Trump's tariff retreat lights a fire under markets
Blink, and you might have missed the market rally. The S&P 500 has surged over 20 per cent from its April low, erasing its losses for 2025. The Nasdaq is up nearly 30 per cent in just a few weeks.
Too fast? Possibly. Despite
Donald Trump
's tariff U-turn,
US tariffs
remain at their highest level since 1934. Recession odds on prediction market Polymarket are down, but still elevated at around 40 per cent.
Beyond tech, earnings are wobbling, with first-quarter strength largely concentrated in mega-cap stocks like Alphabet, Amazon, Apple, Meta and Microsoft.
However, this rally doesn't feel like a mere bear market bounce. The Carson Group's Ryan Detrick notes there have been only three years – 1982, 2009, 2020, all major market bottoms – when stocks turned positive after clawing back from such steep losses. A majority of S&P 500 stocks have also hit a 20-day high, a rare breadth thrust that usually signals durable upside (stocks have been higher a year later in 29 of the last 30 instances).
READ MORE
The current strength reflects enormous relief that Trump still sees the stock market as an important scorecard.
Trump realised he was 'toying around with liquid nitroglycerine and it was time to back off', says market strategist Ed Yardeni. 'The markets threw a tantrum, and got what they wanted.'
Even if stocks falter again, this surge is a reminder: nervous investors can't wait for uncertainty to lift before getting back into stocks. As CFRA strategist Sam Stovall notes: 'If 0 is knowing nothing and 10 is knowing everything, Wall Street nibbles at three and does full-blown buying at five.'
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RTÉ News
2 hours ago
- RTÉ News
Trump, Musk feud explodes with threats of cutting contracts
US President Donald Trump threatened to cut off government contracts with billionaire Elon Musk's companies, while Mr Musk suggested Mr Trump should be impeached, turning their friendship into an all-out row on social media. Wall Street traders dumped shares of Mr Musk's electric vehicle maker and Tesla closed down 14.3%, losing about $150 billion (€131.1 billion) in market value. It was Tesla's largest single-day decline in value in its history. The hostilities began when Mr Trump criticised the Tesla CEO in the Oval Office. Within hours, the once-close relationship had disintegrated in full public view, as the US President and the world's richest man launched personal barbs at one another on Mr Trump's Truth Social and Mr Musk's X. "The easiest way to save money in our Budget, Billions and Billions of Dollars, is to terminate Elon's Governmental Subsidies and Contracts," Mr Trump posted on Truth Social. Minutes after the closing bell, Mr Musk replied, "Yes," to a post on X saying Mr Trump should be impeached. Mr Trump's Republicans hold majorities in both chambers of Congress and are highly unlikely to impeach him. With one tweet linking Mr Trump with disgraced financier Jeffrey Epstein, Mr Musk also reignited a long-running conspiracy theory beloved of the US president's far right supporters. Mr Musk alleged that the Republican leader is featured in secret government files on rich and powerful former Epstein associates. The Trump administration has acknowledged it is reviewing tens of thousands of documents, videos and investigative material that his 'MAGA' movement says will unmask public figures complicit in Epstein's crimes. "Time to drop the really big bomb: (Trump) is in the Epstein files," Mr Musk posted on his social media platform, X, as a growing feud with the president boiled over into a vicious public spat. "That is the real reason they have not been made public." Musk did not reveal which files he was talking about and offered no evidence for his claim. White House spokeswoman Karoline Leavitt yesterday called Mr Musk's behaviour "an unfortunate episode" adding the Tesla tycoon is "unhappy with the One Big Beautiful Bill because it does not include the policies he wanted." Tensions between the two started days ago, when Mr Musk denounced Mr Trump's sweeping tax-cut and spending bill. Mr Musk campaigned to collapse the bill, saying it would add too much to the nation's $36.2 trillion in debt. Mr Trump broke his silence yesterday, telling reporters in the Oval Office he was "very disappointed" in Mr Musk. "Look, Elon and I had a great relationship. I don't know if we will anymore," Mr Trump said. While Mr Trump spoke, Mr Musk responded with increasingly acerbic posts on X. "Without me, Trump would have lost the election," wrote Mr Musk, who spent nearly $300 million backing President Trump and other Republicans in last year's election. "Such ingratitude." In another post, Mr Musk asserted that Mr Trump's signature tariffs would push the US into a recession later this year. Besides Tesla, Mr Musk's businesses include rocket company and government contractor SpaceX and its satellite unit Starlink. Mr Musk, whose space business plays a critical role in the US government's space programme, said that as a result of Mr Trump's threats he would begin decommissioning SpaceX's Dragon spacecraft. Dragon is the only US spacecraft currently capable of sending astronauts to the International Space Station. Hours later, Mr Musk appeared to reverse that move. Responding to a follower on X urging Mr Musk and Mr Trump to "cool off and take a step back for a couple of days," Mr Musk wrote: "Good advice. Ok, we won't decommission Dragon." In another possible sign of de-escalation yesterday evening, Mr Musk separately posted "You're not wrong," in response to hedge fund manager Bill Ackman saying President Trump and Mr Musk should make peace. Mr Trump