The Week That Was - April 11th, 2025

Introduction

Honestly, how can I summarize the past week?

People have been checking in on me (grateful for that), but this is what we signed up for. Our clients remain our number one priority throughout all the craziness that the market has to offer. Let's get into it.

Market Performance

As a veteran of the COVID markets, I can comfortably say that the level of volatility and uncertainty that we are seeing today is eerily similar to five years ago. Think about this:

The daily price range of the world's largest stock market (using the S&P 500) through Thursday was: 8.5%, 7.3%, 10.8%, 4.65%.
The market added and subsequently lost TRILLIONS of dollars on Monday when a news report leaked that Trump was considering a 90-day pause on tariffs, only to have The White House refute the report.
We saw one of the biggest price increases in history on a percentage basis on Wednesday, once the pause was confirmed.

Note that there are still 10% tariffs in place--the pause was in the reciprocal tariffs that were announced. China was not spared from a pause but rather faces tariffs of 145%.

Thinking about aggressively buying the dip?

Consider this: Wednesday's 10.8% gain was the 12th largest ever.

The years in which larger daily gains have happened? 1929, 1931, 1932, 1933, 1939, 2008

Market historians (and regular historians) know those were challenging economic times!

I'm not predicting anything, just saying, "be careful."

Business Responses

Companies are already adjusting their strategies in response to tariff uncertainties:

Nintendo has temporarily suspended U.S. pre-orders for its new gaming console.
Automotive manufacturers, particularly in Michigan, are expressing serious concerns.
One auto executive compared the potential impact on the industry to "Chernobyl" if tariffs on auto parts continue to increase.

Where we go from here is anybody's guess, but business leaders are already wary about the future.

Economic Indicators

Ready for some good news?

The Consumer Price Index, which measures general inflation, showed a slight decrease of 0.1% in March, with the annual rate at 2.4%.
The Producer Price Index, which measures the prices that businesses pay to produce goods or services, also fell in March.

Before we get ahead of ourselves, these data points are from before the effective date of tariffs (which tend to be inflationary by nature), so let's not call an end to inflation just yet.

What This Means For You

"Don't just do something--stand there." - Attributed to multiple people

The worst thing to do in situations like this is to panic. Hopefully, you had a plan in place before everything started. But even if not, it's not too late to rationally evaluate the situation. Try to avoid any situation where you are predicting the future or being influenced by what you see on the news. Having an objective voice to guide your thought process is always useful.

Reach out if you need a second set of eyes.