🧠 US stock market loses $5.28T in value in three weeks

🏛️ Financial News

• .Administration 🏛️ US Senate passes bill late Friday night to avert shutdown, House Democrats turn on Schumer – Rueters: The US Senate passed a stopgap spending bill, averting a partial government shutdown, after Democrats backed down in a standoff driven by anger over President Donald Trump's campaign to slash the federal workforce.

• Consumer Sentiment 🛍 Consumer sentiment index drops to a 29-month low in March to 57.9, worse than expected, as uncertainty rises due to tariffs – Reuters: The Univ. of Michigan’s Survey of Consumers was expected to show a reading of 63.2, showing the burst of optimism after Donald Trump won the presidential election has evaporated. Americans worry about rising inflation due to the president’s tariffs, and are put off by economic uncertainty.

• US Tariffs 🚢 US wine shops and importers say Trump’s threatened 200% tariff on European wines would kill demand – Reuters: Donald Trump threatened a 200% tariff on European wine, Champagne and spirits if the European Union goes forward with a planned 50% tariff on American whiskey. Wine sellers and importers said a tariff of that size would essentially shut down the European wine business in the U.S.

• US Markets 🗽 US stock market loses $5.28T in value in three weeks – CNBC: The S&P 500′s rapid 10% decline from a record high into correction territory has wiped out trillions of dollars in market value. According to FactSet, the index’s market value at its peak on Feb. 19 was $52.06T, with this week’s decline down to $46.78T.

• US Markets 🗽 Stocks rebound Friday after S&P 500 correction, safe-haven gold touches record – Reuters: US equities followed European stocks higher to end a bumpy week on a positive note, although safe-haven gold hit a record high with investors still showing some signs of anxiety about the economic impact of tariffs.

• Gold Market 🥇 Gold pops above $3,000/oz for first time in historic safe-haven rally – Rueters: Gold broke through the key $3,000 barrier for the first time as investors piled on to a historic rally in the safe-haven asset to seek cover from economic uncertainty sparked by U.S. President Donald Trump's tariff war.

• US Discretionary 🛍 US consumers are starting to crack as tariffs add to inflation, recession concerns across retail and travel – CNBC: Amid the US trade war, the CEO’s at Delta, Walmart and Dick’s Sporting Goods struck cautious tones as they brace for a slowdown in demand, leading them to cut guidance or provide weaker-than-expected outlooks. Compounding the issue include a slowing job market, persistent inflation and sliding consumer confidence.

🌎 Global Markets

• European Markets 🏰 European markets dip as Trump vows to respond to EU’s counter tariffs – CNBC: European markets respond to escalating tariff anxieties as Canada and the EU announced countermeasures to the US’ 25% steel and aluminum tariffs.

• European Tariffs 🚢 Almonds, whiskey, auto parts: EU’s retaliatory tariffs set up US states and local products as the biggest losers – CNBC: Amid the tit-for-tat tariff threats, products like Tennessee whiskey, California almonds, and rearview mirrors made in Michigan are acutely exposed to economic harm from a European market sales decline.

• European Discretionary 🚙 BMW posts 37% drop in annual net profit, warns of ‘subdued’ Chinese demand – CNBC: BMW’s net profits slumped by more than a third in 2024, flagging “continuing subdued demand in the Chinese market.” Net profit for the year fell by an annual 36.9% to 7.68 billion euros ($8.32 billion), in line with an LSEG forecast. The car maker said that it expects an earnings margin for cars of around 5% to 7% in 2025, compared with 6.3% achieved last year, but noted the negative impact of tariffs in the year ahead.

• German Markets 🍺 Beyond defense: Stocks set to gain from Germany’s economic revolution – Euronews: Germany's fiscal shift will drive billions into infrastructure, energy, and housing, boosting eurozone growth. Goldman Sachs highlights 12 Buy-rated European stocks set to benefit from this economic transformation. 

🚀 Magnificent 7

• Mag7 Sentiment 🚀 Magnificent 7 stocks aren't the only high-flying tech names getting hit hardest in this sell-off – Yahoo! Finance: Netflix , AMD , Micron , Dell , and Palantir , among others, are some of the names that have been washed out in the midst of this latest market rout.

• $NVDA 🧇 Quantum Computing Stocks Jump Ahead Of Nvidia GTC Conference Next Week – Investors.com: Quantum computing stocks, led by D-Wave Quantum, popped on Friday continuing their roller coaster ride in 2025. While there was no fresh quantum computing news, Nvidia hosts its GTC conference next week.

