The US’s GDP dropped by 0.3% in Q1 of 2025—the first time it’s been negative since 2022—and markets sank in response.
The White House’s plan to turn things around for the US seems to be winning the trade war with China, but can the economy hold on in the meantime?
This comes after stocks climbed on Tuesday as President Trump provided automakers some tariff relief, pushing the Dow to its longest win streak of 2025 so far.
This morning, the S&P 500 dropped 2%, the Nasdaq fell 2.6%, and the Dow lost 615 points.
The 10-year Treasury yield declined more than 4 basis points yesterday to 4.17% as investors looked ahead to economic data releases later this week.
Trump phoned Amazon’s CEO Jeff Bezos about his company’s rumored plans to display tariff costs in its item listings online. After, the President called Bezos a “good guy” and said he “solved the problem very quickly”—apparently, the call was amicable.
House Republicans released a plan to overhaul the student loan system, including federal student loan caps of $50,000 for undergraduate studies. The plan may bring positive reform over time to the $1.7-trillion student debt crisis, but will also likely restrict college access and decrease repayment options.
In lighter news, on “Bring Your Kids to Work Day,” a Jeffries analyst’s children joined earnings calls with the CEOs of PepsiCo and Keurig Dr. Pepper, asking hard-hitting questions about GLP-1 oral medications and blackberry soda. Pepsi CEO Ramon Laguarta’s response: “Awesome.”
😱 Fear and Greed Index
🧠 Make yourself heard
Should Amazon display the cost of tariffs in item listings?
President Trump signed orders preventing additional tariffs on foreign-made cars from being layered on top of existing tariffs.
China seems to have a list of US goods it won’t be applying its 125% tariffs to, including pharmaceuticals, chipmakers, and ethane imports.
Wall Street awaits with baited breath to hear Apple CEO Tim Cook’s first comments on Trump’s Tariffs during the company’s earnings report tomorrow.
Trade talks with India show promise as President Trump confidently stated, “I think we'll have a deal with India.”
Deutsche Bank lifts credit provisions during US tariffs uncertainty.
📊 Alternative Investing News
Gold has now fallen in price for two sessions in a row, likely because of a strengthening US dollar and possible de-escalation of the U.S.-China trade war.
A Chinese observatory project in Chile was halted earlier this year due to suspected US interference.
Goldman Sachs forecasts an 8-9% upside for Chinese equities over the next 12 months.
🤖 AI/Future/Tech News
Duolingo CEO Luis von Ahn flagged the company's shift to “AI-first” and will gradually stop using contractors for work AI can handle.
Researchers uncovered “AirBorne” vulnerabilities affecting tens of millions of Apple AirPlay-enabled devices.
Freepik released F Lite, an open AI image generation model trained exclusively on 80 million commercially licensed images.
🪙 Crypto
Amid wider market uncertainty, BTC is experiencing the lowest volatility it’s had in 563 days. Meanwhile, Arthur Hayes predicted a $1M Bitcoin by 2028.
Arizona's legislature approved two bills that could create the nation's first state Bitcoin reserve.
💡 Ideas, trends, and analysis
Google is telling remote employees to return to the office. The median salary was $331,894 at the company last year, and CEO Sundar Pichai made $10.7M.
Nearly two-thirds of Americans feel politics are going badly, according to a new CNN poll.
Mark Carney was elected Prime Minister of Canada, marking a revival of the country’s Liberal party through a largely anti-Trump-focused campaign.
🌍 International Markets
🇬🇧 UK Finance Minister Rachel Reeves announced new rules bringing crypto exchanges, dealers, and agents under compulsory regulation.
🇭🇺 Hungary's central bank held rates steady due to trade uncertainty.
🇨🇳 Shenzhen's GDP grew by only 5.2% in Q1, while its exports declined 8.7% compared to China's national 5.4% growth rate and 6.9% export gain.
🎤 What you said last time
“We need good trade, regardless.”
🚚 Market movers
Respawn Entertainment slashed approximately 100 developer roles as EA cut 300-400 jobs total across the company.
Google unveiled three new AI language learning tools: Tiny Lesson, Slang Hang, and Word Cam, challenging Duolingo.
📊 Earnings this week
Visa reported $5.4B in profit and launched a $30B buyback as payment volume jumped 8% and shares climbed 1%.
Etsy beat expected revenue by $8.2M—even as it pays a $101.7M charge for selling Reverb, its marketplace for musical instruments.
Coca-Cola delivered a Q1 beat with 2% global volume growth and a 14% surge in Zero Sugar sales as shares were up 3.7%.
First Solar met revenue estimates but slashed full-year guidance; shares tumbled 10%.
JetBlue reported a $208M Q1 loss and withdrew full-year guidance; shares dropped 3.2%.
Pfizer beat Q1 expectations with $0.92 earnings per share, lifted by CEO confidence on tariff risks; shares rose 3.2%.
🧠Miscellanea
Scientists caught wild chimpanzees getting drunk together on fermented fruit in Guinea-Bissau.
Researchers cracked the code for perfect pasta, as 6 kg of cheese vanished in lab experiments.
The International Diabetes Federation officially recognized Type 5 diabetes.
📺 What to watch today
New video shows how chimpanzees may bond over 'boozy fruit'
That’s all for today. Did I miss anything? Smash the reply button to let me know.
