U.S. markets reversed early losses Monday, the first trading day of the third quarter, despite concerns over trade policies.
"We're in this scenario where the underlying economic drivers of the market look very, very good," said Rick Wedell, CIO of RFG Advisory Group. "And that's all being offset by continuing talk around trade, tensions around tariffs, which are incredibly hard to model. You don't know which sector might get hit, you don't know which sector might be a target."
Over the weekend, tariffs from Canada ー on everything from ketchup to whiskey to maple syrup ー kicked in, and the U.S.'s largest business group criticized the Trump administration for moves it says could spark a global trade war.
The U.S. Chamber of Commerce, which has historically been a supporter of the Republican party and its policies, launched a campaign Monday, presenting a state-by-state analysis of where the impact would be most felt. Texas, for example, could see $3.9 billion worth of exports hit with in-kind tariffs; South Carolina could face $3 billion.
Monday's sell-off comes after weeks of tariff threats and announcements from the White House, aimed both at adversaries like China and allies like Canada and Europe. Canada's parry went into effect on Sunday, and China is expected to start levying a 25 percent tax on soybeans later this week. while Mexico will begin to charge pork imports.
In a statement to Reuters the president of the Chamber of Commerce said, “The administration is threatening to undermine the economic progress it worked so hard to achieve. We should seek free and fair trade, but this is just not the way to do it.”
While the Dow was down nearly 200 points at its lows of the day, it managed to eke out a gain of 34 points. The S&P 500 was up about 0.3 percent.
For full interview, [click here](https://cheddar.com/videos/stocks-end-the-day-near-session-highs).
Joe Cecela, Dream Exchange CEO, explains how they are aiming to form the first minority-controlled company to operate an exchange in U.S. history. Watch!
A Michigan judge is putting sponges in the hands of shoplifters and ordering them to wash cars in a Walmart parking lot when spring weather arrives. Genesee County Judge Jeffrey Clothier hopes the unusual form of community service discourages people from stealing from Walmart. The judge also wants to reward shoppers with free car washes. Clothier says he began ordering “Walmart wash” sentences this week for shoplifting at the store in Grand Blanc Township. He believes 75 to 100 people eventually will be ordered to wash cars this spring. Clothier says he will be washing cars alongside them when the time comes.
The State Department had been in talks with Elon Musk’s Tesla company to buy armored electric vehicles, but the plans have been put on hold by the Trump administration after reports emerged about a potential $400 million purchase. A State Department spokesperson said the electric car company owned by Musk was the only one that expressed interest back in May 2024. The deal with Tesla was only in its planning phases but it was forecast to be the largest contract of the year. It shows how some of his wealth has come and was still expected to come from taxpayers.
At 100 years old, the Goodyear Blimp is an ageless star in the sky. The 246-foot-long airship will be in the background of the Daytona 500 — flying roughly 1,500 feet above Daytona International Speedway, actually — to celebrate its greatest anniversary tour. Even though remote camera technologies are improving regularly and changing the landscape of aerial footage, the blimp continues to carve out a niche. At Daytona, with the usual 40-car field racing around a 2½-mile superspeedway, views from the blimp aptly provide the scope of the event.
You'll just have to wait for interest rates (and prices) to go down. Plus, this deal's a steel, the big carmaker wedding is off, and bribery is back, baby!
