To start with, on Thursday the stock market cratered. Major indices tanked in part on news of a new round of tariff restrictions on imports from China. The Dow Jones Industrial Average finished down 1,014.79 points – a 2.5% drop. We experienced what was then the worst day of the S&P 500’s decline, down 3.46%. At the same time, the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite fared even worse, plunging 4.31%.
This is the same period during which the effective U.S. tariff rate on imports from China announced in July has reached 145%. This includes a 231–10 executive order raising all tariffs applied on imports to 125%, on top of an arbitrary 20% fentanyl-related tariff. Upon confirming this increase, the White House further indicated that they are preparing to take a much tougher approach to trade with China.
At the time, major technology companies were some of the biggest beneficiaries of these changes. Apple shares were down 4.2 percent, while the pullback in Tesla was even more severe at 7.3 percent. Fellow tech giant Nvidia logged an almost 6% decline, and shares of Meta Platforms plummeted close to 7%. These steep declines point towards a growing fear of the tariff’s ultimate negative consequences for business operations and overall profitability.
In light of the new tariffs, Amazon CEO Andy Jassy stated that the company is still assessing how these tariffs will influence its business model. He also added that the burden on third-party sellers would be able to “pass that cost on” to consumers, foretelling higher customer costs. Following the announcement of the tariffs, Amazon began canceling some direct import orders for products sourced from vendors in China.
“We’ll have to see what happens.” – President Donald Trump
Wells Fargo has made consistent earnings on their investment banking and wealth management industries. This relative stability is in stark contrast to the persistent chaos in the stock market.
According to one recent calculation, the average Major League Baseball team is worth $2.62 billion today. This is an indication of deep investment commitment to the sports industry, particularly amid a volatile market environment.