The week got off to a crazy start, as the markets were roiled on Monday by tariffs, “fake news,” and talks of retaliatory tariffs.
And it’s only Monday.
The latest news on Monday centered around President Donald Trump threatening another 50% tariff on China, according to his Truth Social post. The extra 50% tariff would be on top of the 54% tariffs already proposed, if China does not lift its 34% tariffs on the U.S. by April 8. The added tariffs would go into effect on April 9.
Also on Monday, the Federal Reserve Board called a closed-door meeting to discuss what it called a “review and determination by the Board of Governors of the advance and discount rates to be charged by the Federal Reserve Banks.” The Fed said it would release more information after the 11:30 a.m. ET meeting.
On Wednesday morning, Trump’s additional tariffs on all countries will kick in, barring any pullback or negotiated changes with countries or regions.
Aside from China, Trump imposed a 20% additional tariff on the European Union, a 24% added tariff on Japan, and a 27% added tariff on India, among many others.
Economists at Goldman Sachs raised their chances of a recession to 45%, up from 35% just a week ago. They base it on tightening financial conditions due to tariffs and reduced tourism to the U.S. among other factors, reported Yahoo.
On Thursday, the Consumer Price Index for March will be released. Economists anticipate the CPI inflation rate to drop to 2.5% in March, from 2.8% in February. They also project that the core CPI will fall to 3.0%, from 3.1% the previous month.
JPMorgan Chase, BlackRock and Morgan Stanley Report Earnings
The other big highlight of the week is the start of the first quarter corporate earnings season.
Delta Air Lines (NYSE:DAL) begins things on Wednesday. Considering that Delta already lowered its revenue projections for the quarter, based on travel bans and lower consumer confidence, among other factors, the outlook is not great for Delta.
But the more anticipated earnings will be reported on Friday when a slew of the largest banks in the country report Q1 results.
Most notably, the largest bank, JPMorgan Chase (NYSE:JPM), releases its earnings. As banks are often a barometer for the economy, it will be interesting to see how JPMorgan does relative to expectations. Wall Street expects JPMorgan Chase to report EPS of $4.61 on revenue of $43.8 billion.
A surprise one way or the other could move markets.
Also on tap is the world’s largest money manager, BlackRock (NYSE:BLK), whose fortunes are often tied to the performance of the stock market. And Q1 was not a great quarter for markets.
Others reporting Friday include custody bank BNY Mellon (NYSE:BK), which has outperformed this year, as well as Wells Fargo (NYSE:WFC). Also, Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS), the leading brokerage and asset manager, releases its earnings Friday.
Investors will be strapped in for what could be another wild week.