• $TSLA 🔌 Elon Musk’s SpaceX, Tesla lobby Trump trade representative on tariffs – CNBC: SpaceX and Tesla submitted letters lobbying US trade representative on the Trump administration’s tariff policies. The letters come as by billionaire DOGE chief Elon Musk oversees efforts to slash federal government spending and employee head count, in parallel to President Trump imposing stiff tariffs on China, Mexico and Canada, with China and Canada firing back with retaliatory tariffs.

• $AAPL 🍎 Leaked Apple meeting shows how dire the Siri situation really is – The Verge: The iPhone-maker is aiming to get Siri’s more personalized AI-powered features announced last June into iOS 19. But it’s not guaranteed.

• $GOOG 🔍 Google officially dumping Assistant for Gemini – The Verge: 9to5Google reports the company will be upgrading more users from Google Assistant to Gemini over the coming months. The classic Google Assistant “will no longer be accessible on most mobile devices (or available for new mobile app downloads) at some point later this year.

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🚀 Artificial Intelligence

• China AI 🐉 From chatbots to intelligent toys: How AI is booming in China – BBC: China is embracing AI in its bid to become a tech superpower by 2030. DeepSeek, the breakthrough Chinese chatbot that caught the world's attention in January, was just the first hint of that ambition. Money is pouring into AI businesses seeking more capital, fueling domestic competition, with more than 4,500 firms developing and selling AI.

  • rest of the world: China’s AI frenzy: DeepSeek is already everywhere, from cars, phones, even hospitals

  • Reuters: China to crack down on stock market fake news as AI spurs misinformation

• $INTC 🧇 Intel’s New CEO Gets Pay Package Valued at About $69M – Reuters: Incoming Intel ceo Lip-Bu Tan, who was named to the position this week, will receive compensation valued at about $69M if he reaches targets over the coming years, with a $1M base salary.

•  $NOW 🦾 ServiceNow adds AI muscle with record $2.9B Moveworks deal – Reuters: Enterprise IT operations software maker said it would buy AI firm Moveworks in its the largest-ever acquisition. The rapid rise of generative AI has pushed companies, such as ServiceNow and Salesforce, to augment products, striking new deals to stay competitive in a fast-evolving software market.

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💱 Crypto Currencies

• Administration 🏛️ AI & Crypto czar David Sacks sold $200M in crypto-related holdings before taking White House job, ethics memo says – CNBC: The disclosure shows Sacks liquidated stakes in over $200M in cryptocurrencies and digital asset-related investments. Meanwhile, President Trump and top adviser Elon Musk continues to own massive stakes in companies and projects that can potentially benefit from government policies.

• Brokerages 💱 Binance token rises following report that Trump family has discussed stake in the crypto exchange – Coindesk: Binance’s BNB token climbed after Wall Street Journal reported that the Trump family is in talks to secure a financial stake in Binance’s US arm. WSJ said Binance first approached Trump allies last year as part of a broader effort to regain access to the U.S. market; such an arrangement would link them to a crypto brokerage that pleaded guilty to violating US anti-money laundering laws in 2023.

• Investments 💰 Abu Dhabi-backed investor buys into Binance with $2B of crypto – Coindesk: Abu Dhabi-backed investment group MGX has made a $2B cryptocurrency investment in Binance, deepening ties between the world's largest crypto exchange and the United Arab Emirates.

🏖️ Retirement

• Online Scams 🕵️‍♂️ The FTC says Americans lost $5.7B to investment scams in 2024. Here’s how to protect yourself – CNBC: The typical victim lost more than $9,000 on average. “Pig-butchering scams” are a common investment fraud whereby scammers develop a relationship with victims, entice them to invest money and then swindle them.

• Social Security 🏛️ As Social Security faces an uncertain future, some question whether the program should be privatized – CNBC: The Trump administrations plans to overhaul federal programs has prompted new focus on Social Security’s future, with some experts saying privatizing the program could help provide better returns.

• Millennials 🥑 Millennials are getting richer faster than previous generations. Here’s how they’re doing it.  – MarketWatch: Millennials have outpaced older generations in building wealth since the COVID-19 pandemic.

• Great Wealth Transfer : Women 👩 Studies show women will get most of the $124T ‘great wealth transfer’ – CNBC: As the greatest generational wealth transfer in history changes hands thru 2048, studies show women stand to benefit disproportionately, studies show.

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It was another tough week across the markets but hopefully next week’s Federal Research meeting will provide some guidance as we move forward. Be sure to diversify your portfolio and understand risk-tolerance and time-horizon.

We’ll be back next Saturday morning to recap the week’s financial news.

Thanks to Empower for sponsoring.

✨ Happy Unprompting,

Rawee
[email protected]

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