The Trump Trade: A Rollercoaster for Your Portfolio (and Sanity)

Market Reactions - On October 13th, the S&P 500 rose by 1.6%, the Dow Jones Industrial Average increased by 1.3%, and the Nasdaq Composite jumped by 2.2% following President Trump's reassurances about China [2] - Conversely, on October 14th, futures for the Dow Jones fell approximately 0.6%, S&P 500 futures dropped 0.9%, and Nasdaq 100 futures declined by more than 1.2% due to renewed trade tensions [4] Trade Tensions - President Trump accused China of an "Economically Hostile Act" for not purchasing U.S. soybeans and threatened to terminate business related to cooking oil [3] - The market's mixed performance was attributed to the resumption of U.S.-China trade tensions overshadowing strong third-quarter results from major banks [4] Cryptocurrency Impact - Following Trump's comments on cooking oil, Bitcoin dropped 2.4% to around $112,861, and Ether fell 3.3% to $4,108 within an hour [5] - By the end of October 14th, Bitcoin was down 2.3% at $113,129, and Ether slid 3.7% to $4,128.47, with the total crypto market capitalization declining by approximately 2.9% to about $3.97 trillion [5] Economic Outlook - The IMF noted the "unexpected resilience" of the global economy despite Trump's tariffs but warned that the outlook remains "dim" [8] - Oxford Economics cautioned that a full-scale trade war could have economic consequences comparable to the onset of COVID-19 [8] Sector Performance - The tech sector was notably affected, with Intel dropping over 4% and Nvidia slumping 2.6%, despite some tech stocks like Broadcom and Micron Technology performing well due to AI optimism [9]