🧠 Who is going to pay for Trump’s auto tariffs?

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🏛️ Financial News

• Auto Tariffs 🚗 Here are the automobile makes and models that would be the most affected by Trump's tariffs  – NBC News: Nearly half of all vehicles sold in the US are assembled abroad. And most have foreign components.

• Auto Tariffs 🚗 Trump warns US carmakers not to take advantage of tariffs by hiking prices on consumers – Fortune via Yahoo! Finance: The Trump administration believes auto execs could be tempted to use the tariffs as cover to push through their own hefty price hikes without risking the competitiveness of their US-built vehicles.

• US Tariffs 🦅 Trump says he may give China reduction in tariffs to get TikTok deal done – Reuters: Ahead of an April 5 deadline to find a non-Chinese buyer, President Trump said he would be willing to reduce tariffs on China to get a deal done with TikTok's Chinese parent ByteDance to sell the short video app used by 170M Americans.

• Consumer Report 🛒 PCE shows prices increased more than expected in February – Yahoo! Finance: The latest reading of the Federal Reserve's preferred inflation gauge showed prices increased more than expected in February as inflation remained above the Fed's 2% target.

• Analyst Sentiment 🔮 The probability of a recession is approaching 50%, Deutsche Bank markets survey finds – Reuters: Chances that the US is heading for a recession are about 43%, raising more questions about the direction of the economy.

• Consumer Sentiment 🛒 Consumer confidence in where the economy is headed hits 12-year low Consumer sentiment worsens as inflation fears grow – CNBC: The final version of the Univ. of Michigan’s closely watched Survey of Consumers showed a reading of 57.0 for the month, down 11.9% from February and 28.2% from a year ago. Inflation fears drove much of the downturn.

• Gen Z Sentiment 🙃 #RecessionIndicator: Young Americans are losing confidence in the economy, and it shows online – CNBC: Young people on social media are pointing out cultural and social trends they see in everyday life as signs of a forthcoming recession.

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🌎 Global Markets

• Europe Tariffs 🏰 EU Commission preparing 'well calibrated' retaliation to US tariffs – Euronews: As the US rolls out new tariffs, the European Commission is preparing its response. The latest measures will factor in the car tariffs, along with the reciprocal tariffs expected next week, as trade tensions between Brussels and Washington escalate.

• Canada Tariffs 🍁Canadians pull back on US trips, threatening to widen $50B travel deficit – CNBC: Dropping trips from Canada to the US threaten to widen the US travel and tourism deficit. Canada is the top source of international visitors to the US.

• China Trade 🐉 China ready to work with EU against protectionism, Vice Premier says – Reuters: China is ready to work with the European Union to properly handle economic and trade disputes, and jointly "resist unilateralism and protectionism", Chinese Vice Premier He Lifeng told the bloc's trade chief in Beijing, state-run Xinhua reported.

• German Tariffs 🍺 Germany leads defiance to Trump car tariffs, saying it 'will not give in' – BBC: Germany has said it "will not give in" and that Europe must "respond firmly" as US President Trump targets imported cars and car parts with a 25% tax in his latest tariffs.

• Emerging Markets 🌏 Bets on US Weakness Are Fueling a Rally in Emerging Markets – Bloomberg via Yahoo! Finances: Some investors are betting the good times are only just beginning for emerging markets, as portfolio managers scooping up everything from Latin American currencies to Eastern European bonds.

🌎 Stock Market

• US Auto Tariffs 💼 Hyundai unveils $21B US expansion as Trump tariffs loom – Reuters: The South Korean car maker unveiled the investment just days before President Donald Trump imposed new tariffs on trading partners. The plan includes a new $5.8bn steel plant in Louisiana, expansion of vehicle production in Alabama, and investments in autonomous driving and AI.

• $LULU 🎽 Lululemon shares drop more than 10% as CEO says inflation, economic concerns are weighing on spending – Rueters: The athleticwear company beat earnings and revenue expectations for Q4, but issued 2025 guidance disappointing analysts. CEO Calvin McDonald said that consumers are spending less due to economic and inflation concerns, resulting in lower U.S. traffic at Lululemon and industry peers.

• $NVO 💊 Novo Nordisk defends disappointing next-gen obesity drug: ‘It will be an important product’ – CNBC: Novo Nordisk has defended disappointing trial results for its much-hyped next generation obesity drug candidate CagriSema, insisting it will be an “important” weight loss treatment.

• $APP 🎯 AppLovin shares plunge 20% after third short-selling firm slams company’s ad technology – Reuters: Shares of AppLovin sank more than 20% after short-selling firm Muddy Waters went after the company’s ad technology. Muddy Waters alleged that AppLovin’s ad tactics “systematically” violate app stores’ terms of service through “impermissibly extracting” user data.

• $BYDD 🔌 Chinese EV giant BYD outpaces Tesla with annual sales of more than $107B – Reuters: China’s BYD reported annual revenue of 777B yuan for 2024, leapfrogging Tesla as competition between the two EV rivals heats up. The filing comes shortly after BYD announced a new battery technology that it claims can charge EVs almost as quickly as it takes to fill a gasoline car. 

