What we’re reading (4/22)
“Dow Jumps 1,000 Points Tuesday To Snap Four-Day String Of Losses” (CNBC). “Stocks rallied Tuesday on hopes that U.S.-China trade tensions could ease soon, as investors recovered from the steep declines suffered in the previous session…The major averages spiked on news that Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent told a group of investors Tuesday that there ‘will be a de-escalation’ in the trade war with China. ‘No one thinks the current status quo is sustainable,’ he said during a meeting with investors hosted by JPMorgan Chase, according to a person in the room.”
“Trump Says He Has ‘No Intention’ Of Firing Fed Chair Powell” (Wall Street Journal). “President Trump said he is not planning to fire Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell and he signaled that tariffs on China could be lowered, prompting relief from investors who had been spooked by the White House’s aggressive moves in recent weeks. ‘I would like to see him be a little more active in terms of his idea to lower interest rates…but, no, I have no intention to fire him,’ he told reporters in the Oval Office.”
“Futures Rise After Trump Comments On China, Powell” (Yahoo! Finance). “Futures for the major stock indexes opened higher after President Trump said he is not planning on firing Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell and that tariffs on goods from China will ultimately be less than 145%.”
“S&P 500 Bounce Has Traders Fearing Another Head-Fake Market” (Bloomberg). “Wall Street pros have a warning for investors eager to jump back into the stock market as it rebounds Tuesday: Watch out for headfakes in the middle of a longer-term decline…’I think what we’re seeing now is about as myopic a market as we’ve ever seen,’ said Michael Kantrowitz, chief investment strategist at Piper Sandler & Co.”
“Elon Musk Says He Will Spend Less Time in Washington as Tesla’s Profit Drops 71%” (New York Times). “Elon Musk, Tesla’s chief executive, said on Tuesday that he would spend less time in Washington working for President Trump after the automaker reported a profit drop of 71 percent in the first three months of the year. Mr. Musk told Wall Street analysts in a conference call that he would continue to spend ‘a day or two per week’ on Washington matters, probably for the duration of Mr. Trump’s presidency. The billionaire executive is one of Mr. Trump’s closest confidants and has played a leading role in the president’s efforts to slash government spending and cut tens of thousands of federal government jobs.”
