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    Five crazy Trump tariffs you wouldn’t believe 

    DONALD TRUMP’S tariff announcement on April 2nd has drawn mockery for its spurious maths. Any bilateral trade deficit is treated as gross unfairness; the tariffs are set by taking the measure as a share of goods imported from each country, and halving it. But there are other oddities too, from the fact that the tariff rates appear to be calculated for places with an internet domain name to the fact that they are based on a single year of data. The starkest demonstration of the absurdity of the tariffs is to look at the bizarre outcomes they produce. Here is our list of the five craziest duties. More

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    Here’s why ‘dead’ investors outperform the living

    The average investor would have better investment results by doing nothing.
    Investors often have bad habits that cause them to buy high and sell low.
    Buying and holding investments like all-in-one funds that automate tasks like rebalancing is a good bet for investors, experts said.

    Andrew Fox | The Image Bank | Getty Images

    “Dead” investors often beat the living — at least, when it comes to investment returns.
    A “dead” investor refers to an inactive trader who adopts a “buy and hold” investment strategy. This often leads to better returns than active trading, which generally incurs higher costs and taxes and stems from impulsive, emotional decision-making, experts said.

    Doing nothing, it turns out, generally yields better results for the average investor than taking a more active role in one’s portfolio, according to investment experts.
    The “biggest threat” to investor returns is human behavior, not government policy or company actions, said Brad Klontz, a certified financial planner and financial psychologist.
    “It’s them selling [investments] when they’re in a panic state, and conversely, buying when they’re all excited,” said Klontz, the managing principal of YMW Advisors in Boulder, Colorado, and a member of CNBC’s Advisor Council.
    “We are our own worst enemy, and it’s why dead investors outperform the living,” he said.

    Why returns fall short

    Dead investors continue to “own” their stocks through ups and downs.

    Historically, stocks have always recovered after a downturn — and have gone on to reach new heights every single time, Klontz said.
    Data shows how detrimental bad habits can be relative to the buy-and-hold investor.
    The average stock investor’s return lagged the S&P 500 stock index by 5.5 percentage points in 2023, according to DALBAR, which conducts an annual investor behavior study. (The average investor earned about 21% while the S&P 500 returned 26%, DALBAR said.)
    The theme plays out over longer time horizons, too.

    The average U.S. mutual fund and exchange-traded fund investor earned 6.3% per year during the decade from 2014 to 2023, according to Morningstar. However, the average fund had a 7.3% total return over that period, it found.
    That gap is “significant,” wrote Jeffrey Ptak, managing director for Morningstar Research Services.
    It means investors lost out on about 15% of the returns their funds generated over 10 years, he wrote. That gap is consistent with returns from earlier periods, he said.
    “If you buy high and sell low, your return will lag the buy-and-hold return,” Ptak wrote. “That’s why your return fell short.”

    Wired to run with the herd

    Emotional impulses to sell during downturns or buy into certain categories when they’re peaking (think meme stocks, crypto or gold) make sense when considering human evolution, experts said.
    “We’re wired to actually run with the herd,” Klontz said. “Our approach to investing is actually psychologically the absolute wrong way to invest, but we’re wired to do it that way.”
    Market moves can also trigger a fight-or-flight response, said Barry Ritholtz, the chairman and chief investment officer of Ritholtz Wealth Management.
    More from Personal Finance:Investors will be ‘miles ahead’ if they avoid these 3 thingsStock volatility poses an ‘opportunity’How investors can ready their portfolios for a recession
    “We evolved to survive and adapt on the savanna, and our intuition … wants us to make an immediate emotional response,” Ritholtz said. “That immediate response never has a good outcome in the financial markets.”
    These behavioral mistakes can add up to major losses, experts say.
    Consider a $10,000 investment in the S&P 500 from 2005 through 2024.
    A buy-and-hold investor would have had almost $72,000 at the end of those 20 years, for a 10.4% average annual return, according to J.P. Morgan Asset Management. Meanwhile, missing the 10 best days in the market during that period would have more than halved the total, to $33,000, it found. So, by missing the best 20 days, an investor would have just $20,000.

