Finance

The money manager behind two of the world’s biggest actively managed exchange-traded funds sees a way for investors to stay defensive without leaving the market.
Jon Maier’s firm is behind the JPMorgan Equity Premium Income ETF (JEPI) and JPMorgan Ultra-Short Income ETF (JPST). They’re listed as No. 1 and No. 3 in size globally in their category, according to VettaFi.

The goal: give investors downside protection while generating income.
“When the VIX [volatility] increases, that offers the opportunity for an increased amount of income to the investor of JEPI,” the J.P. Morgan Asset Management chief ETF strategist told CNBC’s “ETF Edge” this week. “Conversely … when the volatility declines, given that the options are written out of the money, it provides some upside in the underlying portfolio.”
JEPI fell around 3% in April while volatility gripped the market. As of Thursday’s market close, the ETF is off about 4% for the year while the S&P 500 is down almost 5%.
JEPI’s top holdings include Mastercard, Visa and Progressive according to JPMorgan’s website as of April 30.
Meanwhile, the JPMorgan Ultra-Short Income Fund focuses on fixed income instead of U.S. equity. The fund is virtually flat so far this year.

“It provides a ballast in your portfolio [and] stability for those investors that are looking to protect principle,” Maier said.

‘Hiding out to weather the storm’

ETF Action’s Mike Akins notes these ETFs are satisfying an important investment need in the market.
“This category is where people are hiding out to weather the storm,” the firm’s founding partner said on the show.
According to J.P. Morgan Asset Management, the JPMorgan Ultra-Short Income Fund had the second-highest volume among active U.S. fixed income ETFs between April 3 and 10 — which marked the year’s most volatile weekly span on Wall Street.
Correction: Jon Maier’s firm is behind the JPMorgan Equity Premium Income ETF and JPMorgan Ultra-Short Income ETF. An earlier version misstated his status.

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The money manager behind two of the world’s biggest actively managed exchange-traded funds sees a way for investors to stay defensive without leaving the market.
Jon Maier helps run the JPMorgan Equity Premium Income ETF (JEPI) and JPMorgan Ultra-Short Income ETF (JPST). They’re listed as No. 1 and No. 3 in size globally in their category, according to VettaFi.

The goal: give investors downside protection while generating income.
“When the VIX [volatility] increases, that offers the opportunity for an increased amount of income to the investor of JEPI,” the J.P. Morgan Asset Management chief ETF strategist told CNBC’s “ETF Edge” this week. “Conversely … when the volatility declines, given that the options are written out of the money, it provides some upside in the underlying portfolio.”
JEPI fell around 3% in April while volatility gripped the market. As of Thursday’s market close, the ETF is off about 4% for the year while the S&P 500 is down almost 5%.
JEPI’s top holdings include Mastercard, Visa and Progressive according to JPMorgan’s website as of April 30.
Meanwhile, the JPMorgan Ultra-Short Income Fund focuses on fixed income instead of U.S. equity. The fund is virtually flat so far this year.

“It provides a ballast in your portfolio [and] stability for those investors that are looking to protect principle,” Maier said.

‘Hiding out to weather the storm’

ETF Action’s Mike Akins notes these ETFs are satisfying an important investment need in the market.
“This category is where people are hiding out to weather the storm,” the firm’s founding partner said on the show.
According to J.P. Morgan Asset Management, the JPMorgan Ultra-Short Income Fund had the second-highest volume among active U.S. fixed income ETFs between April 3 and 10 — which marked the year’s most volatile weekly span on Wall Street.

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Warren Buffett and Greg Abel during the Berkshire Hathaway Annual Shareholders Meeting in Omaha, Nebraska on May 4, 2024.

