🧭 Chaos, Charts & Capital Flows — Your Cheat Sheet to the Madness 📉

• 📈 Market Indices Update

• 📢 Top 3 Market Stories

• 🔎 Rich & Powerful Are Buying

• 🚀 Biggest Market Movers

• 💡 Visual of the Week

• 🐦 Tweets of the Week

📈 Market Indices Update

• S&P 500: ↓ 1.57% to 4,982 – Trade tensions and tariff announcements weighed heavily on equities.

• Dow Jones: ↓ 0.84% to 37,646 – Early optimism faded as new tariffs sparked investor caution.

• Nasdaq: ↓ 2.1% to 15,268 – Tech stocks dropped sharply on fears of international trade impacts.

• Gold (Spot $/Oz): ↑ 0.1% to $2,984/oz – Investors turned to safe-haven assets amid market uncertainty.

• 10-Yr Treasury Yd: ↑ 2.3% to 4.26% – Yields rose as inflation concerns resurfaced.

• EUR/USD: 1.0950 (-0.2%) – The euro dipped against the dollar amid global volatility.

• USD/JPY: ¥146.73 (-0.68%) – Yen strengthened as traders sought safer currencies.

• Bitcoin: ↓ 4.65% to $76,460 – Crypto markets slid further below key support levels.

🔍 Summary: Markets were already on shaky ground this week — and just when it looked like we might have hit bottom this morning, the sell-off came roaring back. Volatility is back in full force, and investors are scrambling to make sense of the chaos.

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📢 Top 3 Market Stories You Should Care About

​1️⃣ Global Trade War Heats Up: Markets in Freefall (source)

• S&P 500 tumbled 10% in just 2 days — the sharpest drop since 2020.

• Nasdaq entered bear market territory, down over 20% from February highs.

• China negotiations:

  • Trump is imposing a cumulative 104% duty on Chinese imports, going into effect tonight. ​

  • China hits back with 34% tariffs and rare earth export limits.

🔎 Why It Matters: This isn’t just saber-rattling anymore — it’s a full-blown trade war. Investors are bracing for real economic fallout. Is a global recession now on the table?

2️⃣ JPMorgan Raises Recession Odds to 60% (Source)

• JPM now sees a 60% chance of a U.S. recession, up from 40%.

• Tariffs, declining consumer confidence, slowing manufacturing are major red flags.

• Goldman Sachs and S&P Global echoed the shift in tone.

💡 Takeaway: When the biggest banks start waving the recession flag, markets tend to listen. Are we in the early innings of something much bigger?

3️⃣ Bond Market Breaks: Yields Surge, and It Hurts Everyone (Source)

• 📈 10-yr Treasury yield spiked from 3.87% to 4.22% — in one day.

• Sparked by panic selling + foreign governments dumping U.S. debt.

• That yield? It sets the tone for mortgages, credit cards, and business loans — all now more expensive.

💥 Why it stings:

• For you: Higher rates = pricier loans and slowing growth.

• For the U.S.: $34T in debt just got more expensive to refinance. More interest = less room for spending.

🔍 Key Question: Are investors losing faith in Uncle Sam’s credit card?

🔎 What 5 Rich & Powerful Are Buying

📈 Cathie Wood’s $ARK ( 0.0% ) Invest buys $NVDA ( ▼ 0.61% )  (Source)
• Bought 151,979 shares (~$14.8M) on April 7, 2025
• Rebuilding position after previous trims
• ARK doubling down on AI despite recent volatility

💰 Broadcom announces $10B buyback – $AVGO ( ▲ 0.21% ) (Source)
• New $10B repurchase program, active through Dec 2025
• Management showing confidence amid semiconductor selloff
• Follows strong earnings and M&A momentum

📈 Carl Icahn buys more $UAN ( ▲ 0.49% ) – CVR Partners (Source)
• Bought 12,434 shares this week (~$855K)
• Now owns 3.8M+ units as stock nears 52-week low
• Dividend yield over 10% — Icahn betting on a rebound

💊 ING Group ramps up buyback – $INGA.AS (Source)
• Bought ~4M shares last week for €70.2M
• Part of a €2B buyback program (78% completed)
• Focused on boosting EPS and reducing share count

🚀 Oscar Munoz buys $CRM ( ▼ 1.54% )  – Salesforce (Source)
• Board member bought 3,882 shares (~$1M) on April 3
• Known for well-timed insider buys
• Reinforces confidence amid cloud-sector pullback

🔍 Big money is making moves — watch these stocks for potential momentum shifts!

🚀 Biggest Market Movers

📈 Top 3 Winners

• $UNH ( ▼ 1.27% ) – Medicare and Medicaid announced higher-than-expected hike for government payments.

• $CVS ( ▼ 1.3% ) – It expects to meet or exceed its previous outlook for 2025

• $LMT ( ▼ 0.21% ) – Vietnam will buy US defense products in an effort to close its trade gap.

📉 Top 3 Losers

• $MSTR ( ▲ 0.4% ) – Bitcoin pullback hits MicroStrategy hard

• $AAPL ( ▲ 0.53% ) – China exposure in producing and selling the iPhone. Lost 20% in past 3 trading days.

• $TLRY ( ▼ 3.28% ) - posted weaker-than-expected third-quarter results.

💡 Visual of the Week:
Visualizing Chinese EV Market Share Overseas

China holds 62% of the global EV market, but its grip varies widely depending on the country.

• 🇧🇷 Brazil: 82% of EVs are Chinese-made

• 🇹🇭 Thailand: 77%

• 🇲🇽 Mexico: 70%

• 🇮🇩 Indonesia: 75%

• 🇲🇾 Malaysia: 52%

• 🇳🇵 Nepal: 74%

At the same time, China has zero presence in:

• 🇺🇸 United States (thanks to 100% tariffs)

• 🇨🇦 Canada

• 🇨🇭 Switzerland

Even in mature auto markets:

• 🇯🇵 Japan: 2%

• 🇩🇪 Germany: 4%

• 🇫🇷 France: 5%

• 🇬🇧 UK: 7%

💡 Takeaway: China’s EV giants are dominating emerging markets. As protectionist policies rise, will Chinese automakers find ways around trade barriers?

🐦 Tweets of the Week

We’ve had enough charts and chaos — time for a little humor to survive the selloff: