This time, it’s official. The Nasdaq has entered correction territory. It narrowly avoided punishment two days ago, but now it’s done. Once again, blame it on tariffs and blame it on one company—Marvell—which didn’t release an optimistic enough guidance, triggering a broad sell-off in the AI sector and the Magnificent Seven.

So, naturally, when the BIGGEST SUPPORTS of the market let you down, there’s not much to hope for. However, when you lean back in your office chair and take a step back, you realize that the market is completely insane and should probably seek professional help. Unless it’s Trump who should be consulting a specialist.

The Weathervane

Yes, no, because let’s be honest. The President doesn’t know what he wants when it comes to tariffs—he changes his mind every three minutes, and in the end, we don’t even know if it’s “good” or “bad” news. Uncertainty takes over, and when uncertainty dominates, people generally sell everything and wait for things to calm down. That’s pretty much what happened yesterday with tariffs—especially in the U.S. And that’s what we’re going to try to make sense of.

Because, to be honest, if I rely on the latest updates from the White House, Trump had ONCE AGAIN put some tariffs on hold. That should have been positive news. But I think people are just fed up with the President’s constant flip-flopping—he treats us like his puppets. Fundamentally, the market isn’t exactly thrilled about Trump slapping tariffs on 194 other countries because it could slightly drive inflation up. But at least we can handle it when it’s a clear government decision that we have to work around.

Of course, we’d prefer if he didn’t impose tariffs at all—that would be even better. But what we’re struggling with more and more is the constant reversals. At first, he changed his mind twice a week. Now, it’s almost twice a day.

Let’s quickly recap the situation regarding tariffs on Mexico and Canada. At first, he slapped a 25% tariff on them—no discussion. Forty-eight hours later, he delayed implementation by 30 days. Both countries made efforts, but not enough, and 30 days later, he enforced the tariffs—this was on Tuesday. On Wednesday, he made a U-turn and exempted car manufacturers. Yesterday, he exempted fertilizer imports. Then, he spoke with the Mexican President—and flipped again. Once more, tariffs on Mexico were postponed until April. But not Canada. At least not right away, because after so many exemptions on Canadian goods, it’s basically like he made a U-turn there too.

And then, just recently, he reiterated his intention to tax steel.

IN THE MARKETS, THERE’S ONE THING WE CAN’T STAND: instability and nonsense headlines coming from all directions.

A Weathervane on a Carousel on a Boat in the Middle of a Storm

If you want an example of uncertainty, just look at the global markets. Depending on Trump’s statements, Europe closed higher at 5:30 PM because investors were happy he loosened the grip on tariffs. Then, by 10:00 PM, the U.S. markets got crushed because Trump changed his mind another 22 times, and traders decided to throw in the towel before taking a beating—something like Apollo Creed getting destroyed by Ivan Drago in Rocky IV.

Now, to be perfectly fair, the U.S. market didn’t drop only because of tariff chaos. Marvell’s earnings report hit the tech sector hard. That wasn’t uncertainty—it was just investors overreacting. And I say “overreacting” because, looking strictly at Marvell’s numbers and expectations, the results were either better than expected or in line with estimates.

But the problem? Marvell’s guidance was in line, while experts expected it to be better!

Well, maybe you should have said your expectations were higher, GENIUS!

It’s like telling everyone your dream salary is $300,000 a year, then getting hired at that amount but going home miserable because you hoped for more! Everyone wants to slap you for that kind of attitude!

In the end, Marvell lost 20%, and the entire tech sector took a hit just because Marvell was good—but apparently, it would have been better with one less “L” in its name and a more “Captain America” guidance…

And at this point, as I often say: why didn’t I study psychology instead of finance?! I’d probably be more useful analyzing the Nasdaq on my couch than on my trading screens.

Because if we go back to yesterday’s tariffs, fundamentally, Trump’s latest announcement isn’t that bad. It’s just that we’re exhausted from the constant back-and-forth, knowing full well that another round of tariff decisions will come in a month anyway.

We’re simply FED UP with this nonsense and hesitation.

It’s affecting volatility and everything else. Right now, we just want to go on vacation and check back later when we can have rational trading days based on macroeconomics—not the neuroses of a politician who doesn’t even know who he wants to be mad at anymore.

Right now, tariff policy feels like getting a band-aid ripped off—except instead of one quick pull, it’s peeled off slowly, then halfway through, it’s stuck back on, and we start all over again!

I think we can officially say that the market has had “ENOUGH” of these tariffs. And that’s the polite version!

Still a Party in Europe

Meanwhile, in Europe, it’s still party time. Especially in Brussels, where the valiant knights of the European roundtable gathered in Belgium to worship and glorify the almighty Zelensky. And, of course, so that Macron and Zelensky could have some “quality time” together.

