Good morning. One of the highest-profile casualties of the trade war so far has been the Switch 2, whose preorders have been delayed due to tariffs. Yesterday, Nintendo of America President Doug Bowser said he was assessing the fall—wait a second. His last name is…what? It’s a real thing: The Nintendo of America boss shares a name with Mario’s archnemesis.
While there’s no link between the Bowsers, the same can’t be said for Kirby. The beloved character was named after a Nintendo attorney who won a major IP case that allowed Nintendo to keep using the name Donkey Kong.
Markets: Stocks swung like Tarzan moving through the jungle yesterday as traders scooped up any crumb of information on President Trump’s tariffs. Ultimately the day ended mixed, with the S&P 500 and the Dow going splat and the Nasdaq edging up a bit. While investors started buying the dip on some tech stocks, Apple, whose supply chain relies on countries facing steep tariffs, kept heading down, bringing its three days of losses to $638 billion in value.
Credit: Tasos Katopodis, Spencer Platt, Michael M. Santiago/Getty Images
Finance big dogs are loving President Trump’s tariffs as much as cats enjoy water—and they’re starting to kvetch like bathing kitties. As markets took a nosedive last week and opened with a further plunge yesterday that briefly pushed the S&P 500 into bear market territory, disgruntled VIP soundbites began pouring out.
JPMorgan CEO Jamie Dimon said yesterday in his annual letter to shareholders that the faster the trade disputes are resolved, the better. He warned that tariffs will slow growth and insinuated that stocks might still be overpriced given the rising risk of recession.
BlackRock’s head honcho, Larry Fink, shared that most CEOs he talks to think a recession is already here. Fink said he personally believes tariffs will fan inflation, keeping interest rates elevated.
Billionaire investor Stanley Druckenmiller, who refused to endorse either Trump or Kamala Harris during the election, said that he opposes tariffs above 10%, while the rates for the duties Trump announced last week go as high as 50%.
Even some usual Trump champions are grumbling. Hedge fund manager Bill Ackman suggested the president call a “90-day time out” on tariffs, warning that a trade war would damage the business reputation of the US and could end in a “self-induced economic nuclear winter.” He also accused Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick of having a conflict of interest, claiming that tanking stocks benefit the secretary’s bond investments—a comment he later backtracked on.
Trump says take a chill pill
The president urged Americans to be “courageous and patient” yesterday, echoing a point he’s been making that short-term economic pain might come from the tariffs, but that it’s necessary for long-term gains.
He also coined a nickname for those vocally alarmed by the markets flashing red: “Panican,” which he defined as “a new party based on weak and stupid people!”
We’ll hear from Wall Street again this week…as JPMorgan, BlackRock, and Wells Fargo are due to announce earnings on Friday.—SK
Every day, you’re hit with ads that make no sense—cringy, irrelevant, clearly meant for someone else. Yet brands spend billions on them.
RAD Intel fixes that. Its proprietary AI helps brands “read the room” before launching campaigns, showing them what to say, who to say it to, and when. No more wasted ad spend. Skechers, MGM, Hasbro, and Sweetgreen are already seeing up to 3.5x results.
Backed by Adobe and Fidelity, RAD has raised $37m+, grown in valuation from $5m to $85m, and is still pre-IPO.
President Trump threatened another 50% tariff on China. If you put money on yesterday being the day the trade war de-escalated, you lost that bet: President Trump posted on social media that unless China nixes the retaliatory 34% tariff on US goods that it announced to counter the US’ latest tariff, he’d slap another 50% import tax on Chinese products and would refuse to enter talks. China called the threat “a mistake on top of a mistake” and said it would “fight to the end.” Other countries have been more conciliatory toward the US, but it’s unclear how well those negotiations are going. White House trade advisor Peter Navarro said yesterday that Vietnam’s offer to eliminate tariffs on all US products wasn’t enough. The EU also seemed ready to come to the table, saying it had offered “zero-for-zero tariffs” for industrial goods, even as it plans potential counter-tariffs.
Shopify CEO tells his team to consider AI before adding new hires. The bots may soon be coming for your job if that job is enabling online impulse buys, as the CEO of Shopify recently sent out an internal memo that said: “Before asking for more headcount and resources, teams must demonstrate why they cannot get what they want done using AI.” CEO Tobi Lütke said that using the tech should be a “fundamental expectation” to boost productivity in daily work. The push to think outside the human box for coworkers comes as Shopify has already slimmed down its workforce. The company had 8,100 employees at the end of last year, which is 200 people less than the year before—and that’s after it laid off 14% of its workforce in 2022 and 20% in 2023.
Fresh review of Nippon Steel’s bid for US Steel ordered. President Trump ordered a powerful national security panel to re-review the Japanese company’s attempted $15 billion acquisition of the iconic Pennsylvania steelmaker, which was blocked by President Biden in January. By asking the Committee on Foreign Investment in the US to help determine “whether further action in this matter may be appropriate,” Trump may be breathing new life into a deal that he had opposed in the past, but appeared more amenable to after meeting with Japan’s prime minister.—AR
Starting this fall, US colleges and universities could share athletics revenue with players for the first time ever, under a controversial settlement poised to get final approval from a federal judge as soon as today.
It’s seen as the biggest structural overhaul in college sports history. If approved:
Colleges would have a ~$20.5 million annual salary cap with which to pay athletes directly, rising to ~$30 million over a decade. The rule change automatically applies to the “power five” conferences, while other schools can opt in.