Warren Buffett has been mum about tariffs and the recent market turmoil, but will finally speak his mind when the 94-year-old investment legend kicks off Berkshire Hathaway’s annual shareholder meeting on Saturday.
Tens of thousands of rapt shareholders will descend on Omaha, Nebraska this weekend for the annual gathering dubbed “Woodstock for Capitalists.” This year’s meeting marks the 60th anniversary of Buffett leading the company, and is the second without Buffett’s long-time partner Charlie Munger, who died in late 2023.

The biggest event in the Cornhusker State next to a Nebraska-Oklahoma football game, this year’s meeting comes as markets have turned uncertain after President Donald Trump’s aggressive rollout of the highest tariffs on imports in generations. (Many were suspended for 90 days afterward.) Wall Street economists left and right are sounding the alarms that a recession may be in the offing, as recent data pointed to signs of economic weakening.
“Because Berkshire owns so many businesses, they’re basically on the front lines of everything in terms of the economy falling off. Is it even worse than what the numbers are already showing?” said Steve Check, founder of Check Capital Management, which counts Berkshire as its largest holding. “I hope, more than anything, that he speaks out against the way tariffs have been done. Everyone is looking for what Warren Buffett has to say.”
Investors’ north star
The “Oracle of Omaha” may have already let his actions do the talking. Berkshire has sold more stock than it’s bought for nine straight quarters, dumping more than $134 billion worth in 2024. That was mainly due to reductions in Berkshire’s two largest equity holdings — Apple and Bank of America. As a result of the selling spree, by December Berkshire’s enormous pile of cash had grown to yet another record, at $334.2 billion.
The world is eager to hear if Buffett, the most famous advocate of value investing, used the April market meltdown to hunt for bargains and lay the groundwork for deals. Although Buffett doesn’t make predictions of short-term market direction, investors will listen closely for any signals of his continued confidence in the U.S. economy — despite the tariff shock.
“I think the big question on everyone’s mind is what will Warren do with the pile of cash that they are sitting on and, more specifically, when can it be deployed, as he can help investors gauge when the all clear sign is lit,” said David Wagner, a portfolio manager at Aptus Capital Advisors and a Berkshire shareholder. Many investors, he noted, “tend to view Warren as the north star.”

Buffett will make a few introductory remarks at 9am ET Saturday, followed by an hours-long question-and- answer panel. Buffett’s designated successor, Greg Abel, and Berkshire’s insurance chief, Ajit Jain, will join Buffett on stage in the morning, with Buffett and Abel alone in the afternoon. The Q&A session will be broadcast on CNBC and webcast in English and Mandarin.
Big Apple question
Shareholders are also curious for Buffett to explain his motivation in slashing his longtime Apple stake. After a head-turning selling spree for four quarters in a row, Berkshire’s Apple holding has stayed at an even 300 million shares since the end of September, leading many to speculate that Buffett is done selling the stock for the time being.
At last year’s annual meeting, Buffett suggested that the sale was for tax reasons following sizable gains. He also implied that selling down Apple could be tied to his wanting to avoid a higher tax bill in the future if rates went higher to fund the yawning U.S. fiscal deficit. With a change in government in Washington, shareholders want to hear Buffett’s reasoning today.
“You can’t use that explanation anymore because it clearly does not apply,” said David Kass, a finance professor at the University of Maryland. “If he sold more, it would indicate that he probably felt it was fully valued, or Warren Buffett being the genius that he is, he was able to see ahead at some of the risks that could face Apple, in case there’s a trade war and tariffs.”
Berkshire’s first-quarter earnings report, due Saturday morning, will show the conglomerate’s top equity holdings, which could give investors a hint as to whether the Apple stake was adjusted again. More

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Global investors are undergoing a structural rethink of their exposure to U.S. markets, according to economic expert Rebecca Patterson.
Patterson, who served as Bridgewater’s chief investment strategist, contends they’re gradually reducing exposure to U.S. assets and the impact could be significant. Her prediction comes after having conversations with participants in last week’s World Bank and International Monetary Fund meetings in Washington.

