Business/Markets/Stocks/Economics Random, Random

[ti-amie]

At 10:10 AM ET, rumors emerged that the White House was considering a "90-day tariff pause."

At 10:15 AM ET, CNBC reported that Trump is considering a 90-day pause on tariffs for ALL countries except for China.

By 10:18 AM ET, the S&P 500 had added over +$3 TRILLION in market cap from its low.

At 10:25 AM ET, reports emerged that the White House was "unaware" of Trump considering a 90-day pause.

At 10:26 AM ET, CNBC reports that the 90-day tariff pause headlines were incorrect.

At 10:34 AM ET, the White House officially called the tariff pause headlines "fake news."

By 10:40 AM ET, the S&P 500 erased -$2.5 TRILLION of market cap from its high, 22 minutes prior.

Never in history have we seen something like this

[ti-amie]

Katie Martin
‪@katie0martin.ft.com‬

Follow
"Trump’s epic misunderstanding of how the global economy works reminds me of an episode of The Sopranos, where two of Tony’s crew try to force the local Starbucks to pay them protection money."

Classic
@gideonrachman.bsky.social
: www.ft.com/content/9946...

[ti-amie]

[ti-amie]

The three US indexes were in the green for a large part of the day but this is how they closed.

DJIA
37,645.59 -320.01 -0.84
NASDAQ
15,267.91 -335.35 -2.15
S&P 500
4,982.77 -79.48 -1.57


https://www.cnbc.com/us-markets/

[ti-amie]

Did I not say this is extortion in plain sight?

Trump says EU must buy $350B of US energy to get tariff relief
Brussels’ zero-for-zero tariff offer not enough, U.S. president says, but indicates he’s open to a deal if the bloc commits to closing the trade deficit in goods.

April 8, 2025 3:21 am CET
By Zoya Sheftalovich
The European Union will have to commit to buying $350 billion of American energy to get a reprieve from Donald Trump's sweeping tariffs, the U.S. president said late Monday, dismissing Brussels' offer of "zero-for-zero" tariffs on cars and industrial goods.

Trump's comments at a White House press conference were in response to European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen saying earlier Monday that the EU had offered to drop the bloc's tariffs to zero on cars and industrial goods imported from the U.S. if Trump reciprocated.

Asked by a reporter whether the offer was enough for him to back down, Trump said: "No, it's not."

"We have a deficit with the European Union of $350 billion and it's gonna disappear fast," Trump said. "One of the ways that that can disappear easily and quickly is they're gonna have to buy our energy from us ... they can buy it, we can knock off $350 billion in one week. They have to buy and commit to buy a like amount of energy."

Von der Leyen’s offer came after Trump last week slapped 20 percent tariffs on the EU and a minimum 10 percent levy on other trade partners. In response, financial markets across the world have lost trillions of dollars in value, with European stocks on Monday suffering their biggest one-day falls since the start of the Covid-19 pandemic.

"A lot of people say, 'Oh, it doesn't mean anything having a surplus.' It means a lot, in my opinion. It's almost like a profit or loss statement," Trump said.

The president was speaking in the Oval Office Monday alongside Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who traveled to Washington to hold talks with Trump and seek relief from the U.S. tariffs. In comments to the press after the meeting, the American president doubled down on his criticism of the EU but indicated he was up for doing a deal with the bloc, as long as it committed to closing its trade deficit with the U.S. by buying more American energy.

The idea of buying U.S. energy in a bid to stave off tariffs is not a new one. Almost as soon as Trump was reelected, von der Leyen suggested opening negotiations to buy more American liquefied natural gas (LNG). But POLITICO reported that the U.S. had, in response, offered no clarity about how a deal would work.

On Monday, asked whether his global tariffs were a strong-arm negotiation tactic or permanent, Trump said: "There can be permanent tariffs and there can also be negotiations, because there are things we need beyond tariffs."

He added: "If we can make a really fair deal and a good deal for the United States, not a good deal for others, this is America first. It's now America first."

Later in the press conference, a reporter asked Trump whether there were two or three countries on his list that he felt were further along in getting their tariffs lowered, and Trump name-checked the EU: "European Union. I mean as badly as they've treated us, they've brought their car tariffs essentially off. I guess they brought it down to 2.5 and I hear maybe to nothing."