told Politico, "Oh it's okay," and, "It's going very well, never done better," when asked about the public row, the news outlet reported. White House aides have scheduled a call today with Musk to broker a peace, Politico reported. The feud was not entirely unexpected. Mr Trump and Mr Musk are both political pugilists with a penchant for using social media to punch back against their perceived enemies, and many observers had predicted an eventual falling out. Even before Mr Musk's departure from the administration last week, his influence had waned following a series of clashes with cabinet members over his cuts to their agencies. For Mr Trump, the row was the first major rift he has had with a top advisor since taking office for a second time. Mr Trump parted ways with multiple chiefs of staff, national security advisors and political strategists during his 2017-2021 White House tenure. After serving as the biggest Republican donor in the 2024 campaign season, Mr Musk became one of Mr Trump's most visible advisors as head of the Department of Government Efficiency, which mounted a sweeping and controversial effort to downsize the federal workforce and slash spending. Mr Musk was frequently present at the White House and made multiple appearances on Capitol Hill, sometimes carrying his young son. Only six days before yesterday's blow-up, Mr Trump and Mr Musk held an appearance in the Oval Office where Mr Trump praised Mr Musk's government service and both men promised to continue working together. A prolonged feud between Mr Trump and Mr Musk could make it more difficult for Republicans to keep control of Congress in next year's midterm elections. In addition to his campaign spending, Mr Musk has a huge online following and helped connect Mr Trump to parts of Silicon Valley and wealthy donors. Mr Musk had already said he planned to curtail his political spending in the future. Soon after Mr Trump's Oval Office comments, Mr Musk polled his 220 million followers on X: "Is it time to create a new political party in America that actually represents the 80% in the middle?" 'Big beautiful bill' Mr Musk targeted what Mr Trump has named his "big, beautiful bill" this week, calling it a "disgusting abomination" that would deepen the federal deficit. His attacks amplified a rift within the Republican Party that could threaten the bill's prospects in the Senate. Nonpartisan analysts say Mr Trump's bill could add $2.4 trillion to $5 trillion to the nation's $36.2 trillion in debt. Mr Trump asserted that Mr Musk's true objection was the bill's elimination of consumer tax credits for electric vehicles. The president also suggested that Mr Musk was upset because he missed working for the White House. "He's not the first," Mr Trump said. "People leave my administration... then at some point they miss it so badly, and some of them embrace it and some of them actually become hostile." Mr Musk wrote on X, "KILL the BILL," adding he was fine with Mr Trump's planned cuts to EV credits as long as Republicans rid the bill of wasteful spending. He also pulled up past quotes from Mr Trump decrying the level of federal spending, adding, "Where is this guy today?" Mr Musk came into government with brash plans to cut $2 trillion from the federal budget. He left last week having cut only about half of 1% of total spending while causing disruption across multiple agencies. Mr Musk's increasing focus on politics provoked widespread protests at Tesla sites in the US and Europe, driving down sales while investors fretted that Mr Musk's attention was too divided.
Irish Times
3 hours ago
- Irish Times
Software firm behind Call of Duty's online services records €3.6m Irish profit
The Dublin-headquartered software company responsible for online services for the popular video game Call of Duty has recorded pretax profit of €3.57 million in Ireland. Demonware Ltd, which designs, develops and hosts the online services behind popular video game franchises, recorded a rise in revenues to €31.5 million in its latest, extended financial period. This was a 92 per cent increase from the €16.4 million revenue the company recorded in 2022, accounts filed with the Companies Registration Office show. The company reported figures for an 18-month period, encompassing January 2023 to June last year, following Microsoft's acquisition of its direct parent company, Activision Blizzard Inc, for $68.7 billion (€60 billion) in 2023. READ MORE Cost of sales stood at €24.3 million during the period, increasing by more than 80 per cent over the €13.3 million figure the year prior. Administrative expenses also rose, more than doubling from €1.63 million to €3.65 million. Staff costs rose from €13.26 million in 2022 to €24.3 million by June 2024, driven by share-based payments which doubled to €3 million and 'restructuring costs' of €493,000. Average monthly employees increased slightly, from 81 to 86, predominately computer programmers. [ Call of Duty owner Activision Blizzard records €2.5m profit in Ireland ] These rising costs were outweighed by increased revenues earned from running online services such as matchmaking, microtransactions and identity management of nearly 500 million users for its direct parent company on a costs-plus basis. Demonware Limited holds all of the shares in Canada-based Demonware Incorporated, which returned a profit of 14 million Canadian dollars (€9 million) for its financial period ending June 30 last year. Founded in Ireland in 2003 by entrepreneurs Dylan Collins and Sean Blanchfield, the company was acquired by Activision Blizzard in 2007 for a seven-figure sum, but it retains its headquarters in Dublin with offices in Vancouver and Shanghai.
