Meltdown
The market is talking.
The S&P 500 is on track for its worst weekly losses since the Silicon Valley Bank crisis collapsed two years ago. And investors wiped out profits for the post-election day as President Trump's dizzying start-stop tariff policies burn volatility in the trading floor and in the boardroom.
Another test is scheduled for employment reports this morning at 8:30am. It is expected to show solid employment growth despite federal workers supporting mass layoffs. Economic alarm bells are ringing elsewhere. Two longtime market watchers Mohamed El-Erian and Ed Yardeni are watching the recession as Yardeni warns about a “custom-related recession.”
These jitters clash with concerns about changing White House policies. The biggest moves — fund freezes, government work na, engage in trade wars — have made it difficult for world leaders and corporate chiefs to decipher Trump's final game. Ford CEO Jim Farley only looks at “costs and confusion” from the tariffs.
summary: Yesterday, Trump gave Mexico and Canada a partial tariff reprieve – exempts taxation for a month on products covered by the US-Canada agreement, Trump signed in his first term. Perhaps Trump and his trading team show that they don't want to be too upset, but that buys time to negotiate the armistice.
Traders still press the sell button. Trump, who has long cited stock market rally as a sign that his policies are at work, has denounced “globalists” for tanking. “I don't even look at the market because the US is very strong at what's going on here,” he told reporters in the Oval Office yesterday.
Tariffs and tensions are rising. The collection of aluminum and steel cards will come into effect next week, and could result in tariffs on agricultural products and cars next month. Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau added more anticipation and announced measures to address US imports, ominously predicting.
That led Treasury Secretary Scott Bescent to call Trudeau “Nucskar” at an event at a New York Economic Club yesterday. Meanwhile, some Canadian retailers have pulled California wine, Kentucky bourbon and other American products from store shelves. Lawson Whiting, the CEO of the company that owns Tennessee whisky brand Jack Daniels, said in a call from an analyst this week:
Another data point to consider: China, another country on Trump's tariff hit list, reported a $540 billion spike in exports today. This shows that tariff fears are scrambling global trade with businesses and scrambling global trade to limit hits.
This is what's going on
President Trump tells the Cabinet Chief, not Elon Musk, to take the lead in recruitment. The president changed the tack to efforts to streamline his signature after mass shootings and unorthodox mandates from government efficiency. The cabinet secretary “can be very accurate about who will remain and who will go,” Trump announced on his true social platform, showing a potentially significant change from Musk's rapid fire strategy.
Trump's fundraising freeze is hit by obstacles. Yesterday, a federal judge blocked the president from retaining billions of dollars worth of funds approved by state agencies and government. The ruling directs all federal agencies to continue flowing grants, and reverses the White House directive from January. This follows yesterday's Supreme Court decision, which rejects Trump's request to freeze foreign aid.
Stephen A. Smith can talk about politics after signing a new $100 million contract. Disney's 5-year contract with ESPN, First reported by Athletic, he becomes one of the highest paying numbers on television. Smith has been an NBA commentator for most of his career, but in recent years he has spoken openly about a wide range of topics, criticising both Trump and the Democrats. That said, the New Deal means he will become a regular on ESPN's “First Take” show, but it's not much visible elsewhere in the network.
Trump's call to abolish Biden-era Chips Acts gives him a cold shoulder from Republicans. GOP lawmakers point out that the money is already spent, defending the Biden administration program as a way to strengthen national security by encouraging foreign manufacturers to build it in the United States. Republicans said they are willing to work with Trump to make a difference, but they won't be scrapping it completely.
Trade drought and musk M.&A. Dominate the meeting
M.&A. For those attending Industry's Big Conference, drinks and fun times are free to flow at the cocktail reception and dinner in New Orleans this week. Similarly, there are complaints that the transaction does not do the same thing.
Much of the chatter at Tulane University's Corporate Law Institute focused on corporate leaders who were largely hesitant to attack major takeovers due to market uncertainty unfolding in the early days of the second Trump administration.
“There's currently a lack of predictability.” Scott Bershay, partner of law firm Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison, said on stage yesterday. The CEO recently told him he didn't want to trade $20 billion just to see the market fall the next day. (Scott, please tell me more!)
Personally, lawyers, PR consultants and others have told the dealbook the same thing. The slowdown had little to do with the politics of deal production under the Trump administration, and had more to do with the flagellated market and his wider concerns about the tariffs.
Some say there's a reason why things want to pick up, Audra Cohen, a partner at law firm Sullivan & Cromwell, said at the stage that it was about $3.4 trillion as of December 31, focusing on the moderate decline in interest rates and the enormous amount of cash on the corporate balance sheet. Barshay added, “It feels like a pause to keep things a little more stable.”
But the bigger debate was about Delaware. As DealBook wrote, the law was intended to strengthen the status of the first state as the foundation of America's preferred homeland.
It gave some excitement about the merits of the bill known as SB 21. Corporate lawyers defended it as a way to persuade the corporation. “It's very important that this law passes,” Barcy said.
Those representing shareholder plaintiffs lamented the bill. “We're letting go of the Delaware courts,” said Ned Weinberger of Labaton Keller Shute Arrow.
And the company representing investors who challenged Bernstein Litwitz Burger & Grossman's Jeroen van Kwawigen – Elon Musk's Big Tesla Payday, said that such laws were not necessary. “It hurts the Delaware franchise,” he said.
Bonus: Of course Musk thought of the discourse. Two trucks parked outside the hotel where the meeting was held criticised the bill and displayed a digital billboard tying it to a mask. Repeated criticism of Delaware's denial of his payments led to others considering leaving the nation.
“Don't let billionaires take the Delaware economy take their chainsaws,” read one of the signs featuring the image of Musk exercising their chainsaws.
StubHub will finally see the public call
The IPO continues to roll. Ticket software company StubHub has been in preliminary discussions with bankers about holding its first public offer by the end of the year.
StubHub said it aims to raise more than $1 billion in public offerings at Thursday's Investors Meeting, one attendee said it aims to raise more than $1 billion in the public offering. Despite the rocky market conditions, we will join Discord and CoreWeave in pursuit of IPOs.
Investors were hoping for a smash hit 2025 for deals and public under the Trump administrationBut the opposition happened. The president's trade war led to market volatility and an uncertain business environment.
It took StubHub a long time to get here. Founded in 2000 by Eric Baker and Jeff Fleur, you can purchase tickets in the secondary market for everything from concerts to sporting events. Baker left the company amid tensions with Fluhr and founded Viagogo in 2006, a competitor focused on the European market. Baker eventually purchased StubHub through his company Viagogo. The contract closed last year and operates under the name StubHub Holdings.
The company considered an IPO last year At the $16.5 billion valuation, those with knowledge of consultations said, but shelved the idea amid a lack of public lists of similar companies.
That updated IPO plan is because ticket companies have slowed sales growth as fans cool at concerts after a surge in initial profits after sales. Shares in Live Nation, which owns Ticketmaster, have risen about 1.5% this year, surpassing the S&P 500.
Quiz Time, the magnificent Seven Edition
The magnificent Seven is something other than this year.
Since Microsoft-backed Openai introduced ChatGPT in November 2022, groupings have been in tears, with investors catching AI Fever.
However, its trade appears to be unlocked as a combination of factors such as the arrival of Deepseek, a competitor of low-cost Chinese chatbots. The fear of tariffs and economic growth. Investors escape to bring together European stocks – it appears to be making Mega Cup US tech stocks shine.
Last week, the epic seven fell into correctional territory. That is, seven stocks collectively fell by more than 10%.
question: There is one factor in this septoplet that remains positive for this year's stock. Which one is it?
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Amazon
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apple
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Google Alphabet
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Meta
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Microsoft
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nvidia
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Tesla
answer: Meta. Shares in the social media giant fell 4.3% yesterday, but still rose about 5% in 2025.
Speed is read
transaction
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Sycamore Partners has agreed to private Pharmacy Chain, which has acquired the Walgreens Boots Alliance and is struggling with as part of a $10 billion deal. (NYT)
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Citadel Securities reportedly increased its record revenues to a record $9.7 billion, stacking up European giants like Deutsche Bank and Barclays. (Bloomberg)
Politics, policy, regulation
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Republican senators will introduce a “off” bill that calls for loose rules on who can get a bank account after accusing President Trump of refusing to do business with his supporters. (WSJ)
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The Democrat senator is asking regulators to investigate whether Elon Musk is using his relationship to bully marketers using Trump to buy ads on the X platform. (WSJ)
Best remaining
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