On July 4th, President Trump signed the “One Big Beautiful Bill Act” into law, enacting sweeping legislation that makes changes to everything from the debt ceiling to Medicaid to immigration to taxes.1 The new law is one of the most fiercely debated in recent memory, as politicians on both sides of the aisle argue about what it will mean for the economy, our national debt, and more.
When a major geopolitical event happens, we can always count on a couple of things happening. First, there will be headlines. Sometimes positive, sometimes negative, but nearly always sensational. Second, there will be a reaction in the markets. Sometimes positive, sometimes negative, but nearly always sharp.
On May 12, President Trump announced that tariffs on Chinese goods would be temporarily lowered from 145% to 30%.1 China, meanwhile, agreed to cut duties on American imports from 125% to 10%.1 While this isn’t really a trade deal, in that it doesn’t resolve the many issues and imbalances between the two countries, it does mark a cooling of tensions. That has investors breathing a sigh of relief…because it may mean the worst of this trade war is now behind us. As a result, the markets have largely recovered their losses from earlier in the quarter.
If you didn’t see Thursday’s news about President Trump enacting sweeping tariffs, you’ve likely seen headlines about the markets’ response to it. As of the close on Friday that response has been decisively negative. The Dow Jones Industrial Average ended down over 2,200 points (or 5.5%), while the S&P 500 dropped 5.97%, and Nasdaq is down 5.8%.1 This comes on top of the losses already felt on Thursday.
“If you don’t like the weather, just wait a minute.” That’s a common refrain in many corners of the country. You can hear it near the Great Lakes, on the prairies and plains, and in the mountain west. But it probably originated in New England, where the weather can go from sunny to snowy and back again in a heartbeat. Especially in the spring.
“What should we do about tariffs?” It’s a question we’ve heard a lot lately, often with a note of fear in the voice of whoever is asking it. In this message, we want to answer that question. We also want to talk a little about fear, how we handle it…and how we can benefit from it.