Irish Times
3 hours ago
- Irish Times
You might think it's Your Friends & Neighbors, but And Just Like That... is the only true aspirational show on TV
Sometime in April a new fantasy dropped: a walk-in wardrobe swish enough for Jon Hamm to want to break into it. Hamm's role as Andrew 'Coop' Cooper, a sacked hedge-fund manager turned neighbourhood burglar, in Your Friends & Neighbors has been a rare source of unalloyed television pleasure this year, with each Friday episode notification from Apple TV+ becoming the starting pistol for the weekend. Still, forget what I said about wardrobes. This dark comedy with a dash of Dynasty might be set in a fictional 'exclusive hamlet' in New York state, but no one in their right mind would actually want to be one of the neighbours in Your Friends & Neighbors. They are, as Coop's conspiratorial voiceover tells us, 'assholes'. It makes for a fun blend of soap, satire and farce, but it's not aspirational, not unless you genuinely fancy being in the market for torn jeans that cost more than monthly rent. READ MORE The now completed, already renewed nine-parter, created by Jonathan Tropper, instead fits into the recent vogue for depicting the ultrawealthy as venal, ludicrous and unhappy, prompting chicken-and-egg questions about which came first, the money or the grasping personality. [ Your Friends & Neighbors: Jon Hamm is hilarious in this riotous, satirical romp Opens in new window ] To be clear, I loved it. Rich people have very funny problems sometimes. Perhaps their greatest flaw is their desire to hang around only with other rich people, which in Your Friends & Neighbors means going to parties organised by your ex-wife's new boyfriend. Westmont Village has those eye-popping American proportions going on but is as oppressive as elite enclaves come. Even the 'keeping up with the Joneses' theme-tune refrain is all pressure, no joy. Yes, how nice to have the time to laze about sharing local arrest gossip in a sauna with four other women wearing matching towels, but how claustrophobic, too. And who really wants to be a member of the sort of stultifying country club that won't stick by you when you're charged with murder? But at least Westmont Village isn't a five-star hotel so suffocating it would put you off the entire concept of holidays. In The White Lotus the lifestyles of the rich and tedious have their own hypnotic quality. I certainly felt as if I was being hypnotised into watching the third season's slow depiction of wellness hell. Never mind the gunfire. It was the forced phone-detoxing and poolside man-pests that were the true horror. That third run reaffirmed my long-held belief that there's never been a massage that hasn't been enlivened by some kind of security emergency. By the finale I felt sorry for the Thailand tourism authorities, who got such a raw deal compared to Taormina, in Sicily, the HBO show's second-season star. And that's the essence of this recent fashion for wealth porn. It's not aspirational lives we're watching, it's aspirational scenery. Maybe the more the real world falls apart, the more audiences – and producers – gravitate towards glimpses of picture-postcard unreality. In Netflix's Sirens , for instance, we're presented with an unnervingly pristine shoreline as the camera follows a perky personal assistant skipping up endless flights of beach steps to the Cliff House. This island mansion has a perfectly positioned swimming pool and grounds so enormous you need a buggy to drive around them. I don't recommend Sirens – it's not so much escapist as a series to escape – though it should be noted that it also possesses some enviably spacious walk-in wardrobe action. To access it, however, you must put up with Julianne Moore being creepy for the best part of five episodes. Never work for someone who might suddenly demand you procure a harp. [ Sirens review: An anaemic White Lotus cover that hits the right notes but has no tune of its own Opens in new window ] Speaking of work, it remains gloriously incidental to the only true aspirational show on television: the Sex and the City spin-off And Just Like That... Carrie Bradshaw, the never-knowingly-underwardrobed Manhattanite played by Sarah Jessica Parker , has rats in her back garden, but her back garden is in a Gramercy Park townhouse, where her new apartment is otherwise shaping up delightfully. Because real estate is no bother to Carrie, she has once again moved on from the rent-controlled studio apartment that Elle Decor has dubbed her 'emotional support brownstone'. [ And Just Like That... Season 3 review: Nostalgia served up like a gift box of premium cupcakes Opens in new window ] The women of And Just Like That... occasionally have to contend with woes such as malfunctioning alarms and demanding podcast producers, but they are radically content, in the main, with being rich. They know their money allows them to enjoy everything from eccentric headwear to ballet. They're free. This seems a good time to revisit remarks made in 2022 by Candace Bushnell , the columnist who inspired the original series, about how much she used to be paid. [ Candace Bushnell at the Ambassador: A fun, girly night out for Sex and the City fans Opens in new window ] In the 1990s she received $5,000 a month for writing the People Are Talking About column for Vogue. The New York Observer, home of Sex and the City, 'paid less', but she could afford that because of Vogue. Before these columns she would 'get an assignment for 3,000 words, $2 per word', which she described as 'failing'. Ah. Failure has never sounded so aspirational.