“There are a large number of foreign investors who are worried not only about tariffs, but just about America’s reliability as a partner,” Patterson said Monday on CNBC’s “Fast Money.”
Outside of the Trump administration’s tariff policy, she finds foreign investors and policymakers are losing faith in the U.S. on broader fears about the potential weaponizing of capital markets to achieve its economic goals.

Arrows pointing outwards

That may put global investors’ U.S. holdings at risk, according to Patterson. Foreigners held more than $31 trillion of U.S. assets as of last June, according to the most recent U.S. Treasury data. That’s an increase of $4.4 trillion from the prior year. The gains came as U.S. markets reached all-time highs, thanks in part to megacap tech and the artificial intelligence trade.
“They are looking at a huge U.S. allocation that has built up over the last several years and saying, ‘maybe we should have a little bit less, just trim off the tops’ — basically, have a risk premium on U.S. assets because we have so much uncertainty,” she said.
Even a small reduction in global participation could present a problem for U.S. markets, Patterson warns.

“Pretend you’re the chief investment officer of a major overseas pension fund or sovereign wealth fund. I’m going to take 2% off my U.S. stocks, 2% off my U.S. bonds, a 4% shift,” she said. “That’s $1.2 trillion that is going to be leaving the U.S. now.”
A potential $1.2 trillion sell-off represents 2.3% of the S&P 500’s total market capitalization, as of Thursday’s close. Still, Patterson emphasizes the capital flight will not happen overnight.
“These investment committees will take months to think about things. They’ll have a meeting, they’ll have a board approve it and then it gets implemented. But what this is, is a slow bleed of support out of the U.S. markets, either going back to home markets or into new opportunities, or things like gold,” said Patterson.
U.S. stocks have broadly underperformed other global equities so far in 2025, with the S&P down 4.7% in that time. Europe’s broad-based STOXX 600 index has gained 3.9% this year, while the MSCI AC Asia Pacific Index has risen 2.8% over the same period, per FactSet.

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Tether, the world’s largest stablecoin issuer, is preparing to launch a U.S.-based stablecoin as soon as this year.
CEO Paolo Ardoino’s recent charm offensive in Washington has put a spotlight on Tether amid the pro-crypto shift under President Trump.
In 2021, Tether settled with the New York attorney general for $18.5 million over allegations it lied about its reserves.

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates — Tether, the world’s largest stablecoin issuer, is preparing to launch a U.S.-based stablecoin as soon as this year, as its CEO ramps up his presence in Washington to shape crypto regulation.
In an interview with CNBC this week, Tether CEO Paolo Ardoino revealed that the company is working on plans to issue a new dollar-pegged stablecoin in the U.S. as soon as this year. The move comes as Tether, once accused of being a criminal’s ‘go-to cryptocurrency’ – rebrands itself as a partner to American lawmakers and law enforcement.

“A domestic stablecoin would be different from the international stable coin,” Ardoino told CNBC’s Dan Murphy at the Token2049 conference in Dubai on Wednesday. “It depends on the timeline of the final legislation… but we are looking at that by the end of the year, or early next year at the fastest,” he said.
But the timing and tactics of that next step are raising eyebrows on Capitol Hill.
Ardoino’s recent charm offensive in Washington, which included private meetings with lawmakers, a Capitol Hill lunch with Senator Bill Hagerty and parties with crypto insiders, according to a New York Times report, has put a spotlight on Tether amid the pro-crypto shift under President Trump.
That influence may now be helping shape key legislation, including the GOP-backed GENIUS Act, which critics say includes loopholes that benefit Tether and other foreign issuers – such as provisions allowing operations in the U.S. if they agree to work with law enforcement.

The logos of the cryptocurrencies Bitcoin (BTC), Ethereum (ETH), the stablecoin Tether (USDT) and Binance Coin (BNB) can be seen on the trading platform CoinMarketCap.
Picture Alliance | Picture Alliance | Getty Images

Tether, headquartered in El Salvador, has made legal cooperation key to its lobbying narrative despite a history of regulatory penalties.