    Buy-and-hold doesn’t mean ‘do nothing’

    Of course, investors shouldn’t actually do nothing.
    Financial advisors often recommend basic steps like reviewing one’s asset allocation (ensuring it aligns with investment horizon and goals) and periodically rebalancing to maintain that mix of stocks and bonds.
    There are funds that can automate these tasks for investors, like balanced funds and target-date funds.

    These “all-in-one” funds are widely diversified and take care of “mundane” tasks like rebalancing, Ptak wrote. They require less transacting on investors’ part — and limiting transactions is a general key to success, he said.
    “Less is more,” Ptak wrote.
    (Experts do offer some caution: Be careful about holding such funds in non-retirement accounts for tax reasons.)
    Routine also helps, according to Ptak. That means automating saving and investing to the extent possible, he wrote. Contributing to a 401(k) plan is a good example, he said, since workers make contributions each payroll period without thinking about it. More

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    Automakers seek ‘opportunity in the chaos’ of Trump’s tariffs

    Some automakers are trying to capitalize on the moment amid the tariffs, industry analysts told CNBC.
    Ford and Stellantis are offering employee-pricing programs, while Hyundai Motor said it would not raise prices for at least two months to ease consumer concerns.
    Automakers view the actions as a way to get vehicles off their lots and maintain or increase sales amid uncertain market conditions due to the tariffs.

    Trucks are shown from a drone view after clearing U.S. Customs and entering the United States from Tijuana along the U.S. Mexico border at Otay Mesa port in San Diego, California, U.S. April 2, 2025. 
    Mike Blake | Reuters

    DETROIT — As President Donald Trump’s 25% tariffs on imported vehicles were set to take effect, executives at Ford Motor scrambled to figure out how to respond to the new levies.
    While they and their industry counterparts are still trying to navigate the impacts, Ford decided to move quickly in one area by offering an employee pricing program — called “From America, For America” — for U.S. consumers.

    Such programs have historically been controversial, as they sell vehicles close to or lower than invoice prices for dealers and eat away at already tight profit margins for the retailers. But Ford decided the time was right to launch the program to promote its U.S. operations — the largest among automakers — and assist sales amid consumer concerns and economic uncertainty due to Trump’s tariffs.
    “We understand that these are uncertain times for many Americans. Whether it’s navigating the complexities of a changing economy or simply needing a reliable vehicle for your family, we want to help,” Ford said in a statement Thursday morning announcing the program. “We have the retail inventory to do this and a lot of choice for customers that need a vehicle.”
    It’s an example of how some automakers are attempting to find “opportunity in the chaos” or trying to “capitalize on the moment” amid the tariffs, as several industry analysts told CNBC.

    Read more CNBC auto news

    “I absolutely love it. I think it’s going to drive sales,” said Ford dealer Marc McEver, owner of Olathe Ford Lincoln near Kansas City, Kansas. “It’s really exciting to see Ford step up and take the lead on this program. I think it’s a great play. … It’s truly a real deal for the customer.”
    Ford, which is helping retailers financially with the program, told dealers about it a day ahead of the tariffs taking effect Thursday. It publicly announced the new program — which runs through June 30 — hours after the levies began.

    Heading into the tariffs, Ford also was largely viewed by Wall Street analysts as being one of the best-positioned automakers because of its large U.S. production footprint, specifically for trucks.
    Ford’s stock fared better than its rivals this week, closing the week down by 1.4%. That compares with Chrysler parent Stellantis losing 14.2% and General Motors dropping 5.4% for the week.