So, the European markets handled yesterday’s session relatively well and weren’t as shaken by Trump’s temporary tariff adjustments. To be fair, we should also note that the ECB did cut interest rates, which should help buy a few more guns and cannons.

But then Lagarde came out and said that all these massive infrastructure and rearmament expenses “COULD” bring inflation back.

Yeah, no kidding!

It’s almost funny—governments are about to blow a fortune rebuilding the Maginot Line and reenacting La Grande Vadrouille in European form. They’re going to spend so much money on military gear that commissions will bring in billions, and, of course, they won’t negotiate prices—THERE’S AN URGENCY!

Not to mention that arms manufacturers can’t keep up with demand, so we’re about to burn through cash like crazy, pay top dollar, and then spend our kickbacks at LVMH…

So yeah, inflation is probably going to spike, and besides going to war, we’ll also be paying more for a kilo of broccoli.

But whatever.

The ECB cut rates, Germany has no room to cut further, everyone wants to buy European defense companies, and we were all pretty happy that Trump changed his mind on tariffs eight times yesterday.

Oh, and Air France/KLM absolutely crushed expectations, soaring 30%. Deutsche Post had a killer quarter, jumping 14%.

That’s a far cry from the AI stocks and the MAGSEVEN getting wrecked yesterday.

Of course, I know writing this here is pointless because right now, we only think 35 minutes ahead, but some experts are starting to say the ECB could pause at their next meeting on April 16-17.

But I know—we don’t care. Because, you see… war is life!

Elsewhere in Asia

In Asia, as usual, Japan followed the American approach, and they didn’t like Trump the Weathervane when it came to tariffs. The Nikkei is down 2%. In Hong Kong and Shanghai, gains are moderate, and we’re expecting important data next week, along with continued government stimulus. As a result, there are no more sellers in the Chinese market—too afraid to short.

On the commodities side, oil is still struggling but trying to hold on. In my view, support levels are broken, OPEC is set to increase production, Trump wants a low barrel price, and he’s looking to drill anywhere he can—even in the Oval Office if it’s worth it. It’s hard to see how the trend reverses in the short term. This morning, oil is at $66.37 per barrel, and gold is at $2,917.

And then, there’s Bitcoin and crypto.

Trump’s New Crypto Order

I’ve talked a lot about tariffs, and you might have thought Trump focused only on that yesterday. But no, the Super-President with his Super-Powers had other plans. By the way, I think I saw in the latest Captain America that the President can transform into Red Hulk—maybe the last Marvel Studios film is actually a documentary.

All this to say that Trump once again found the time to sign an executive order—this time, for the creation of his own crypto reserve. The problem? A big letdown for the industry: he decided, for now, to build the reserve only with cryptos seized by authorities. No massive market purchases. Another “sure bet” that didn’t go as planned. Bitcoin is at $88,400, and they’ll have to find another way to push it to $500,000 this year.

Other News

A few things to note:

• Broadcom smashed quarterly expectations last night, with shares surging 16% after-hours. Their semiconductor business is booming thanks to AI, and they predict continued growth this quarter. Analysts expected $0.86 per share, and Broadcom delivered $1.14.
• Walgreens was acquired for $23.7 billion.
• Tesla took another 5% hit, as more people are boycotting the brand due to the CEO’s “right-leaning” stance.
• MongoDB crashed 27%. Despite exceeding earnings expectations, its forecast disappointed. They expect a profit of $2.44 to $2.62 per share, well below Wall Street’s $3.38 estimate. The market showed no mercy.

When asked why markets were “scared” of his tariffs, Trump responded: “It’s all the fault of other countries and those who think ‘globally’ and ‘worldwide’—not mine. When America is Great Again, markets will rise.” Another innocent politician. These four years are going to feel very long.

Oh, and Elon Musk’s latest rocket exploded yesterday—but since it’s not publicly traded, nobody cares.

Other than that? Tariffs, tariffs, tariffs. War, tariffs, weapons, tariffs.

The Day Ahead

Today could be interesting because it’s the first Friday of March, meaning we’ll get the NFP report soon—the first employment numbers of the Trump era. Markets expect 177,000 new jobs, but Wednesday’s ADP report showed hiring was slowing due to uncertainty. We’ll see if this uncertainty also shows up in February’s NFP numbers.

Also on the agenda: Europe’s GDP report, which should be solid since EU countries are flush with cash to go shopping at Thales and Dassault. And if that wasn’t enough, Powell is set to speak later today.

That’s all from the therapist’s couch. Don’t forget your Prozac prescription and to keep an eye on the 200-day moving average of the S&P 500.

Oh, and don’t forget—we’re in a correction zone on the Nasdaq, and the Magnificent Seven are heavyweights.

Have a great day, an excellent weekend, and see you Monday!