“In the last few days, we have had many conversations with macro #fund managers,” wrote Tom Lee, the head of research at the #financial analysis firm FSInsights.

“And their concern is that the White House is not acting rationally, but rather on ideology. And some even fear that this may not even be ideology,” Lee continued. “A few have quietly wondered if the President might be #insane.”

The main casualty in all this is the #US #dollar.

For 80 years, it's been the mainstay of the #financial system & the ultimate of safe havens, along w/ #Treasuries.

But w/investors now doubting the reliability of the #UnitedStates as a #trading partner & fears creeping in about the stability of the #bond market, the dollar is bearing the brunt.

#Trump #economy #inflation #recession #geopolitics #RevengePolitics
https://www.reuters.com/world/trump-tariffs-live-markets-whipsaw-trade-war-fuels-global-recession-fears-2025-04-11/

After weeks of nervous anticipation in the #financial #markets & in the capitals of America’s #trading partners, #Trump’s “Liberation Day” #tariffs have arrived, &, even by his standards, they are shockingly high & wide-ranging. “For decades our country has been looted, pillaged, raped, & plundered by nations near & far,” Trump said on Wed to a crowd at the WH that included members of #UAW, & also elected #Republicans.

The decline in March caps off the S&P 500’s worst quarter at the start of a president’s term since President Barack Obama took over in 2009 during the #financial crisis.

The benchmark is now down 8.7% from its mid-February peak, a downturn that is near a 10% “correction,” denting the values of portfolios & retirement funds across both Wall Street & Main Street. The tech-heavy Nasdaq, which has already slipped into a correction, ended the month down 8.2%

I'm in a mood today. Might cancel several subscriptions and services today.

Haven't been to the gym in months. That's next on my list.

#Slotkin argues that the surest way to heal the country—to defuse identitarian struggles, pacify the culture wars, uncoil our hypertense politics—is by restoring the confidence of working families. When people feel assured of their #financial welfare & of their #children’s future, she insists, they become far less receptive to the type of strongman demagoguery that thrives on scapegoats & feasts on anxiety.

For decades, Canadian political leaders have crowed about that restrictive #financial #regulatory model. They argue that fending off foreign entrants in the country’s #mortgage market helped the country largely avoid the 2008 collapse south of its border.

In light of #Trump’s criticism, Maggie Cheung, a spox for the Canadian Bankers Assn, was quick to point out that foreign #banks were an integral part of the banking landscape.