    Stock chart icon

    Auto stocks

    Others are following Ford’s strategy, which also is assisted by vehicle prices and profits being higher since the Covid pandemic. Crosstown rival Stellantis on Friday announced a similar employee-pricing program, while Hyundai Motor said it would not raise prices for at least two months to ease consumer concerns.
    “It makes sense that they would try to capitalize on the moment,” said Erin Keating, executive analyst at Cox Automotive.
    Keating points out that with Ford and Stellantis — the latter of which is based in Europe but has major operations and brands in the U.S. — it’s a reminder to consumers that they’re “domestic” companies. The automakers also have inventory, including older models, that they need to sell to make way for newer vehicles.
    “Making room for those new vehicles to come into the showroom and trying to maintain that market share makes a lot of sense,” Keating said. “Anyone who’s able to beat the price out there right now, with the level of demand, is going to be able to hold on to their market share longer than others, and perhaps capture something from those that aren’t willing to meet the customer where they are right now.”
    Ford and Stellantis brands such as Ram Trucks and Jeep have among the highest days’ supply of vehicle inventories in the automotive industry, according to Cox Automotive.
    The two companies also were among the only major automakers this week to report notable drops in first-quarter vehicle sales. Stellantis was off roughly 12%, while Ford was down 1.3% from a year earlier.
    Cox reports the national days’ supply vehicle average was 89 days, while those brands were between 110 days and 130 days. The auto industry has historically considered a healthy days’ supply to be between 60 days to 80 days.
    In light of the tariffs and fears for potential price increases, demand for vehicles has been high. Consumers flocked to dealer showrooms at the end of last month as Trump confirmed the tariffs would be coming, leading to significant sales gains for many automakers.

    A Ford Raptor pickup truck is displayed for sale at a Ford dealership on August 21, 2024 in Glendale, California. 
    Mario Tama | Getty Images

    Cox Automotive estimated new-vehicle sales in March hit 1.59 million units sold, significantly exceeding its forecast and marking the best month for sales volume in four years.
    “The last week, and including this past weekend, was by far the best weekend that I’ve seen in a very long time,” Hyundai Motor North America CEO Randy Parker said Tuesday during a media call. “I’ve been doing this now for a very, very long time. So, lots of people, I think, rushed in this weekend, especially, to try and beat the tariffs.”
    Selling now because future sales aren’t guaranteed also could assist if there’s a U.S. recession. J.P. Morgan on Friday raised its odds for a U.S. and global recession from a 40% chance to 60% chance by the end of the year.
    “Because the demand is there right now, it makes sense [to offer consumer incentives] because everyone’s saying, ‘Gotta go get it now,’ might as well go ahead and reap the benefits now in case we do go into a recession,” Keating said. More

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    Tariffs will drive up the cost of airplanes, the United States’ star export

    Tariffs would drive up costs of key aerospace parts, making it more expensive for Boeing and even foreign companies with U.S. factories to produce planes.
    The tariffs are set to hit an aerospace supply chain still in recovery from the Covid-19 pandemic.
    The duties would also upend nearly half a century of mostly duty-free aerospace trade.

    The production line for the Boeing P-8 Poseidon maritime patrol aircraft is pictured at Boeing’s 737 factory in Renton, Washington, November 18, 2021.
    Jason Redmond | Reuters

    President Donald Trump’s sweeping tariffs are set to drive up the cost of Boeing and Airbus planes, GE Aerospace engines, and hundreds of other aerospace and defense products, threatening an industry that helps soften the U.S. trade deficit by more than $100 billion a year.
    “It certainly makes things more expensive for the industry,” Dak Hardwick, vice president of international affairs at the Aerospace Industries Association, which represents Boeing, GE Aerospace, Airbus and dozens of other aerospace and defense companies, said of the tariffs.

    The industry group said it is asking the Trump administration to uphold provisions in a nearly half-century old trade agreement that allows for duty-free trade of civilian aircraft and imports tied to defense and national security.
    “The line is certainly long” for requests to the White House, Hardwick said.

    Read more CNBC airline news

    Trump’s executive order announcing the tariffs said trade and economic policies around the world have exacerbated a decline in overall U.S. manufacturing.
    Regarding innovation in the defense sector, the order stated, “If the United States wishes to maintain an effective security umbrella to defend its citizens and homeland, as well as for its allies and partners, it needs to have a large upstream manufacturing and goods-producing ecosystem to manufacture these products without undue reliance on imports for key inputs.”
    The aerospace industry has long been a top exporter for the United States. At Boeing alone, more than two-thirds of its airplane orders over the past decade came from customers outside of the United States, according to company data.