The NCAA would impose roster limits, potentially cutting thousands of players and commits, many of whom have already been told they’ll lose their spots if the settlement goes through.
A third-party clearinghouse run by Deloitte would oversee every name, image, and likeness (NIL) deal worth more than $600 to ensure schools aren’t paying students more than they’re permitted.
The NCAA and schools would also split $2.75 billion in backpay to D1 athletes who played before NIL deals became kosher in 2021. Football and basketball players would get the lion’s share.
Objection: LSU gymnast/influencer Olivia Dunne and several other current and former college athletes bashed the settlement yesterday during a court hearing over whether the judge should grant final approval, saying their allocated damages undervalued them and calling roster limits “cruel.” Other arguments against the settlement include potential antitrust and Title IX violations. Expect appeals, which could delay settlement payments.—ML
Together With TaxAct
A friendly (and urgent) reminder. Tax returns are due soon, folks—like, in seven days soon. But if the April 15 deadline snuck up on you, no need to panic. TaxAct can help individuals and small businesses beat the deadline. Use their step-by-step guidance to make filing easy and simple. Start today and get them over with.
Before you start regurgitating Jurassic Park quotes, let’s just hear them out. Biotech startup Colossal, which had a $10.2 billion valuation as of its last funding round in January, announced yesterday that it created three dire wolves—an animal that has been extinct outside of your favorite fantasy series featuring an Iron Throne for over 12,000 years.
The three wolves, two males named Remus and Romulus, and one female named Khaleesi, are expected to weigh as much as 140 pounds when fully grown.
The animals were bred by studying the DNA of dire wolves from a 13,000-year-old tooth and a 72,000-year-old skull.
Scientists made 20 edits to 14 different genes from a gray wolf to match the much larger, stark white ancient wolf and inserted them into egg cells that got implanted into surrogate dogs.
Next stop, de-extinction. Colossal has snagged media attention in the past for promising to bring back the woolly mammoth, but this is its first full resurrection since its “woolly mouse” announcement in March.
It’s not just about building the coolest zoo. Big-name investors like Paris Hilton and Winklevoss Capital Management are attracted to the company’s controversial, but highly disruptive genome-engineering innovations, which could have medical applications.—MM
If the most exciting thing that’s ever happened to one of your tweets was a like from an ex, you’ve got nothing on Walter Bloomberg, an X user with ~850k followers who appears to have accidentally set off a brief stock market rally with a single post yesterday. Stocks opened with the S&P 500 down 4.7% and in bear market territory, but after the account—which regularly shares financial news but has no relationship to the Bloomberg news organization—posted that White House economic advisor Kevin Hassett had said President Trump was considering a 90-day pause on all tariffs besides those on China, stocks began soaring within 34 minutes. The supposed possible pause got picked up by news outlets like CNBC, helping to push the S&P up 8.5%, putting it back into the green and adding $3.6 trillion in market value, per Business Insider.
But the rally didn’t last, mostly because Hassett never actually said those remarks—the tweet appeared to be referencing a pretty noncommital statement that he did make, saying “the president is going to decide what the president is going to decide” when asked about a potential pause by a Fox News reporter. The White House quickly derided the idea of a pause as “fake news,” which sent stocks plummeting. Since volatile times call for careful tweeting, the Walter Bloomberg account deleted the post and shared headlines about the denial.—AR
The Supreme Court ruled that the government can use a rarely invoked wartime law to deport Venezuelan migrants but said they must get a court hearing first. Separately, Chief Justice John Roberts temporarily blocked a judge’s order requiring the US to bring back a man the government admitted to having mistakenly deported to El Salvador to give the full Supreme Court time to consider the issue.
President Trump said the US will be holding direct talks with Iran about its nuclear program on Saturday, which would be the first ones since 2015.
Microsoft has fired engineers who protested the Israeli military’s use of the company’s AI products at the company’s 50th anniversary celebration last week.
Florida defeated Houston 65–63 in a thriller to win the men’s college basketball national championship.
Barrick Gold, the company whose stock ticker is “GOLD,” wants to be a little less gilded. It’s proposing changing its name to Barrick Mining Corp. to reflect its large investment in copper.
RECS
Lay down: Perfect for the park or the beach, this blanket dries fast and repels dirt.**
Test your knowledge: Can you match a moon to the planet it belongs to?
Read:These books about rich people behaving badly will fill the White Lotus-sized hole in your life.
Fearless thinking: Gain bold insights from the Financial Times’ trusted journalists on how shifting geopolitics are affecting global business. Read more now.*
*A message from our sponsor. **This is a product recommendation from our writers. When you buy through this link, Morning Brew may earn a commission.
Crude petroleum ($1.28 trillion worth was traded between countries in 2023). Source.
Word of the Day
Today’s Word of the Day is: gilded, meaning “covered thinly with gold.” Thanks to Vanessa from Burlington, VT, for the golden suggestion. Submit another Word of the Day here.
✢ A Note From RAD Intel
This is a paid advertisement for RAD Intel’s Regulation A offering. Please read the offering circular at invest.radintel.ai.
President Trump threatened another 50% tariff on China. If you put money on yesterday being the day the trade war de-escalated, you lost that bet: President Trump 
Shopify CEO tells his team to consider AI before adding new hires. The bots may soon be coming for your job if that job is enabling online impulse buys, as the CEO of Shopify recently sent out 
Fresh review of Nippon Steel’s bid for US Steel ordered. President Trump ordered a powerful national security panel to 
Lay down: Perfect for the park or the beach, 
