NEWS
The Trade War’s Latest Casualties

Stocks were slammed as the macro environment gave the bears more catalysts to press their downside bets. The largest names continue to weigh on the major indexes, with big tech names lacking a clear catalyst to head higher. Pockets of green in safe-haven parts of the market were the only source of solace for bulls. 👀

Today's issue covers what drove the market decline, the energy sector’s latest developments, a new “Daily Rip Live” co-host, and more from the day. 📰

Here’s the S&P 500 heatmap. 4 of 11 sectors closed green, with real estate (+0.86%) leading and energy (-3.49%) lagging.

And here are the closing prices: 

STOCKS
Today’s Downside Catalysts 📉 

The time has come for tariffs, with Donald Trump saying that 25% taxes on imports from Mexico and Canada will begin on Tuesday. He also slapped another 10% tariff on imports from China, bringing the total rate to 20%. 📊 

His tariffs are reportedly a tool to force our North American neighbors to improve their efforts to fight fentanyl trafficking and illegal immigration. However, he’s also indicated that he wants to eliminate America’s trade imbalances and push for more U.S. factories.

On top of that, Nvidia, Super Micro Computer, and Dell plunged, dragging down the semiconductor sector. Singapore said it’s investigating whether servers shipped to Malaysia containing chips barred from China ended up in the mainland. 🕵️ 

Findings from the investigation could risk increasing U.S. scrutiny of equipment exports by the American companies, which would weigh on sales growth.

The tariff troubles and semiconductor scaries were paired with the Atlanta Fed’s GDP estimate tool falling deeply into negative territory. The real-time data tracker suggests that gross domestic product (GDP) could fall by 1.5% during the first quarter, sparking a growth scare among investors.

Driving this decline is a sharp rise in the U.S. trade imbalance, with companies front-loading purchases in order to avoid tariffs. 📦️ 

While that explains some of today’s readings, many fear the continued uncertainty around the macro and global environment could impact companies’ decisions. More uncertainty typically means companies pull back, which could ultimately hurt growth, which has already slowed for the last several quarters.

Lastly, the crypto market added to the risk-off behavior. Over the weekend, the Trump administration announced plans for a strategic crypto reserve, naming Bitcoin, Solana, Ripple, and Cardano and sending the market higher. 🪙 

However, the move was sold into throughout the day, with Bitcoin giving back all of its gains in the process. Investors say the “sell the news” reaction is not a positive sign for crypto bulls and that the near-term risk remains to the downside.

The combination of all these factors sent bulls running for the hills. As we’ve been talking about, bulls continue to lack a clear catalyst to counter the downside momentum that this market is experiencing almost daily.

Stocktwits sentiment remains in ‘bearish’ territory, while roughly 62% of poll respondents see the tariffs as a negative for the overall market. 🐻 

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