    “Free trade is very important to us,” Boeing CEO Kelly Ortberg said at a Senate hearing Wednesday. “We really are the ideal kind of an export company where we’re outselling internationally. It’s creating U.S. jobs, long-term high value U.S. jobs. So it’s important that we continue to have access to that market and that we don’t get in a situation where certain markets become closed to us.”

    President and CEO of Boeing Kelly Ortberg testifies before the Senate Commerce, Science, and Transportation Committee in the Dirksen Senate Office Building on April 02, 2025 in Washington, DC. 
    Win Mcnamee | Getty Images News | Getty Images

    The industry has mostly bought and sold planes and parts without having to pay tariffs under a 45-year-old trade agreement, which would be derailed by Trump’s new tariffs. The president this week introduced levies of 10% on countries around the world, with higher duties on certain countries and regions, some of which like Europe, are key to the aerospace industry.
    Imported steel and aluminum, other key materials in airplanes, are subject to separate sector-level duties that Trump announced earlier this year.
    “President Trump has been clear: if you make your product in America, you won’t have to worry about tariffs,” White House spokesman Kush Desai said in an email.
    Tariffs are paid by the importer, and the increased prices due to the levies would either have to be absorbed by the airplane or engine maker, by the still-fragile supply chain or by the end consumer, said Hardwick.
    Jefferies analyst Sheila Kahyaoglu said in a note Thursday that a price jump on “any product within 12 months is eaten by the [original equipment manufacturer], assuming new inventory buy. Outside that time period, ultimately the buyer and hence consumer.”

    Stock chart icon

    Boeing and the S&P 500

    Prices for planes are negotiated in advance, and airlines have to often wait years for aircraft, so material costs can shift dramatically over that period.
    “This is not where you put money down for an automobile and it ends up in your driveway” in three months, Hardwick said.
    Shares of Boeing, engine maker GE and airlines tumbled again Friday, adding to the market rout after Trump announced the tariffs Wednesday.
    “This is the one manufacturing sector where America has, has enjoyed a tremendous trade surplus,” said Richard Aboulafia, managing director at AeroDynamic Advisory. “So the idea of fighting a trade war for this industry, it’s living in a crystal palace hurling giant boulders.”

    Global supply chain

    The tariffs are also a new strain on the aerospace industry, which still has a fragile supply chain in the wake of Covid, with some parts in short supply. Major supplies have tried to quickly hire workers and ramp up production during a post-pandemic travel boom.
    But airplane makers still haven’t kept up with demand.

    An Airbus SE A321 plane fuselage is lifted with a crane at the company’s final assembly line facility in Mobile, Alabama
    Luke Sharrett | Bloomberg | Getty Images

    Even a “Made in the USA” label for an airplane is a misnomer.
    For example, the supply chain for a Boeing 787 Dreamliner, which is assembled in South Carolina, spans from Japan to Italy.
    Its European rival, Airbus, has a Mobile, Alabama, factory but is still on the hook for tariffs for imported parts, from wings to fuselages.
    “It doesn’t matter who owns the company. If an item crosses the border, it will have to be paid by importer of record,” Hardwick said.
    Airbus has expanded the factory since the first Alabama-assembled Airbus A321, an aircraft for JetBlue Airways named “BluesMobile,” rolled out nine years ago. Its bet on increasing U.S. output of its jets, which are still largely made in Europe, also includes assembly of smaller A220s in Alabama, for customers that include JetBlue and Delta Air Lines.

