetary authorities won’t regulate the economy, the bond investors will. The economy will be run by vigilantes in the credit markets.” – Ed Yardeni, 1983 “I used

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MARKET CALL: Wall Street Is Main Street

Conspiracy theories are usually wrong even though they seem to explain a lot. The latest conspiracy theory floating on social media is that President Donald Trump is causing a recession to bring interest rates down to reduce the federal

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ECONOMIC WEEK: April 7–11

While Trump’s tariffs will likely dominate the headlines, the economic week ahead will also focus on the inflationary impact of US import duties. We expect March’s CPI (Thu) and PPI (Fri) to confirm our concern that higher goods prices

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Stocks Greet Liberation Day With Bronx Cheers

President Donald Trump and his guests at the Rose Garden today celebrated Liberation Day. Stock investors won’t be celebrating tomorrow based on the plunge in futures prices tied to the DJIA, S&P 500, and the Nasdaq-100. The Stock Market

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LIBERATION WEEK: March 31–April 4

Trump’s Reign of Tariffs will likely dominate the economic week ahead. The big event will occur on April 2 (dubbed “Liberation Day” by President Donald Trump). That’s when the administration will impose reciprocal tariffs on a number of America’s

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Trump Slams On The Auto Tariff Brakes

President Trump’s Wednesday night announcement of a 25% tariff on imports of foreign motor vehicles caused a selloff in auto stocks today. Components such as engines and transmissions are also impacted, while previously trade-compliant parts from Canada and Mexico will be slapped

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The AI Trade

Two months ago at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella said, “All I know is, I’m good for my $80 billion” regarding the $500 billion Stargate AI announcement. His comments followed the emergence of DeepSeek’s

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Losing Confidence

Consumers are feeling okay about the present situation, but they are losing their confidence in the future. The obvious cause of their anxiety is Trump Turmoil 2.0. The Trump administration admits that its trade and DOGE policies might cause some economic pain in the short run but says they

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Helter-Skelter

“Helter-skelter” is a term used to describe disorderly haste, confusion, or chaos. That seems to be descriptive of the modus operandi of President Donald Trump’s trade policy. Then again, perhaps there is method to the madness. Perhaps it is

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‘There Will Be Flexibility’

When President Donald Trump was asked on Friday about his tariff policies, he said: “I didn’t change my mind. I don’t change. But the word ‘flexibility’ is an important word. Sometimes there’s flexibility. So there will be flexibility, but

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ECONOMIC WEEK: March 24–28

The predominant theme of the economic week ahead will be inflation, both realized and expected. Consumer inflation expectations will be updated for March, while February’s PCED inflation rate also will be released (both Fri). Cooler-than-expected CPI and PPI prints last month aren’t

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Certainly Uncertain

Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell used the word “uncertainty” 16 times in his press conference today. We sympathize. At the outset, it’s impossible to know what tariffs will be imposed by the US on April 2., on which countries,

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Was That The Bottom?

The S&P 500 and the Nasdaq might have bottomed on Thursday, but we doubt it for reasons we get into below. Both indexes rallied nicely on Friday and today. That action jibes with the extremely bearish sentiment readings of the bull/bear ratios compiled by

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MARKET CALL: The Best Trump Trade

So far among the best Trump trades has been to short the S&P 500 since February 19 through last Thursday (chart). It fell 10.1% over this period. Let’s call it the “Trump Thump.” We aren’t convinced that the correction is

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ECONOMIC WEEK: March 17–21

In the week ahead, lots of economic data will be packed into the first two days, followed by the FOMC meeting decision and Fed Chair Jerome Powell’s press conference on Wednesday. The FOMC is widely expected to hold rates

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