But he also indicated that he wanted the EU to reduce its standards to allow more U.S. goods to enter its market, referring to safety measures as "non-monetary tariffs."

"It's tariffs where they put things on where they make it impossible for you to sell a car ... they make it so difficult, the standards and the tests," Trump said. "They come up with rules and regulations that are just designed for one reason: that you can't sell your product in those countries. And we're not gonna let that happen. Those are called non-monetary barriers."

In an indication of what is driving Trump's actions, the president harked back to a time when U.S. tariffs were sky high.

"You know our country was the strongest from 1870 to 1913," Trump said. "You know why? It was all tariff-based. We had no income tax. Then in 1913, some genius came up with the idea of let's charge the people of our country, not foreign countries that are ripping off our country."


https://www.politico.eu/article/donald- ... ff-relief/

[ti-amie]

Trump's 104% tariffs on China to take effect at midnight, quashing earlier market gains
Global markets had previously posted gains on the hopes of negotiations
Thomson Reuters · Posted: Apr 08, 2025 3:44 PM EDT | Last Updated: 1 hour ago

The United States said on Tuesday that 104 per cent duties on imports from China will take effect shortly after midnight, even as the Trump administration moved to quickly start talks with other trading partners targeted by President Donald Trump's sweeping tariff plan.

U.S. stocks retreated on the news. Global markets had previously posted gains on hopes that Trump might be willing to negotiate down the array of country- and product-specific trade barriers he is erecting around the world's largest consumer market.

The administration has scheduled talks with South Korea and Japan, two close allies and major trading partners, and Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni is due to visit next week.

But the White House made clear that country-specific tariffs of up to 50 per cent would nevertheless take effect at 12:01 a.m. ET, as planned.

Those tariffs will be especially steep for China, as Trump has ratcheted up duties on its imports to 104 per cent in response to counter-tariffs Beijing announced last week. China has refused to bow to what it called "blackmail" and has vowed to "fight to the end."

Administration officials said they would not prioritize negotiations with the world's No. 2 economic power.

'Not doing exemptions ... in the near term'
Trump's sweeping tariffs have raised fears of recession and upended a global trading order that has been in place for decades.

"Right now, we've received the instruction to prioritize our allies and our trading partners like Japan and Korea and others," White House economic adviser Kevin Hassett said on Fox News.

The White House said Trump instructed his trade team to create "tailor made" deals for the nearly 70 countries that have reached out for talks. Trump's lead trade negotiator, Jamieson Greer, told Congress that his office is trying to work quickly but is not facing a particular deadline.

"The president has been clear, again, that he's not doing exemptions or exceptions in the near term," Greer told lawmakers.

China is bracing for a war of attrition, and manufacturers are warning about profits and scrambling to plan new overseas plants. Citing rising external risks, Citi cut its 2025 China GDP growth forecast to 4.2 per cent from 4.7 per cent.

Three out of four Americans expect prices to rise as Trump's tariffs kick in, according to a Reuters/Ipsos poll.

Consumers stocking up

Chipmaker Micron told customers it will impose a tariff-related surcharge starting on Wednesday, while U.S. clothing retailers said they are delaying orders and holding off on hiring. Running shoes made in Vietnam that now retail for $155 US will cost $220 US when Trump's 46 per cent tariff on that country takes effect, according to an industry group.

Consumers are stocking up while they can. "I'm buying double of whatever — beans, canned goods, flour, you name it," Thomas Jennings, 53, said as he pushed a shopping cart through the aisles of a New Jersey Walmart.

Stock markets found a firmer footing on Tuesday after a gut-wrenching few days for investors, which prompted some business leaders, including those close to Trump, to urge the president to reverse course.

European shares bounced off 14-month lows after four straight sessions of heavy selling, while global oil prices steadied after falling to four-year lows. Wall Street's main indexes had posted gains earlier in the day, but fell after the White House said the tariffs on China would take effect.

https://www.cbc.ca/news/world/trump-tar ... -1.7505028

[ti-amie]

Germany is storing over $109 billion worth of gold in the New York Federal Reserve’s vaults, but some officials in the country are beginning to call for less trust and more verification.

