Markets swerve hard after tariffs

Markets didn't think the trade war would actually happen, but when a midafternoon press conference affirmed the Trump administration's serious intention to levy 25% tariffs on imports from Mexico and Canada and double levies on China's imports to 20%, markets plunged and the day went from business as usual to bloodbath.

Presented by Hey Snackers, Despite its shoestring $6 million budget and relatively unknown cast, thrilling indie comedy-drama "Anora" won big at the 97th Academy Awards Sunday night. Interestingly, "Anora" is the lowest-grossing Best Picture of the last 45 years, having taken just shy of $41 million from theaters around the world. See our chart of how other Best Picture winners stacked up at the box office. The S&P 500 suffered its worst loss of 2025, tumbling 1.8% as markets were hit with a vicious one-two punch of the continued plunge in momentum stocks and a real wake-up call on the reality of President Donald Trump's trade policy. The Nasdaq 100 gave back 2.2% while the Russell 2000 slumped 2.8%. Energy was the worst-performing sector amid OPEC+'s slightly surprising decision to begin returning oil to the market next month. Tech, hit by a Nvidia-fueled sell-off, wasn't too far behind. OF GREAT IMPORT Markets lost the game of tariff chicken Markets didn't think the trade war would actually happen, but when a midafternoon press conference affirmed the Trump administration's serious intention to levy 25% tariffs on imports from Mexico and Canada and double levies on China's imports to 20%, markets plunged and the day went from business as usual to bloodbath.  The S&P 500 suffered its biggest loss of the year, and most of it went down right after that presser, meaning that traders had a particularly rowdy couple of hours where some pretty exciting gains evaporated between their fingers.  So, what did we learn? It's time to expect the unexpected. Among investors, there was little consensus as to whether or not these tariffs would be enacted. A small fraction of the market was even pretty sure that this was going to happen, based on some absolutely fascinating data from 22V Research. By and large, markets had not been reacting too much to the chatter over trade barriers. Tariff-sensitive stocks had been (and still are!) handily outperforming shares of companies deemed insulated from levies since the November 5 election. That certainty is over: this is the chart you do not want to see if you happen to be an automaker.  It's going to be a rough time to be an American automaker, for one. The thing about lots of American vehicle manufacturers is that they often work with Canadian and Mexican part suppliers to make those star-spangled motors, and GM in particular has signaled in increasingly colorful phrasing that the tariffs will mean very bad things for its business. THE TAKEAWAY Our finest minds have long thought the Trump policy on markets to be ultimately deferential to the stock market, as while the administration has no problem announcing policies the market hates, it will often dial it back or delay them because clearly a Republican administration would be loath to jeopardize the health of the stock market. Maybe that's over.  Read more Presented by Virtuix  🎮 Celebrity-Backed Startup Raises $40M to Transform Gaming Meet Virtuix. It's the company behind Omni, a leading omni-directional treadmill that lets players walk and run in 360 degrees inside VR games. How's It Going?  ✅ $18M+ in lifetime revenue1 — with products sold to major companies like Dave & Buster's. ✅ Omni One launched September 2024 — Virtuix's first home system, following 3,000+ preorders worth $7M+ in revenue. ✅ Enterprise & Military Expansion — developing VR training systems in collaboration with the U.S. Air Force. ✅ Industry-Leading IP—24 patents issued, 8 pending, covering motion tracking, game integration, and mechanical design. The Even More Exciting News? With $40M+ raised across all offerings and from well-known investors like Mark Cuban, Maveron, and Scout Ventures, Virtuix is offering investors the chance to own a stake in the future of immersive gaming.2 1 Lifetime revenue is since December 20, 2013.  Presented by Virtuix  🎮 Celebrity-Backed Startup Raises $40M to Transform Gaming Meet Virtuix. It's the company behind Omni, a leading omni-directional treadmill that lets players walk and run in 360 degrees inside VR games. How's It Going?  ✅ $18M+ in lifetime revenue1 — with products sold to major companies like Dave & Buster's. ✅ Omni One launched September 2024 — Virtuix's first home system, following 3,000+ preorders worth $7M+ in revenue. ✅ Enterprise & Military Expansion — developing VR training systems in collaboration with the U.S. Air Force. ✅ Industry-Leading IP—24 patents issued, 8 pending, covering motion tracking, game integration, and mechanical design. The Even More Exciting News? With $40M+ raised across all offerings and from well-known investors like Mark Cuban, Maveron, and Scout Ventures, Virtuix is offering investors the chance to own a stake in the future of immersive gaming.2 1 Lifetime revenue is since December 20, 2013.  PUMP IT UP Trumping the crypto markets In a basic high school economics class, one learns that prices are determined by the law of supply and demand, and markets do generally behave accordingly. Eggs, despite some people blaming greedflation, are currently very expensive as there are fewer laying hens due to bird flu, but the demand is the same if not higher.  But markets move in other ways, too. Sometimes it's an earnings report or breaking news. More and more often, markets move on Trump's words. Case in point: on Sunday, Trump announced that the long-promised US digital asset reserve would contain XRP, solana, and cardano, three cryptocurrencies not even in the conversation before. He quickly followed it up to assure followers it would contain bitcoin and ethereum as well, which he loves! The message came just in time to reverse negative momentum on the crypto industry, with bitcoin threatening to fall to pre-Election Day levels if sentiment continued to darken. But instead the markets reversed course. All five mentioned coins surged, and despite no details on allocations, timing, or even where this stockpile will be held, the overall crypto market flipped to the positive.  THE TAKEAWAY Trump's words have the most power in markets like crypto, which have no underlying fundamentals and are often moved by sentiment or vibes. When Trump deigns to include a little-mentioned crypto like cardano, it sends the price soaring. But Trump's decision to include other coins to what was once a bitcoin-only plan had its fair share of critics, and Monday's dour market turn took crypto prices down with it, showing that Trump's power of persuasion may be fleeting. Read more THE BEST THING WE READ TODAY The great capex divide: How Amazon and Apple are on opposite ends of the AI boom It's still unclear whether spending boatloads on AI will crown winners. But here's how the field is shaping up and what key voices — including Salesforce, Alphabet, Microsoft, and Meta — are saying. Presented by FinanceBuzz Should You Cancel Your Car Insurance? You could be wasting hundreds every year on overpriced insurance. Check out this new tool from FinanceBuzz to see if you're overpaying in just a few clicks! Some drivers are reporting saving up to hundreds per year! Answer a few easy questions to see how much you could be saving. MOVES Yesterday's Big Daily Movers  Residential solar company Sunnova's stock price plummeted after the company warned investors that it may be unable to stay in business Nvidia fell almost 9%, notching its lowest close since September Speaking of Nvidia, Super Micro Computer slipped 13% as investors worry about its connection to smuggled Nvidia chips What else we're Snackin' Tobacco giant Philip Morris might sell its cigar business, as it works toward a smoke-free future  Can new clocks prevent planes from having their GPS systems hacked?  Domino's finally joins the stuffed crust pizza craze to snag a bigger slice of the delivery market Retail traders may have finally given up on buying the dip Snack Fact of the Day At 558 words, Adrien Brody's Oscar acceptance speech was the longest ever recorded. Tuesday Earnings expected from Plug Power, Best Buy, Target, AutoZone, CrowdStrike, Nordstrom, and Ross Advertiser's disclosures: 2 Please read the offering circular and related risks at the StartEngine webpage for Virtuix. This is a paid advertisement for Virtuix's Regulation CF Offering. This Reg CF offering is made available through StartEngine Primary, LLC.  Investing in private company securities is not suitable for all investors because it is highly speculative and involves a high degree of risk. It should only be considered a long-term investment. You must be prepared to withstand a total loss of your investment. Private company securities are also highly illiquid, and there is no guarantee that a market will develop for such securities. This was a paid for ad. Sherwood Media has been compensated for this ad by the Virtuix Reg CF Campaign hosted on StartEngine. Was this email forwarded to you? 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