One thing that no one can deny about President Donald Trump is that the man has always loved gold. In 2015, he kicked off his presidential campaign by riding down the golden escalator of Trump Tower, where he also owns a gold-filled apartment. Now he’s bringing that gilded sensibility to the Oval Office, which has gotten noticeably shinier lately. One of our eagle-eyed reporters (perhaps looking to spruce up his own home office) found very credible dupes of some of the new decor. Check it out.
Major indexes gave up early gains yesterday after the European Union’s trade negotiator cited little progress or clarity in talks with the US. The S&P 500 finished down 0.2%, while the Nasdaq 100 eked out a 0.2% gain and the Russell 2000 ended up 0.1%.
Most S&P 500 sector ETFs finished in the red, with tech, communication services, and financials delivering the best returns on the day. |
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- Pharmaceutical products are normally excluded from tariffs due to a World Trade Organization agreement that the US signed in 1994. That said, the Commerce Department filed a notice to the Federal Register on Monday saying it was investigating tariffs on pharmaceuticals.
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Generic drugs, which are predominantly made in India and China, account for 90% of prescriptions in the US. Those aren’t the drugs in question here — though the companies that make them operate on slim margins and have said their only option in the event of tariffs would be to raise prices.
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No, we’re talking about those big, name-brand drugs. For those, they’re coming in from Germany (worth $17.1 billion in 2024) and most of all Ireland ($50.3 billion last year), which dwarf the competition in no small part because the drugs they import aren’t the cheap generics, but the expensive, flagship medications.
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Even setting the Irish connection aside, the US imported $37 billion worth of drugs in the first two months of this year, well above the roughly $30 billion imported in those two months in both 2023 and 2024.
With the White House now studying tariffs on pharmaceuticals, it sure looks like the big drugmakers had a very busy January and February getting as many medications into American ports as possible. |
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A blip? Perhaps. But that is what you’d expect if, say, major pharmaceutical manufacturers were worried about a grim prognosis of margin-pinching tariffs coming down the pipeline. |
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Where You Can Get Exposure to Discord, Epic Games, Acorns, Databricks, and More |
StartEngine is the platform allowing accredited investors to gain exposure to some of the more popular private venture-backed businesses, like Perplexity, Databricks, and Anthropic — without paying millions. The numbers speak for themselves: |
- ✅ StartEngine posted a record $17M quarter in Q4
- ✅ Fiscal year revenues doubled year-over-year ($23M in 2023 > $48M in 2024)1
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We’ve got a few weeks until most of the members of the Magnificent 7 report quarterly earnings — Google comes first on April 24, while Nvidia makes us all wait until the end of May — but analysts on the Street are already starting to lower their expectations for how the tech titans will perform. Yesterday, Wedbush Securities cut its estimates and price for Amazon, the second such action in as many days, as part of a broad analysis of the internet sector.
Other Mag 7 market titans — which, because of their massive market weights, have in recent years driven an outsized share of gains for major indexes like the S&P 500 — are also seeing slippage in earnings expectations, as analysts either price in an economic slowdown due to tariffs or reverse engineer their earnings calls to correspond to the recent stock market slump.
If we look at Wall Street’s best guess of what the full-year earnings per share for these companies will be in 12 months, a pattern emerges, as these charts show.
The worst hit so far are Apple, which is weighed down by tariffs on China that are impossible to pivot or airdrop its way out of, and Tesla, which is suffering from “unprecedented brand damage” among many other problems dragging down the stock. Their charts are not a pretty picture.
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As of now, estimates for Microsoft and Nvidia haven’t yet cracked, but Microsoft’s surprise cancellation of another data center isn’t a good omen. And while semiconductors have been exempt from tariffs so far, an analyst warns “this is not over” for the chip giant.
It doesn’t help that foreign investors are fleeing US stocks at a record pace, according to a Bank of America survey that also said the Magnificent 7 are no longer deemed the “most crowded trade” for the first time in over two years, ceding the title to (checks survey) gold.
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Energy investors, the time is now |
Renewables are anticipated to outstrip coal in 2025,4 heralding a cleaner future.
With solar expected to be a major source of tomorrow’s power, now is a critical time to consider investing. As an established operator and listed company powering 10,000+ homes and corporate energy transitions, SolarBank (Nasdaq: SUUN) is one to watch.
☀️ Learn about becoming a SolarBank shareholder.5 |
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Yesterday’s Big Daily Movers |
- Investors checked out of Albertsons after the grocery chain gave softer-than-expected guidance for the year, despite topping earnings estimates
- Netflix’s blockbuster ambitions were a win with traders, sending shares higher
- United, which was flying nicely during market hours, took off after market close following its earnings report
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- March retail sales
- Earnings expected from ASML, U.S. Bancorp, Abbott, and Progressive
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Advertiser's disclosures:
1 This revenue growth has been driven by StartEngine Private, a new product line that offers funds in late stage companies. This product line has driven over $11.5M of the $21.6M of the revenue in the first 6 months of 2024. To understand the impact on margins, see financials.There is no guarantee that StartEngine revenue will continue to increase at similar rates, and no guarantee that the company will become profitable.
2 Count determined by the number of unique email addresses in StartEngine’s database as of 08-27-2024. One individual may have more than one email address. In May 2023, StartEngine acquired assets of SeedInvest, including email lists for SeedInvest’s users, investors and founders. Go here for more details.
3 This is a paid advertisement for StartEngine’s Reg. A+ offering. Please read the most recent offering circular and related risks at invest.startengine.com.
The offering is made available through StartEngine Crowdfunding, Inc. No broker-dealer or intermediary was involved in offering.
Past performance is no guarantee of future results. Investing in private company securities is not suitable for all investors. This investment is highly speculative, illiquid, and involves a high degree of risk, including the possible loss of your entire investment. There is no guarantee that a market will develop for such securities.
4 See p.51 IEA (International Energy Agency) Report Electricity 2025.
5 Stock markets are volatile and can fluctuate significantly in response to company, industry, political, regulatory, market, or economic developments. Investing in stock involves risks, including the loss of principal. Before investing, carefully assess whether a particular stock aligns with your investment objectives, risk tolerance, and financial situation. |
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Sherwood Media, LLC produces fresh and unique perspectives on topical financial news and is a fully owned subsidiary of Robinhood Markets, Inc., and any views expressed here do not necessarily reflect the views of any other Robinhood affiliate... See more |
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