The euphoria even of Trump's most loyal supporters has given way to real panic. Trump had said when he arrived at the White House that he would change things, but the bloodbath of these days and yesterday in particular is definitely beyond imagination. His mantra Make America Great Again, with its pro-growth program that included tax cuts and deregulation that would have favored stocks, now clashes with the policy of duties, the cuts to the federal workforce, but above all the disregard shown even with respect to the possibility of a recession: this has scared companies, consumers and investors, but also the same Trump's friendsYesterday they were $4 trillion wiped out since the S&P 500 peaked last month, when Wall Street was still cheering much of Trump's agenda. The so-called “Trump trade” is in full retreat and the “Trump put”, that is, the expectation that the president might be sensitive to stock market declines, does not exist at the moment. The 4% decline in the Nasdaq was the steepest in the last two and a half years. bond yields have fallen sharply and markets are now pricing in a 50% chance that the Fed will cut rates in May. The poster child for the crash is Tesla stock, which has halved from its post-election peaks, but the dollar is also in retreat. Bitcoin is also heavy, which slipped below $80.000 to its lowest since last November.
Trump's Billionaire Friends Have Lost $209 Billion
When Donald Trump lent oath on January 20, was joined by some of the world's richest people. Billionaires present that day, including Elon Musk, Jeff Bezos and Mark Zuckerberg, they had never been so rich, flush with huge gains from soaring stock markets. Seven weeks later, the story is different. The start of Trump's second term has brought a surprising turnaround for many of those billionaires sitting behind Trump in the Capitol Rotunda, with five of them who have collectively lost $209 billion in wealth, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index.
Wall Street Collapses. Citi Downgrades US, Hedge Funds Flee
Last night, after a dramatic day for Wall Street, Citi downgraded its recommendation on asset allocation in the United States, cutting stocks from “overweight” to “neutral” and upgraded its view on equities Chinese to “overweight,” saying that at least for the next few months it is unclear whether the U.S. economy's outperformance can continue. In addition, a note from Goldman Sachs published yesterday evening warns that the hedge funds have reduced their exposure to equities by the largest amount in more than two years. Analysts at Deutsche Bank They wrote in a note that investors' stock positioning has declined in recent weeks, settling into a slightly underweight level for the first time since briefly hitting that level in August. A further decline below the historical range for stock weighting, as seen during Trump's 2018-2019 U.S.-China trade war, could drag down the S&P 500 up to 5.300, or a further drop of 5,5% compared to current levels, they added.
After the uncertainties accumulated in recent days due to Trump's imposition of tariffs, analysts say that the straw that broke the camel's back was Trump's interview over the weekend in which he demonstrated not caring faced with the possibility that the world's largest economy could fall into recession.
The benchmark S & P 500 fell 2,7% yesterday, its biggest one-day decline of the year, accumulating a -8,6% from the all-time high on February 19 and losing more than $4 trillion in market value since then. The Nasdaq Composite fell 4%, its biggest daily decline since September 2022, and is down 10% from last week’s December peak. The S&P 500 has posted consecutive gains of more than 20% in 2023 and 2024, led by technology and technology-related stocks such as Nvidia and Tesla.
The Bloomberg index that groups the Magnificent Seven lost -5,4%, recording one of the worst sessions in its history and returning to levels it had not seen since September. Since January 2025, 16, it has lost -XNUMX%. Yesterday Apple e Nvidia They both fell by about 5%. Tesla has fallen by 15%, losing about 125 billion dollars in value: since Trump's election, Tesla had grown by +120% until the record on December 20 and since that day it has lost -55%. In the action Delta Air Lines After Hours cut its first-quarter profit forecast in half, sending its shares down 14%. CEO Ed Bastian blamed heightened U.S. economic uncertainty.
Tariffs backfire on the economy
Investors are increasingly concerned about the effects of Donald Trump's policies on the American economy, fearing an economic slowdown or even a setback due to tariffs. The entry into force of Chinese tariffs on some agricultural and food products Americans and the threat of the Canadian state of Ontario cut off electricity to the United States – targeting neighboring states of New York, Minnesota and Michigan – are fueling fears of an all-out trade war.
On the horizon, investors are watching to see whether lawmakers will pass a funding bill to avoid a partial shutdown of the federal government, as an inflation report looms on Wednesday. Tariffs are also hurting the U.S.
Asia in moderate decline. Good prospects for China
I Asian markets have done their best to revive the situation, helped also by the fact that all markets outside the United States could benefit from any repatriation flows of abandoned US assets.
