MARKET RECAP

• US stocks were off by 1.14% in a shortened trading week due to Easter.
• Trump’s haphazard trade policy was on full display. Last Friday, it was said that smartphones, computers, and other products would be exempt from tariffs. But over the weekend, some officials said that was wrong.
• On Monday, Trump said was considering pausing some auto tariffs. Hasn’t he said that before?
• On Wednesday, the administration announced new US restrictions on exports to China, resulting in a 3.1% loss for the Nasdaq and 2.2% for the S&P 500.
• China told its airlines not to order planes from Boeing.
• The US dollar continues to weaken, and the American brand continues to suffer. The amount of damage Trump is causing is enormous. He has this one crazy economist, Peter Navarro, who is just blind to the damage he is causing. The irony is that the big winner in all of this might be China, and maybe the rest of the world.
• Look at the chart below, which shows the performance of the Vanguard All-World Index (x-USA) versus the Vanugard Total Stock Market Index (the US total market). You see the international stocks breaking their negative trend to the upside right when Trump started getting crazy about the tariffs (late January / early February).

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