Good Morning! Grab your coffee—you're going to need it. Stock markets are plunging faster than you can say "tariff wars", and President Trump's latest moves have investors worldwide reaching for antacids.

In Today's newsletter, we're diving deep into:

• Tariff Tantrum: Trump's hefty tariffs spark a worldwide market meltdown.

• Tech Troubles: How Trump's trade moves are putting Asian tech giants like TSMC and Nintendo on thin ice.

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Trump’s Tariff Gambit Rattles Global Markets

There are weeks when markets flutter. And then there are weeks like this — when they nosedive.

As trading kicked off in Asia on Monday morning, what we witnessed wasn’t just a market correction or a run-of-the-mill jitter. It was a full-fledged rout — the kind that evokes memories of 2008, or even the infamous crash of '87. It wasn’t sparked by inflation data or some murky earnings report. No, this was different. This was presidential.

Japan’s Nikkei dropped over 8 percent before breakfast. Australia lost more than 6 percent. Hong Kong and Taiwan? Down 10 percent in minutes. And the mood — frantic, uncertain, almost shell-shocked — was unmistakable.

What set this avalanche in motion? One man, one move: President Trump’s abrupt escalation of tariffs late last week, matched almost immediately by China’s retaliatory strike. Investors didn’t just blink. They panicked.

Now, if you’ve followed markets long enough, you know there’s often a disconnect between politics and price action — but not this time. The tariffs — and Trump’s vow to keep them in place until “they pay us a lot of money” — felt less like negotiation and more like a declaration. Of what, exactly, isn’t yet clear. But for investors, the signal was blaring: risk just got repriced.

And priced harshly.

I’ll admit, I felt a pit in my stomach watching Taiwan Semiconductor plunge nearly 10 percent — a company that practically powers the digital world. Or seeing Foxconn, Apple’s linchpin supplier, tumble in tandem. Tech is the beating heart of the Asian economy. Watching it bleed like this? That’s not just market turbulence — it’s an alarm.

Meanwhile, in the U.S., S&P futures were down 4 percent by Sunday night. The Nasdaq, already officially in bear territory, looks poised to slide further. Copper — often a bellwether for global growth — is off 5 percent. Oil’s following suit. This isn’t isolated. This is systemic.

But perhaps most disturbing of all: this isn’t driven by economic fundamentals. It’s policy — intentional, and to some degree, ideological. Trump appears unfazed, even defiant. Inflation? “Not going to be a big deal,” he said from Air Force One. The markets? “They’ll bounce.”

History suggests they might. But at what cost?

Already, CEOs are warning of higher prices. Automakers are pulling back production. Consumers, seeing what’s coming, are bracing — maybe pulling back on discretionary spending. And if that behavior spreads? Well, that’s how recessions begin.

We’re teetering at the edge of something bigger than a market correction. This is about trust. Stability. Predictability. The pillars on which the global economy stands.

So, what now? For investors, there’s a hard reckoning underway. The tariffs are real. The economic impact, already showing up in the data, could intensify. A 17.4 percent drop in the S&P from February’s peak tells part of the story — but not all of it.

The full narrative? That’s still being written. But one thing’s for certain: markets aren’t just reacting. They’re screaming.

And right now, nobody seems to be listening.

Nintendo’s bad week

As I watched markets unravel on Monday, it was impossible to ignore the sharp descent of Nintendo and Sony shares in Tokyo—plunging more than 10%—a direct consequence, no doubt, of President Trump's freshly intensified rhetoric on trade tariffs. Honestly, it was quite startling, not just because of the percentages, but because of how suddenly market confidence can evaporate with merely a presidential remark or two.

Nintendo’s timing couldn’t have been worse—just after unveiling their highly anticipated next-gen Switch 2. With North America responsible for nearly half of the company's sales during the holiday season, the sudden pause on American pre-orders felt like a particularly painful blow. Of course, who can blame them? When you’ve got production centered in China and Vietnam, you're looking squarely at tariff rates that might soon eclipse 46%. Ouch .

The president, speaking candidly from Air Force One, doubled down on his vision for trade: balancing the books or better, aiming unapologetically for surpluses. His comment—"to me, a deficit is a loss"—is about as blunt a message as you’ll ever hear in international economics. And let me admit something—I felt a pang of sympathy for global firms caught in the crossfire.

Companies like Rakuten and SoftBank weren’t spared either, each tumbling over 12% amid fears about their export-driven revenue streams. Even more unsettling was watching chip-sector heavyweights, Advantest and Disco, slide even deeper into negative territory, underscoring just how sensitive tech manufacturing remains to geopolitical tremors.

Reflecting on all of this, I find myself deeply aware of the delicate threads holding global commerce together. This isn’t simply a story of market volatility—it's a vivid reminder that behind every percentage point lost, there’s a broader narrative about trade, politics, and the vulnerability of even the most robust corporate strategies.

Headline Roundup

• British Carmaker Jaguar Land Rover Pauses Shipments to U.S.

• UK wealth managers say American clients are moving money to Britain

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DISCLAIMER: None of this is financial advice. This newsletter should be used for discussion, education, and illustrative purposes only and should not be construed as professional financial advice, solicitation, or recommendation