The index Tokyo Nikkei loses 1,6% and hits the lowest level since September, while the yen strengthens to 147,1, from 147,7 the day before, the highest since October 2024. The Japanese government has revised downwards the expansion of the gross domestic product for the October-December period, from 0,7% quarter-on-quarter to 0,6%, due to weaker-than-expected data on domestic consumption and exports. Household consumption, which accounts for nearly 60% of Japan's GDP, stagnated in the final quarter of the year.
China stocks are down, but away from overnight lows. Hang Seng in Hong Kong -0,8%. CSI 300 of Shanghai Shenzhen lists -0,5%. Taipei Taiex -1,5%. Some analysts see the possibility of increases in the Chinese market, due to the progress in theartificial intelligence and government support to the technology sector, while valuations are still affordable.
The US president may travel to China in April to meet his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping, at a time when the two powers have tense relations due to their trade disputes, according to a Hong Kong newspaper South China Morning Post. The bag of the South Korea is falling, Kospi index -1%. Just below parity, at the start of the session, the stock market of India.
European bonds remain under pressure: keep an eye on Germany
While US Treasuries saw significant buying, pushing the 4,18-year yield to XNUMX%, a three-month low, tensions remained high on European government bonds which look at the developments in Germany. The German greens have announced that they do not intend to provide the votes needed for parliament to approve the debt brake reform that limits the government's borrowing capacity to 0,35% of GDP. "The presidency of the parliamentary group will recommend that MPs not vote for this project," Green group leader Katharina Dröge told the press, explaining that for the party, the investments announced in defense and the economy by prime minister-designate Friedrich Merz do not represent the real motivation for the reform of the debt rules. If the Greens were to confirm their refusal, Merz may not have a two-thirds majority necessary to approve the constitutional changes requests for this unprecedented spending program. The performance of the XNUMX-year German Bund remained at 2,83% as well as that of the ten-year BTP remained at 3,96%, with the spread at 112 basis points.
European stocks attempt to rebound
In Europe, a slight rebound is attempted, while the Wall Street Future is +0,2%. Focus on companies:
Generali Francesco Gaetano Caltagirone, most likely, aims to have up to six board members elected at the next assembly of the Trieste-based company, but does not intend to propose a new candidate for the role of CEO. This is according to two sources and a third person familiar with the matter.
Unicredit It would be close to 8% of Generali and according to some rumours at the meeting it could support a possible list of Assogestioni, even if it has not yet made any decisions, he writes The print. Commerzbank disclosed that Bank Of America held a 4% stake in the German institution as of March 10,16, through voting rights and derivatives. The German bank is in the sights of Unicredit, which at the end of 2024 accumulated a stake of almost 30% in the bank led by Bettina Orlopp, through shares and derivatives.
Italgas The Antitrust Authority has announced that it has authorised Italgas to purchase 2i Rete Gas, subjecting the operation to compliance with divestment and behavioural measures.
Iveco and Ford Trucks join forces to co-develop a new heavy-duty truck cab. The agreement, which follows the memorandum of understanding signed in March 2024, marks the beginning of an operational collaboration that aims to strengthen the competitiveness of both brands.
Leonardo Board of Directors' meeting to discuss the balance sheet (preliminary reports published on 20 February) and industrial plan update; conference call to follow (17,30:XNUMX p.m.).
nexi It signed a 2,9 billion financing, increasing the initial amount of the 2 billion IPO facilities that were expiring in 2026, and to be refinanced.
Prysmian UBS upgrades to Buy.
Buzzi JPMorgan raises target from 46 to 55 euros.
Campari Intesa and Stifel lower their targets to 6,50 and 8,50 euros respectively.
Saipem Board of Directors balance sheet (preliminary results published on February 25).
Danieli The steelmaking group and nuclear energy innovator Newcleo have signed a memorandum of understanding to study the integration of Newcleo's lead-cooled fast reactors (LFRs) with Danieli's steelmaking technology in a move to advance the union of green steelmaking with nuclear power generation.
Rai Way The tower company owned by F2i and Mfe MFEB.MI has reportedly asked its creditor banks to extend an existing 2027 million loan to 633. This is what was written The messenger.
Saint Lawrence The group closes 2024 with a net result of 103,1 million euros, up 11,1% on an annual basis, higher than the maximum of the 2024 Guidance range (99-101 million).
