Containers are pictured at an industrial port in Tokyo, Japan April 2, 2025. REUTERS/Kim Kyung-HoonKim Kyung-hoon | ReutersU.S. customs agents began collecting President Donald Trump’s unilateral 10% tariff on all imports from many countries on Saturday, with higher levies on goods from 57 larger trading partners due to start next week.The initial 10% “baseline” tariff took effect at U.S. seaports, airports and customs warehouses at 12:01 a.m. ET (0401 GMT), ushering in Trump’s full rejection of the post-World War Two system of mutually agreed tariff rates.”This is the single biggest trade action of our lifetime,” said Kelly Ann Shaw, a…
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President Trump’s announcement this week of an aggressive wave of reciprocal tariffs on multiple countries and a 10% universal import tax triggered massive stock market chaos. The move also escalated fears of inflated consumer prices, a global trade war and a recession. It’s unclear how these duties will upend supply chains and impact interest rates. With the vast number of unknowns in the economy — from Trump’s protectionist measures to federal jobs slashing — mortgage rates have already seen some dips this week. In March, mortgage rates fluctuated in a narrow range, with the average 30-year fixed rate beginning and ending the month at 6.75%, according…
Pendleton County Search and Rescue take county electricians on a boat to turn off an electrical box in a flooded park on April 5, 2025 in Falmouth, Kentucky. Michael Swensen | Getty ImagesA week of powerful storms that swept through the South and Midwest, killing at least nine people, is still wreaking significant havoc in the region this weekend.The weather-related death toll includes a man who was killed by flood waters in Nelson County, Kentucky, Gov. Andy Beshear reported Saturday morning.Severe weather, including a “life-threatening, catastrophic, and potentially historic” flash flooding event will continue to impact the lower Ohio Valley through to the Ark-La-Tex…
Opponents of President Donald Trump and billionaire Elon Musk rallied across the U.S. on Saturday to protest the administration’s actions on government downsizing, the economy, human rights and other issues.More than 1,200 “Hands Off!” demonstrations were planned by more than 150 groups, including civil rights organizations, labor unions, LBGTQ+ advocates, veterans and elections activists. The protest sites included the National Mall in Washington, D.C., state capitols and other locations in all 50 states.Protesters assailed the Trump administration’s moves to fire thousands of federal workers, close Social Security Administration field offices, effectively shutter entire agencies, deport immigrants, scale back protections for transgender people and cut federal funding for health programs.Musk, a Trump adviser who…
Recessions can be tricky to predict, and even trickier to navigate. Investments you might traditionally think of as safe might in fact expose you to more risk depending on the economic environment — especially as the Fed navigates lowering inflation and the potential impacts of tariffs this year. In the event a recession does hit, here are some investments you should consider avoiding. Your first instinct might be to let go of all your stocks and move into bonds, but high-yield bonds can be particularly risky during a recession. High-yield bonds, with credit ratings below investment grade, are riskier than…
The formula at the core of President Donald Trump’s tariff announcement that continues to rattle markets is bewildering economists, who say it is based on flawed assumptions.Economists argue that Trump’s formula relies on a flawed, underestimation of a key metric, resulting in inflated tariff rates for countries.According to the Office of the United States Trade Representative, the formula underpinning Trump’s sweeping “reciprocal” tariff plan is the country’s trade deficit with the U.S., divided by its exports, then divided by two. Trump also implemented a 10% baseline tariff on almost every country.Zoom In IconArrows pointing outwardsHowever, Trump’s formula for calculating tariff rates for…
In the search for income, investors sometimes don’t pay enough attention to risk. That is a problem with both stocks and bonds. The interesting thing is that risk can often be very rewarding on the equity side of the equation, but with bonds, the reward is often less material than you’d expect. Here’s a look at a collection of Vanguard bond ETFs, from the Vanguard Short Term Treasury ETF (VGSH 0.09%) all the way to the Vanguard Extended Duration Treasury ETF (EDV 1.44%). What is a bond’s duration? A bond is, effectively, a loan made between the buyer of the…
Musk takes aim at NavarroTesla CEO Elon Musk wears a ‘Trump Was Right About Everything!’ hat while attending a cabinet meeting at the White House, in Washington, D.C., U.S., March 24, 2025. Carlos Barria | ReutersElon Musk took aim at Peter Navarro, as the top Trump trade advisor continues to defend the president’s sweeping tariffs.”The market will find a bottom. It will be soon, and from there, we’re going to have a bullish boom, and the Dow is going to hit 50,000 during Trump’s term,” Navarro said on CNN Saturday.”A PhD in Econ from Harvard is a bad thing, not a…
Traders work on the floor at the New York Stock Exchange in New York City, U.S., April 4, 2025.Brendan McDermid | ReutersBefore Wednesday, President Donald Trump’s tariffs were expected to be a problem for markets and the economy, but a manageable one.So much for that idea.What happened instead is something worse than the worst-case scenario, which previously had been one where the U.S. would slap true “reciprocal” duties on its trading partners that would match tariffs charged to American exports.In a perfect world, that would have triggered a round of negotiations that led to deals all sides could live with…
The tariffs imposed by President Donald Trump have garnered swift reaction, including China’s retaliatory tariffs, which will take effect on April 10, but their true effects on any trade war remain to be seen in the coming weeks.Financial and equities markets were rocked by the latest administration tariff announcement, which added new tariffs of varying amounts on just about all trading partners.While this might not mean ongoing inflation, tariffs will certainly raise measured prices in the near term, making it harder for the Fed to parse incoming data and raising the risk of a policy mistake.“While uncertainty remains elevated, it…