    American Airlines workers perform maintenance on CFM-56 engine in Tulsa, Oklahoma
    Erin Black | CNBC

    Meanwhile, continuing along the supply chain, General Electric and France’s Safran have a joint venture in which they make top-selling CFM engines, which power both Boeing and Airbus narrow-body jets. Each company manufactures certain portions of engines, which are sent to factories in Ohio, Indiana and North Carolina for GE and outside of Paris for Safran.
    Thousands of imported replacement parts for engines and other aircraft parts, many of which come from abroad, could also become more expensive.
    “There’s no such thing as a national jet,” Aboulafia said.

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    Medicare, Medicaid agency cuts jobs from minority health office, other divisions, as RFK Jr. guts U.S. health department

    The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services has slashed jobs from its minority health office and other divisions, CNBC has learned, as Robert F. Kennedy Jr. upends the U.S. health department. 
    During an all-hands meeting with employees, CMS acting Administrator Stephanie Carlton detailed some of the specific offices impacted by cuts under Kennedy’s plan to restructure the Department of Health and Human Services.
    An office responsible for managing the agency’s grants and contracts was affected by job cuts, as was a unit that serves people dually eligible for Medicare and Medicaid, among others.

    An aerial of the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services building on March 19, 2025 in Woodlawn, Maryland. 
    Kayla Bartkowski | Getty Images

    The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services has slashed jobs from its minority health office and other divisions, CNBC has learned, as Robert F. Kennedy Jr. upends the U.S. health department. 
    During a virtual all-hands meeting with employees on Friday, CMS acting Administrator Stephanie Carlton detailed some of the specific offices at the agency impacted by cuts under Kennedy’s broader plan to restructure the Department of Health and Human Services, or HHS.

    CNBC viewed a transcript of the internal meeting, which was the first at CMS since HHS employees began to receive notifications Tuesday about whether they had lost their jobs as part of the cuts.
    Kennedy’s plan involves slashing 10,000 jobs at HHS, including just 300 at CMS but far greater numbers at other agencies. CMS oversees health insurance programs for 160 million Americans, along with other vital healthcare functions — and the Trump administration has tried to downplay the effects its cuts to government spending will have on the popular Medicare program.
    But Kennedy said Thursday that some personnel and programs at different federal agencies affected by his sweeping reductions will be reinstated “because we’ll make mistakes.”
    Carlton on Friday did not indicate whether any CMS employees will get reinstated, but said “we do think that painful part of [the cuts] that affects people we care about is finished.” 
    “I don’t want to make promises that nothing will ever happen, but these are definitely the ones I’m aware of,” she told workers, referring to the cuts at the agency. She said the layoffs were not easy, but emphasized that CMS leadership had to balance the agency’s mission with achieving efficiency across HHS. 

    She added that Dr. Mehmet Oz’s paperwork should be completed later on Friday, a day after he was confirmed by the Senate to run CMS. Oz, a celebrity TV host and former U.S. Senate candidate, would like to hold another all-hands call on Monday, Carlton said. Once called “America’s Doctor,” Oz is now more known for dubious promotion of supplements and hormones unsupported by scientific evidence.
    The job cuts across HHS are in addition to about 10,000 employees who opted to leave the department since President Donald Trump took office, through voluntary separation offers. Combined, they will lead to the federal health department shedding about a quarter of its workforce, shrinking it to 62,000 employees.
    Kennedy’s restructuring comes as the U.S. grapples with one of the worst measles outbreaks in more than two decades, and as bird flu spreads in wild birds worldwide and is causing outbreaks in poultry and U.S. dairy cows, with several recent human cases. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration is suspending efforts to improve its bird flu testing of milk, cheese and pet food due to massive staff cuts at the agency, Reuters reported on Thursday.
    CMS did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

