Worst First Presidential 100 Days Since 1974

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From the Bloomberg Markets Daily email newsletter I received this morning:

 

100 days of whiplash

 

Donald Trump promised Americans a “boom like no other” if they elected him president. But based on the stock market’s performance during his first 100 days in office, it depends on what you mean by “boom.”

 

The action certainly has been explosive — just not in the way investors were hoping. By April 30, Trump will have closed out his first 100 days in office. Despite last week’s rally, the S&P 500 Index is down about 8% since his inauguration and on track for its worst run during a president’s first 100 days since Gerald Ford in 1974, following Richard Nixon’s resignation.

 

“It was whiplash after whiplash after whiplash,” said Dave Lutz, macro strategist at JonesTrading and a 30-year Wall Street veteran.

 

Few on Wall Street saw the U-turn coming after two straight years of over 20% gains and what was expected to be a pro-growth agenda.

 

The uncertainty over tariffs, combined with the administration’s aggressive push to deport undocumented workers and its mass firings of federal employees, unnerved investors and sent the S&P 500 spinning into its seventh-fastest correction since 1929. 

 

“It was an extreme, for-the-textbooks, systematic risk in its purest form,” said Mark Malek, chief investment officer at Siebert. “The volatility has been wholly different from anything we have experienced in the past, and it indiscriminately spread through all sectors and asset classes like a wildfire, constantly being fueled by random sound bites and shifting policy moves.”

 

Traders went all in on the America First bet immediately after Trump’s election victory, sending the S&P 500 to its best post-election gain ever. The thinking was the administration would loosen regulations and lower taxes, which would boost growth. But the president has instead focused on his tariff fight, sending markets spinning with each new announcement of levies on trade partners.

 

The S&P 500 lost more than 10% in two sessions earlier this month after Trump imposed the steepest US tariffs in a century on April 2. It then soared a week later when the administration reversed direction and delayed most of the duties for 90 days. Stocks have bounced around since then, but traders have struggled to find a direction.

 

“What he was elected for was ‘Make America Great Again,’ the ‘economy will be booming,’” said Eric Diton, president and managing director at Wealth Alliance. “But all the trade uncertainty has actually detracted from economic growth.” —Esha Dey

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Never mind. Columbus Day will soon be on us.