This was nothing if not a choppy, holiday-shortened week.
Markets opened on Tuesday to the news that European tariffs of 50%, which had been called for just three days earlier, were now on hold. And traders seized on the news to develop a new term: the TACO Trade, short for Trump Always Chickens Out.
TACO could be considered this year's version of Buy the Dip.
Tariffs made news later in the week when the U.S. Court of International Trade ruled that Trump had overstepped his power in using the International Emergency Economic Powers Act to enact his so-called Liberation Day tariffs.
By Thursday, tariffs were back on when an appeals court issued a stay of the district court's block while it mulled the case.
TOPSHOT - Traders work on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange at the opening bell on April 3, 2025. (Photo: Charly Triballeau/AFP via Getty Images) CHARLY TRIBALLEAU/Getty Images
Do you see how this is going? All this back and forth led to a choppy market. It's not one where investors can make long-term decisions. It's probably profitable for traders who are nimble enough to take quick profits. A choppy market.
Let's check the numbers.
ThinkOrSwim
Today, stocks were flat to down. Even the CBOE VIX, which normally increases when stocks drop, declined.
With a last value of 18.57, the VIX suggests that volatility is currently expected to be relatively muted.
The dollar was up, gold and crude down.
For the past five days, stocks were up around 1%, most of the gain occuring Tuesday morning, as mentioned above. Bonds, gold, and crude were all higher this week.
So, how are stocks doing?
Across the US exchanges, stocks were lower today by about 2:1. For every gainer, there were two losers.
For the entire week, the picture was a little rosier. Still mixed, but the S&P 500 constituent heat map looks like there were some good winners, including among stocks that most of us might own. In other words, breadth was decent.
1 Week Performance is Shown In this Heat MapFinviz
But really, how's the US doing? Well, the best measure of how we're doing is to look at the bond market. And traders, including foreign, bought US debt this week.
Bond Prices Were Up This WeekThinkOrSwim
The top chart is the US 10-Year Treasury and the bottom is the US 30-Year. These represent the long end of the Treasury Yield Curve and it's nice to see investors believing in the long-term future of the US. Not shown is the price of the US 2-Year, which also saw strong demand.
But Doug Kass, a prominent hedge-fund manager who writes for TheStreet Pro, last week mentioned that trouble could be brewing. Pricing for US debt credit default swaps -- a fancy name for insurance policies against default -- have been on the rise. In other words, investors are trying to protect themselves against a possible US default.
He noted today that JP Morgan CEO Jamie Dimon agrees with him that the US is now being considered to be as risky as Italy and Greece!
Next week, we've got a few things to look forward to:
Earnings include Broadcom (AVGO) on Thursday and everybody's favorite meme stock, GameStop (GME) , on Friday.
Economic reports will include ISM and PMI data as well as jobless numbers.
I hope you have a wonderful weekend.
Updated at 11:30 am ET
It's a bit of a choppy morning on Wall Street. Stocks opened lower after the president tweeted that China had "totally violated its agreement with us."
Breadth was weak, too, with 80% of S&P 500 stocks on the decline. At the same time, the index is well off the day's lows. As the heat map shows, it's a mixed day.
finviz
In the upper right corner is Costco (COST) . The warehouse-club retailer's shares are higher following yesterday's earnings and revenue report, which beat expectations. Although the reaction was muted in after-hours trading, the shares are up 3% on strong volume.
This shouldn't be a surprise to members of TheStreet Pro. Our Bob Lang wrote Tuesday that Costco shares were primed to hit new highs following the earnings report.
Costco is also viewed positively within TheStreet Pro's Portfolio, and although we don't currently own it there, it's a stock we would like to buy on pullbacks.
Another stock that's up is the data-analytics-software provider Palantir (PLTR) . That's a stock favored by TheStreet Pro's Stephen "Sarge" Guilfoyle. It's trading just below all-time highs.
Alex Karp, chief executive of Palantir. The stock is a favorite of TheStreet Pro's Stephen 'Sarge' Guilfoyle. Photo: David Paul Morris/Bloomberg via Getty ImagesBloomberg/Getty Images
At the same time, Sarge reports that he's taken some profits in Palantir and other tech names. He still likes the stock, but is a trader at heart.
You won't go broke taking a profit!
Stock Market Today
The weekend is almost here! We're expected to have a lovely one in Colorado. I hope yours will be similarly wonderful.
I wasn't planning to start the day with a tweet, but let's do it.
This has prompted what was a fairly flat market to drop today. As I write this, S&P futures are down 33 points. The Nasdaq is lower by 130, and crude oil is now down 52 cents after being about 70 cents higher.
Here's an overnight chart of the S&P 500.
ThinkOrSwim
It's hard to tell now if we're in for a wild ride today or whether traders are having a level of fatigue and will watch before making further reactions.
In the meantime, we just got today's big economic news. The PCE Index, short for Personal Consumption Expenditures Index, is a measure of inflation. The Bureau of Economic Analysis reports that April's PCE increased by $47.8 billion, or 0.2%, which was 2.1% higher than a year earlier but lower than the 2.3% expectation.
In other words, inflation is cooling.
The PCE is the Federal Reserve's preferred benchmark for prices as it determines interest-rate policy.
BEA.GOV
Premarket most actives include Nvidia (NVDA) , which had been down as much 1.4% but is now 0.4% lower.
Jim Cramer attributes the dip to "meme money," which, to be honest, is driving so much of our markets these days.
And hey, while we're at it, let's talk Tesla (TSLA) . Well, Elon Musk, actually. Today is expected to be the billionaire's last day in office as his official time with Doge comes to an end. Expect a news conference later this afternoon from the Oval Office with Musk and President Trump.
However, the New York Times reports today that Musk used heavy amounts of drugs while on the campaign trail last fall with Trump. In fact, the paper reports, his use of ketamine was so great that he suffered from bladder problems, a known effect of chronic use.
As Musk integrates himself back into Tesla leadership, shareholders will likely question him on this and it could become an issue.
Musk in Green Bay, Wis., on March 30, 2025.Scott Olson/Getty Images