    The programs cut at CMS

    She said the office of minority health was affected by the cuts. The segment works with local and federal partners to eliminate health disparities and improve health outcomes for people from all minority populations, according to the CMS website. It conducts research and analyses to develop new solutions for lowering costs, preventing diseases and reducing the incidence and severity of chronic diseases in the U.S. 
    The office was authorized by the Affordable Care Act more than a decade ago, so shuttering it entirely may be against the law. It appears to be among the victims of the Trump administration’s ideological campaign against diversity, equity and inclusion, or DEI, initiatives.
    CMS understands that it needs to continue fulfilling the responsibilities of that office under statutory law, Carlton noted. She said CMS will appoint a new office of minority health director.
    But she did not explicitly say whether the current director of the office, Dr. Martin Mendoza, had stepped down or was impacted by the cuts.
    But “probably the biggest group that was affected” was the Office of Program Operations & Local Engagement, Carlton said. That office is responsible for implementing and overseeing Medicare and Medicaid programs and engaging with stakeholders at the local level. Carlton said the cuts there tried to target areas where there were several divisions with a “similar mission.”
    An office responsible for managing the agency’s grants and contracts was impacted, and so was the Medicare-Medicaid Coordination Office, Carlton added. The latter serves people dually eligible for Medicare and Medicaid, developing models to improve the coordination of care for them.
    Some of that work will be picked up by others in CMS or from outside the agency, Carlton said. 
    She noted that CMS will retain in-house teams that handle communication, human resources and information technology. The agency’s IT team was not affected at all “because of the sensitivity of many of our data sets,” Carlton said. More

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    Powell sees tariffs raising inflation and says Fed will wait before further rate moves

    Fed Chair Jerome Powell said Friday that he expects President Donald Trump’s tariffs to raise inflation and lower growth.
    Powell added the Fed faces a “highly uncertain outlook” because of the new reciprocal levies the president announced Wednesday, keeping the Fed on hold for interest rate moves.
    “We are well positioned to wait for greater clarity before considering any adjustments to our policy stance. It is too soon to say what will be the appropriate path for monetary policy,” he said.

    Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell said Friday that he expects President Donald Trump’s tariffs to raise inflation and lower growth, and indicated that the central bank won’t move on interest rates until it gets a clearer picture on the ultimate impacts.
    In a speech delivered before business journalists in Arlington, Virginia, Powell said the Fed faces a “highly uncertain outlook” because of the new reciprocal levies the president announced Wednesday.

    Though he said the economy currently looks strong, he stressed the threat that tariffs pose and indicated that the Fed will be focused on keeping inflation in check.
    “Our obligation is to keep longer-term inflation expectations well anchored and to make certain that a one-time increase in the price level does not become an ongoing inflation problem,” Powell said in prepared remarks. “We are well positioned to wait for greater clarity before considering any adjustments to our policy stance. It is too soon to say what will be the appropriate path for monetary policy.”
    The remarks came shortly after Trump called on Powell to “stop playing politics” and cut interest rates because inflation is down.
    “I make it a practice not to respond to any elected officials comments, so I don’t want to be seen to be doing that. It’s just not appropriate for me,” Powell said at the onset of a question-and-answer session following his speech.
    There’s been a torrent of selling on Wall Street following the Trump announcement of 10% across-the-board tariffs, along with a menu of reciprocal charges that are much higher for many key trading partners.

    Powell noted that the announced tariffs were “significantly larger than expected.”
    “The same is likely to be true of the economic effects, which will include higher inflation and slower growth,” he said. “The size and duration of these effects remain uncertain.”

    Focused on inflation

    While Powell was circumspect about how the Fed will react to the changes, markets are pricing in an aggressive set of interest rate cuts starting in June, with a rising likelihood that the central bank will slice at least a full percentage point off its key borrowing rate by the end of the year, according to CME Group data.
    However, the Fed is charged with keeping inflation anchored with full employment.
    Powell stressed that meeting the inflation side of its mandate will require keeping inflation expectations in check, something that might not be easy to do with Trump lobbing tariffs at U.S. trading partners, some of whom already have announced retaliatory measures.

