It has been a tumultuous week on Wall Street – again.
Investors, spooked by President Donald Trump‘s criticism of Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell and his escalating trade war, initiated a selloff on Monday.
But, on Tuesday, despite reports of the worst April for the Dow Jones since the Great Depression, stocks bounced back, with the index soaring 1,000 points and rallying further on Wednesday.
By Thursday the Nasdaq, Dow and S&P 500 – that’s the stock market index that tracks the performance of 500 of the largest publicly traded companies in the country – were all seeing gains for the third consecutive day.
And on Friday, as of this writing, the market is down slightly – but still up over the last five days.
I understand that this volatility, propelled by the uncertainty of tariffs, stokes fears and raises warnings of recession, but it’s all very overblown. US markets have not experience a true correction in which stocks fall by 20 percent or more.
That said, Trump has the power to bring more stability to the markets and I think he’s moving in that direction.
Here are three things the president can do to calm things down.
Trump wrote the art of the deal, but now he needs to pick one – European Union, England, Canada or Mexico – and get it done.
Vice President JD Vance (left) met with India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi (right) on April 21.
Make a deal, any deal
Trump wrote the art of the deal, but now he needs to pick one and get it done.
Whether with the European Union, England, Canada, India or Mexico, just one successful negotiation will be a roadmap for future trade talks, serving as an example of how these agreements can be successfully initiated and completed.
And it could be a reality soon.
While negotiations with our neighbors to the North will not begin until after the Canadian elections on April 28, Vice President JD Vance’s visit to India this week is a promising sign that resolution to this trade war is on the horizon.
According to the White House, deals with multiple countries are already underway.
During Tuesday’s press briefing, Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said that the trade team has received ’18 proposals on paper’ and was meeting with 34 nations this week.
Norwegian Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Støre was at the White House Thursday.
‘I think we will have no problem… whatsoever with Norway,’ the president said. Notably, Norway chose not to retaliate after Trump imposed reciprocal tariffs on the country earlier this month.
These resolutions are imperative as they will provide ammunition in the real trade conflict against China. A regime which, as I have previously written for the Daily Mail, steals the world’s intellectual property and defies World Trade Organization policy in ways that can no longer be allowed.
Trump has already imposed 145% tariffs on China and threatened to delist Chinese companies from the US stock exchange. And, I believe President Xi Jinping is feeling the heat.
Isolate China
Make no mistake: the face-off between the US and China is about more than just tariffs.
It’s economic warfare. The Chinese Communist regime wants to replace the US as the world superpower.
But China cannot sustain its blockbuster economic growth if it is cut out of the largest consumer market in the world – the United States.
Trump is looking to lean on that lever.
Once negotiations with America’s trading partners are wrapped up – namely, Europe, Canada and Mexico – their combined economic strength can be turned against the Chinese regime. And it won’t be pretty.
Trump has already imposed 145% tariffs on China and threatened to delist Chinese companies from the US stock exchange. And, I believe President Xi Jinping is feeling the heat.
I don’t care that China denies that they are in trade talks with the Trump administration. They’re talking… because they have no other choice.
Now, none of this is comfortable and Trump will have to contend with domestic pressure to de-escalate hostilities.
Executives for Walmart, Target and Home Depot met at the White House on Monday, presumably to discuss Trump’s tariffs plans. If I had to guess, these behemoth retailers are asking him to end the trade war and the president is asking for more time.
And, of course, China has warned other countries not to cooperate with the US. Earlier this week the Chinese Ministry of Commerce released an ominous statement warning, ‘Appeasement will not bring peace and compromise will not earn respect.’
It all begs the question: do Western countries want to align with America and NATO, or with a country that is neither democratic nor trustworthy?
I think the answer is clear.
There’s been a lot of jawboning about firing ‘Mr. Too Late’ – Trump’s bombastic moniker for Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell.
Keep The Fed Free
There’s been a lot of jawboning about firing ‘Mr. Too Late’ – Trump’s bombastic moniker for Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell.
Every White House tries to convince the Federal Reserve to lower interest rates – it’s a tale as old as time – but it never works. And the markets – understandably – want an independent Federal Reserve free from the control of any individual president, with one purpose above all else: low inflation and full employment. That is a bedrock of America’s economic engine – and Trump knows that.
Indeed, this hyperbole doesn’t serve the president and it isn’t helping market stabilization.
But I’ve learned to distinguish ‘the noise’ from ‘the signal,’ when it comes to this president.
He seeks to influence the Fed – as all presidents have – but not to control it.
Trump has already backtracked stating Tuesday night that he has ‘no intention of firing‘ Powell, before doubling down on his criticisms.
‘I would like to see him be a little more active in terms of his idea to lower interest rates. It’s a perfect time to lower interest rates,’ Trump told reporters.
It’s all a step in the right direction. And if Trump continues down this road, he’ll be on the path to policy success
