The Art of the Market Move: Trump’s $550 Billion Japanese Handshake and the Tariff Teeter-Totter

Welcome to February 2026, where the “Art of the Deal” has apparently been renamed “The Art of Making Every Portfolio Manager in Manhattan Reach for the Extra-Strength Tums.” If you thought the market was volatile in the early 2020s, the current landscape is less of a financial chart and more of a heart rate monitor for someone running a marathon while eating a deep-fried Twinkie. Between $550 billion trade deals with Japan and 100% tariffs on foreign cinema, the S&P 500 is currently behaving like a cat on a ...