    Jerome Powell, chairman of the US Federal Reserve, during the Society For Advancing Business Editing And Writing (SABEW) annual conference in Arlington, Virginia, US, on Friday, April 4, 2025. 
    Tierney L. Cross | Bloomberg | Getty Images

    A greater focus on inflation also would be likely to deter the Fed from easing policy until it assesses what longer-term impact tariffs will have on prices. Typically, policymakers view tariffs as just a temporary rise in prices and not a fundamental inflation driver, but the broad nature of Trump’s move could change that perspective.
    “While tariffs are highly likely to generate at least a temporary rise in inflation, it is also possible that the effects could be more persistent,” Powell said. “Avoiding that outcome would depend on keeping longer-term inflation expectations well anchored, on the size of the effects, and on how long it takes for them to pass through fully to prices.”
    Core inflation ran at a 2.8% annual rate in February, part of a general moderating pattern that is nonetheless still well above the Fed’s 2% target.
    In spite of the elevated anxiety over tariffs, Powell said the economy for now “is still in a good place,” with a solid labor market. However, he mentioned recent consumer surveys showing rising concerns about inflation and dimming expectations for future growth, pointing out that longer-term inflation expectations are still in line with the Fed’s objectives.
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    Buffett denies social media rumors after Trump shares wild claim that investor backs president crashing market

    Warren Buffett went on the record Friday to deny social media posts after President Donald Trump shared on Truth Social a fan video that claimed the president is tanking the stock market on purpose with the endorsement of the legendary investor.
    Trump on Friday shared an outlandish social media video that defends his recent policy decisions by arguing he is deliberately taking down the market as a strategic play to force lower interest and mortgage rates.

    “Trump is crashing the stock market by 20% this month, but he’s doing it on purpose,” alleged the video, which Trump posted on his Truth Social account.
    The video’s narrator then falsely states, “And this is why Warren Buffett just said, ‘Trump is making the best economic moves he’s seen in over 50 years.'”

    Arrows pointing outwards

    Truth Social

    The president shared a link to an X post from the account @AmericaPapaBear, a self-described “Trumper to the end.” The X post itself appears to be a repost of a weeks-old TikTok video from user @wnnsa11. The video has been shared more than 2,000 times on Truth Social and nearly 10,000 times on X.
    Buffett, 94, didn’t single out any specific posts, but his conglomerate Berkshire Hathaway outright rejected all comments claimed to be made by him.
    “There are reports currently circulating on social media (including Twitter, Facebook and Tik Tok) regarding comments allegedly made by Warren E. Buffett. All such reports are false,” the company said in a statement Friday.

    CNBC’s Becky Quick spoke to Buffett Friday about this statement and he said he wanted to knock down misinformation in an age where false rumors can be blasted around instantaneously. Buffett told Quick that he won’t make any commentary related to the markets, the economy or tariffs between now and Berkshire’s annual meeting on May 3.
    ‘A tax on goods’
    While Buffett hasn’t spoken about this week’s imposition of sweeping tariffs from the Trump administration, his view on such things has pretty much always been negative. Just in March, the Berkshire CEO and chairman called tariffs “an act of war, to some degree.”
    “Over time, they are a tax on goods. I mean, the tooth fairy doesn’t pay ’em!” Buffett said in the news interview with a laugh. “And then what? You always have to ask that question in economics. You always say, ‘And then what?'”
    During Trump’s first term, Buffett opined at length in 2018 and 2019 about the trade conflicts that erupted, warning that the Republican’s aggressive moves could cause negative consequences globally.
    “If we actually have a trade war, it will be bad for the whole world … everything intersects in the world,” Buffett said in a CNBC interview in 2019. “A world that adjusts to something very close to free trade … more people will live better than in a world with significant tariffs and shifting tariffs over time.”
    Buffett has been in a defensive mode over the past year as he rapidly dumped stocks and raised a record amount of cash exceeding $300 billion. His conglomerate has a big U.S. focus and has large businesses in insurance, railroads, manufacturing, energy and retail. More

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    China’s retaliation against Trump’s tariffs is an act of self-harm

    NEVER INTERRUPT your enemy when he is making a mistake. That sounds like Sun Tzu, a renowned Chinese strategist, but the adage, attributable to Napoleon Bonaparte, originated on the other side of the world. Perhaps that explains why China’s leader, Xi Jinping, seems oblivious to the advice. More