A new Forbes survey of Wall Street heavyweights shows many who supported Trump’s economic promises have abandoned him – and a vast majority disapprove of the President’s economic policies. More than two months into Donald Trump’s term, with details of his “Liberation Day” regimen revealed this week, Forbes reached out to 50 top Wall Street leaders, including billionaire investors, major institutional asset managers and the nation’s largest wealth advisors, to gauge their support for the president’s economic strategies. The 50 respondents, chosen for their outsized influence, reinforced the recent market tumult. Among these Wall Street heavyweights – more than half…

President Donald Trump formally declared “Tariff Liberation Day” this week—and with it, a seismic shift in U.S. trade policy. The newly signed Executive Order, issued April 2, 2025, imposes a blanket 10% tariff on all imports, with elevated country-specific duties—34% for China, 46% for Vietnam, 24% for Japan and 20% for the European Union. The justification? Persistent trade imbalances that, in the President’s view, pose an “extraordinary threat” to America’s national and economic security. While the stated goal is to level the playing field and reignite domestic manufacturing, I’d be remiss not to acknowledge the risks. Tariffs are, after all,…

The DividendRank formula at Dividend Channel ranks a coverage universe of thousands of dividend stocks, according to a proprietary formula designed to identify those stocks that combine two important characteristics — strong fundamentals and a valuation that looks inexpensive. Apple presently has an above average rank, in the top 50% of the coverage universe, which suggests it is among the top most “interesting” ideas that merit further research by investors. 10 Oversold Dividend Stocks » But making Apple Inc an even more interesting and timely stock to look at, is the fact that in trading on Thursday, shares of AAPL…

The economy is slowing. And if you believe that these tariff-tapping brakes are going to land us in a recession, these muni bonds (with tax-equivalent yields up to 12.4%) are for you. This is the time to recession-proof our retirement holdings. The new administration appears to want to get a slowdown “out of the way” early. Atlanta’s GDPNow forecast says the economy is already shrinking: Meanwhile the latest University of Michigan consumer sentiment report shows that confidence is falling fast. The index dropped to 57.9 in March—its lowest level since November 2022. Back then we were emerging from a sharp…

Trade wars, on-again off-again tariffs, “liberation day”, and rising geopolitical tensions are roiling markets. With uncertainty and volatility through the roof, it’s a great time to remember Warren Buffet’s famous saying, “be fearful when others are greedy, and be greedy when others are fearful.” For a long time, the market has been “greedy”, riding the coattails of momentum and meme trading. Those were the easy trading days. Almost every stock went up no matter how good or bad the underlying business was. It is nice when markets are easy. Unfortunately, easy markets cannot last forever. So far in 2025, we’re…

Yesterday, President Trump announced sweeping new tariffs on imports from many of our trading partners. Thus, Trump’s tariffs spark global selloff in stock markets around the world and increase the risk of recession. How bad could it get? How long will it last? In the past few years, stocks have risen substantially. The recent tariff announcement will change that – at least for the short term. Global stock markets are reacting negatively to the added tariffs. How long it will last is unknown, but for perspective, stocks should not fall nearly as much as they did during the 2008 recession.…

Key News Asian equities were lower overnight following President Trump’s “Liberation Day” tariff announcements. Vietnam and Japan were hit hard, while Taiwan and Indonesia picked the right day to be closed. Hong Kong, Mainland China, and South Korea were all off, but quite resilient as all markets were down less than -2%. I think it is important to note that both Mainland China and Hong Kong will be closed tomorrow. In the twelve years of studying this market and seven or eight years writing China Last Night, today’s market action doesn’t make the top ten drawdowns by a long shot.…

How Smart Money is Reacting Warren Buffett was 10 years old when the Japanese started a war with the United States, and he was 71 when Al Qaeda bombed the US using its own commercial airplanes. The US has always been the country that did not start wars. Did not seek conquest. Did not demand reparations. Did not exact revenge beyond what justice required. In the quiet corridors of Berkshire Hathaway’s modest headquarters in Omaha, the Oracle himself shared his thoughts about the latest economic saber-rattling with the calm demeanor that has guided investors through countless storms. At 94, Buffett…

Moody’s enjoys a strong competitive positions and has solid near-term growth prospect By Blue Chip Portfolios Summary Moody’s shares have proved an excellent investment over the past decade The company enjoys strong competitive advantages due to limited competition The stock has been a longtime holding of Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway I view the stock as attractive at current levels Shares of Moody’s Corporation (MCO, Financial) have come under selling pressure lately amid concerns of a broader economic slowdown. The stock has been a long-time holding of Warren Buffett and has delivered excellent long-term results for shareholders. Over the past 10…

President Donald Trump surprised global markets with his much-anticipated announcement of sweeping import tariffs. While most investors expected the White House to implement reciprocal tariff rates, the final plan resembled a worst-case scenario. The tariffs were significantly higher than anticipated, leaving investors worried about the implications. The executive order outlined both a universal tariff of 10% and a country-by-country tariff with some exemptions. Rates will apply uniformly to all non-exempt products rather than varying by product and were based on perceived total trade barriers for each country. Total trade barriers include actual tariff rates plus non-tariff measures that can impact…