Michael Jäger of the European Taxpayers’ Association – a federation of 29 national taxpayers associations throughout Europe – is urging Germany to immediately obtain its gold from the USA amid tension between the White House and the US, Bild reports.

Says Jäger,

“The Bundesbank and the German government must demonstrate foresight in this phase of global power shifts and immediately retrieve German gold from the USA. Especially at a time when Berlin and Brussels are discussing immense new debt, we need immediate access to all gold reserves in an emergency.”

Jäger says that at a minimum, Germany should at least be able to “physically inspect” the gold bars.

European Member of Parliament Markus Ferber echoes Jäger’s sentiments, telling Bild:

“I demand regular checks of Germany’s gold reserves. Official representatives of the Bundesbank must personally count the bars and document their results.”

Meanwhile, lawmaker Marco Wanderwitz says Germany’s CDU (Christian Democratic Union) is advocating that Germany needs to “either check regularly or retrieve the gold.”

The Germans’ calls for inspecting the gold reserves comes as Elon Musk, tech billionaire and close aid of President Trump, is suggesting that an audit of Fort Knox in Kentucky be “livestreamed.”

The last time Fort Knox was audited was in September of 1974.

In a statement to Bild, a spokseperson for Germany’s Bundesbank quoted and reiterated a Feburary statement from the bank’s President, Joachim Nagel.

“We have (…) absolutely no doubt that with the Fed in New York we have a trustworthy, reliable partner in the storage of our gold reserves.”

https://dailyhodl.com/2025/04/06/109000 ... ed-report/

[ponchi101]

I understand why Venezuela had its gold in Switzerland. Any of our presidents would have switched them for aluminum bars.
But why would Germany keep its gold in the USA? They are a civilized country.

[Owendonovan]

I understand why Venezuela had its gold in Switzerland. Any of our presidents would have switched them for aluminum bars.
But why would Germany keep its gold in the USA? They are a civilized country.

Total Reserves: Germany's gold reserves are estimated at around 3,350 tonnes.
US Federal Reserve Storage: A substantial portion of Germany's gold reserves, roughly 1,200 tonnes, is stored at the Federal Reserve in New York.
Other Storage Locations: Over half of Germany's gold reserves are stored in Frankfurt and outside the US, while the remainder is held at the Bank of England.

[ponchi101]

Thanks for the info.
But, why? Why not keep it all in Germany? That is what puzzles me.

[Owendonovan]

Germany's central bank, the Bundesbank, holds the second-largest gold reserves in the world, after the United States.

I will say the more AI is generating the answers to these questions, I find searches are more limited. A little more difficult to go as deep as I feel I once could.

If I had a bunch of gold in this country, I'd take it back as well. Used to be ok when we were friendly. That changed quick. Noted.

[ti-amie]

Asian Markets so far today (It's tomorrow there.)

Stock Indexes
SYMBOL PRICE CHANGE %CHANGE
*SHANGHAI
3,136.23 -9.32 -0.3
*NIKKEI
32,147.04 -865.54 -2.62
*HSI
19,789.85 -337.83 -1.68
*SHENZHEN
9,445.77 +21.09 +0.22
*KOSPI
2,322.45 -11.78 -0.5
*ASX 200
7,426.9 -83.1 -1.11
*NIFTY 50
22,535.85 UNCH UNCH
*STI
3,416.15 -53.32 -1.54
*SGX-CNBC China Growth
1,320.59 -3.88 -0.29
*CNBC 100
8,995.06 -131.25 -1.44
NZX 50
11,831.17 -60.27 -0.51
*.SETI
1,074.59 UNCH UNCH
*MALAYSIA
1,422.32 -21.24 -1.47
*TAIWAN
18,006.88 -453.07 -2.45

[Suliso]

Swiss franc at a five year high vs dollar right now (1.19 USD/CHF). Now only behind a very brief all time peak (1.27) in 2011. When I moved to Switzerland in the summer of 2009 it was only 0.94 dollars per franc.

Euro is up as well, but still far below a five year peak.

[ti-amie]

Some things that were posted before he blinked.

[ti-amie]

US Markets at close today

SYMBOL PRICE CHANGE %CHANGE

DJIA
40,608.45 +2,962.86 +7.87
NASDAQ
17,124.97 +1,857.06 +12.16
S&P 500
5,456.9 +474.13 +9.52