With economic alarm bells ringing in the Land of the Free, analysts voiced new fears this week that global investors could spike a glass bottle on America and yell “SCATTER!”—if they haven’t already.

Bird’s eye view: Markets regained some ground once President Trump announced a tariff pause, but key assets and indexes have still moved enough to fuel suspicions of a foreign retreat.

• American money is losing value: The US dollar’s exchange rate with European currency hit a three-year low yesterday at 88 cents on the euro. It’s seemingly because European investors are “repatriating capital to the eurozone,” an executive at the Swiss bank UBP said.
• US stocks underwent more whiplash this week than Miles Teller in that drumming movie. Amid volatility around tariff uncertainty, Bank of America’s chief strategist Michael Hartnett is telling traders to sell S&P 500 rallies before it plunges again.
• Demand for US bonds and other Treasury notes also largely fell this week, while German bonds gained ground as a potential safe-haven alternative.

Declining equities, Treasurys, and currency values demonstrate “a radical shift away from US assets,” a strategist with ING said yesterday.

It’s a stark vibe shift:

• Typically, almost $2 trillion pours into US businesses, banks, and markets from investors outside of the country every year, according to government data.
• The US receives 41% of all the money in the world that gets invested across national borders—doubling its share from the beginning of the pandemic, per Axios.
• Global investors also hold about 30% of US public debt. That’s up from 23% of the pile three decades ago.

Zoom out: It’s too soon to tell if the “sell America” risk, as analysts call it, is the beginning of a new global economic order or just a phase. But anxiety about the US economy is growing: Consumer sentiment plunged this month, and inflation expectations hit their highest level since 1981. BlackRock CEO Larry Fink said yesterday that the country may already be in a recession.—ML

Throwing an annual bash for Hollywood A-listers and hobnobbing with glitterati sounds like a dream job. But so far, there are no apparent takers for the open position of top editor at Vanity Fair, once the most glamorous gig in media.

Radhika Jones, the current editor-in-chief who has helmed the magazine synonymous with chic sophistication since 2017, announced she’s stepping down earlier this month. A successor has yet to be named, leading to musings about whether the job is losing its luster as print publications face receding relevance in the digital age, according to the New York Times.

Past its prime

In its heyday in the 1990s and 2000s:

• The magazine prospered by selling ad-sponsored editions filled with prestige writing and photography that readers would keep on their coffee tables to signal cultural refinement.
• Former Vanity Fair special correspondent Bryan Burrough reminisced about making as much as $498,000 a year for penning just three longreads.

But despite its enduring cultural cachet, Vanity Fair now reportedly struggles to drive web traffic and keep itself fresh, per New York Magazine.

Big picture: Vanity Fair’s corporate overlord, Condé Nast, which also owns the New Yorker, Vogue, and GQ, conducted two rounds of layoffs in 2024. It also licensed its content to OpenAI to shore up revenue and ensure its links appear in SearchGPT.—SK

For decades, Hostess clung to its wholesome, after-school-snack image. But the 106-year-old brand is finally growing up. The treat-maker kicked off its latest marketing campaign this week: parking a food truck in front of dispensaries and handing out free goodies.

The Wienermobile knockoff is called the Munchie Mobile, and it will be dispersing snack cakes and Twinkies at various stops along the East Coast through the infamous weed holiday 4/20.

What’s with the edgy pivot? The J.M. Smucker Co. acquired Hostess two years ago for $4.6 billion hoping it could use the brand to conquer the snack aisle. So far, its takeover has been a little stale. As part of a larger industry decline in snack sales, Smucker reported a 2% YoY net sales decline for its quarter ending in January.

• The industry says rising costs have led to consumers cutting back on snacks.
• In bad news for snacks, overall convenience-store sales dropped by 4.3% in the 12 months through February, according to market research firm Circana.

Smucker hasn’t given up on Hostess. In addition to a strange wordplay-based marketing tactic, the company recently revamped the legacy brand’s packaging and introduced two new products: Donettes Apple Cinnamon Fritter Rings and a mini version of the classic chocolate cupcakes.—MM