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Wall Street’s Enthusiasm Matches a DMV Waiting Room
Investors are already nostalgic for their recent two-day winning streak — their first since February’s peak. Exhausted from that effort, the S&P 500 loitered near its worst levels in today’s session, as megatech doubled down on skepticism.
Level Change 3/18/25 (%)
– – – – – – – – – – – – – – –
-0.6 Dow
-1.7 Nasdaq
-1.7 Nasdaq 100
-1.1 S&P 500
-0.8 S&P 400
-0.8 S&P 600
Bears pointed to a veritable smorgasbord of concerns: Trump 2.0 policy fog, the looming April 2 reciprocal tariff decision (complicated enough to make a tax accountant sweat), a buyback blackout period, and the fading allure of US exceptionalism.
Bulls pinned their hopes on contrarian sentiment readings and tidy positioning — by which they seem to mean investors who were wont to sell have already done so and the remainder look prepared to hang on, unhappy though they report to be.
Economic data arrived with all the fanfare of a substitute teacher taking attendance. Housing starts surprised to the upside, clocking in at 1.5 million annualized units, well ahead of consensus. But the inflationary embers continued to smolder, with import prices climbing 0.4% in February, an unpleasant surprise for those who enjoy their inflation subdued. Meanwhile, industrial production came in lighter than expected, prompting exactly no one to throw a parade.
On the geopolitical front, Trump and Putin engaged in a 90-minute phone call regarding Ukraine. Details were scarce, though reports suggested an emphasis on a phased approach to ceasefire negotiations.
Germany is taking no chances. Its lower house of parliament approved a historic shift, allowing a €500B infrastructure fund and exempting defense spending from strict debt rules. The move boosts Europe’s defense amid Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and uncertainty over US commitment to NATO. The upper house will take up the measure Friday, and German accountants will have a very busy weekend.
In tech trenches, Google confirmed it will fork over $32B in cash to acquire cybersecurity startup Wiz. Investors celebrated the deal by sending the stock down 2.3%.
Over at Nvidia, CEO Jensen Huang took the stage at the GTC conference and promptly deflated expectations. His company’s current Blackwell AI chip will get only an incremental upgrade to Blackwell Ultra in the second half of the year. Its next-gen AI chip, Vera Rubin, won’t arrive until 2026. Shares of NVDA slumped 3.4%.
Tesla fared even worse, tumbling 5.3% after Chinese EV behemoth BYD unveiled five-minute charging, making Tesla’s Superchargers look like dial-up internet.
Finally, coal stocks bucked the trend, with Peabody Energy surging 6.2% after Trump, in a moment of poetic caps-lock brilliance, took to social media to extol the virtues of “BEAUTIFUL, CLEAN COAL.”
— Jason Kelly