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🚀 Artificial Intelligence

• $CRWV 🧇 CoreWeave valued at $23B in muted Nasdaq debut – Reuters: CoreWeave's shares closed flat after opening nearly 3% below their offer price in its Nasdaq debut, giving the Nvidia-backed AI infrastructure firm a valuation of $23B on a fully diluted basis. The lackluster performance could crush hopes of a meaningful recovery in IPOs, especially when equity markets are grappling with tariff-related turmoil.

• Market Sentiment 🌡️  As AI bubble fears grow, the ultra low-cost large language model breakthroughs are booming – Reuters: OpenAI is reportedly raising more money at an even higher valuation of $300B but fears of a bubble in big tech stocks based on gen AI euphoria have dented the market leaders. The emergence of China’s DeepSeek is a primary cause, and now the billions in AI data center buildouts are under scrutiny.

• MSFT 👨‍💻 Microsoft pulls back from more data center leases in US and Europe, analysts say – Data Center Dynamics: According to TD Cowen analysts, Microsoft has abandoned data center projects set to use 2 gigawatts of electricity in the US and Europe in the last six months due to an oversupply relative to its current demand forecast. The tech giant's withdrawal from new capacity leasing was largely led by the decision not to support additional training workloads from ChatGPT maker OpenAI.

• $BABA 🧧 Alibaba chairman Joe Tsai: See signs of AI bubble forming in the U.S. – Reuters: Alibaba co-founder Joe Tsai warned of an AI bubble in the U.S. he sees signs of being formed. As expectations for AI development and America’s lead in the AI race continue to be recalibrated, the repercussions have reached far and wide, from calls for even tougher chip embargos to slow China, to on the other side, venture capitalists pouring even money into Chinese AI developers.

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💱 Crypto Currencies

• Regulations ⚖️ Crypto.com says SEC's investigation has been shut with no plan to pursue charges – The Block: Crypto.com said that the SEC will not file an enforcement action against the company. The SEC had sued the cryto brokerage firm back in October after it said it received a Wells notice from the agency, meaning that the SEC could be bringing charges.

  o CNBC: Trump pardons three BitMEX crypto exchange co-founders, and ex-employee

  o Decrypt: SEC Officially Drops Cases Against Kraken, ConsenSys, and Cumberland DRW

• $BTC ₿ Bitcoin price rally stalls as gold nears record $3.1K – CoinTelegraph: Bitcoin again fails to copy a gold rally as risk assets sag over US trade tariffs, but traders see BTC price gains taking the market past $90,000 next.

• $SOL 🟣 SOL climbs as BlackRock expands $1.7B tokenized money market fund to Solana – CNBC: Solana’s SOL token climbs as BlackRock expanded its $1.7B tokenized money market fund to the network.

• $GME 🎮 GameStop echoes Strategy in doubling down on bitcoin, expects to close more stores in 2025 – Rueters: GameStop’s board has unanimously approved the addition of bitcoin as a treasury reserve asset. The decision echoes that of Strategy (formerly Microstrategy), the largest corporate holder of bitcoin, to emphasize its commitment to the cryptocurrency space.

🏖️ Retirement

• Wealth Management 💰 Robinhood Offers Retail Investors Wealth Management Services – PYMENTS: The financial services company launched “Robinhood Strategies,” a wealth management service for its premium “Gold”, targeting its less-wealthy clients at a 0.25% annual fee (capped at $250).

• US Tariffs 🛒 Six things that could get more expensive under Trump tariffs – BBC: Economists have warned these tariffs – and those introduced in response by other countries – could drive cars, alcohol, fuel, maple syrup and avocado prices up for American consumers.

• Auto Tariffs 🚗 Here’s one way to help offset the costs on Trump’s 25% imported cars and parts tariffss  – CNBC: You may not have control over trade policy, but you do have influence over how much you pay for a new or used car, especially when it comes to financing.

• Portfolio Strategy 📊 How the bucketing strategy protects retiree portfolios during a market downturn, experts say – BBC: During your early retirement years, “sequence of returns risk” could harm your portfolio when withdrawals coincide with a market dip. The bucketing strategy divides your portfolio into the timeline to spend the money, including a cash bucket for short-term expenses. When the stock market drops, you can use the cash bucket to cover living expenses and preserve your nest egg, experts say.

• IRA Changes 🌴 This inherited IRA rule change for 2025 could trigger a 25% tax penalty for certain heirs – CNBC: Since 2020, most non-spouse heirs must empty inherited IRA accounts by the 10th year after the original account owner’s death. Starting in 2025, these heirs must start yearly required minimum distributions if the original account owner had reached their RMD age before death..

• 📧 Subscribe to Great Wealth Xfer Covering the global $84T wealth transfer from Boomers to Millennials and Gen Z. (Coming Soon)

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

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✨ Happy Unprompting,

Rawee
[email protected]

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