“There is no company… even in the traditional financial system, that has such a breadth of collaboration with law enforcement,” Ardoino said. “We are always trying to do better and more to block criminal activity…. we have much better tools than the traditional financial system and we’re proving that everyday.”
Ardoino also addressed concerns about the firm’s ability to back its digital assets. In 2021, Tether settled with the New York attorney general for $18.5 million over allegations it lied about its reserves. It now publishes attestation reports and holds billions in U.S. Treasuries – managed by Wall Street heavyweight Cantor Fitzgerald – and Ardoino insists the business is well capitalised in the event of a market shock.
“We are very close to having $120 billion in U.S. Treasuries in our reserves,” he said. “We have $7 billion in excess equity within the company capital. That is really unprecedented and I wish financial institutions in the traditional financial system would at least try to copy us to provide better products for their consumers.”
Tether’s latest attestation report confirmed the firm holds about $120 billion in U.S. Treasuries. Its first quarter independent auditors’ report confirmed assets and reserves exceed liabilities by almost $5.6 billion, a decrease from more than $7 billion in its December audit. 
Tether’s partnership with Cantor, now run by the sons of U.S. Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick, has also raised questions. Ardoino told CNBC he doesn’t speak with Secretary Lutnick “because there are proper walls given the potential conflict of interest,” but added “we have great relationships with many people in the U.S. and also now in Washington.” 
Eric Trump and his older brother Donald Trump Jr. recently announced plans to launch a U.S. dollar-backed stablecoin through World Liberty Financial, the finance venture backed by President Donald Trump. More

There are concerns about whether Christmas merchandise will be able to hit U.S. shelves in time for the prime holiday season.
For example, electronic products need to be shipped out of China by early September to hit U.S. shelves right after the Thanksgiving holiday at the end of November.
Some businesses are hedging their bets by partially refilling orders from China rather than enduring the sight of empty store shelves.

YIWU, CHINA – NOVEMBER 26: Foreign clients select festive goods at China Yiwu International Trade City on November 26, 2024 in Yiwu, Zhejiang Province of China.
Hu Xiao/VCG via Getty Images

For years, Christmas merchandise has been hitting the U.S. shelves earlier, as retailers try to capitalize on the lucrative holiday season — a retail phenomenon known as “Christmas creep.”
However, tariffs could be the Grinch that disrupts year-end festivities, as Chinese factories and their U.S. buyers navigate tariff uncertainties to ensure that shelves stateside will be well-stocked in time for Christmas.

Shortly after U.S. President Donald Trump unveiled sweeping tariffs on April 2 — including a 34% tariff on imports from China that were later ramped up to 145% — many U.S. retailers reacted by halting their orders from Chinese suppliers, forcing factories to pause production, according to CNBC interviews.
However, industry representatives say that some production has restarted in the last few days, as concerns about business disruptions and missed opportunities outweigh the tariff uncertainties.
“If you don’t start producing in the next couple of weeks, you’re going to start missing Black Friday and Christmas,” Cameron Johnson, Shanghai-based senior partner at consulting firm Tidalwave Solutions, said in a phone interview Tuesday.
“Both sides are trying to be flexible to some degree,” he said. “Retailers are starting to realize if these supply chains stop, it will be much more difficult to get them up and running [again].”

Johnson described how, for example, a pause in orders for a factory making spoons would impact the company that rolls the steel, as well as the iron ore smelter. “These supply chains themselves, the upstream, are also starting to close down. If they close down, even if we have some kind of a deal, it will take time for things to [restart].”

Despite some rerouting of China-made goods through other countries, replacing existing supply chains and shipping schedules will be difficult to achieve overnight. For 36% of U.S. imports from China, more than 70% can only be sourced from mainland suppliers, according to a Goldman Sachs analysis earlier in April.
For example, electronic products need to be shipped out of China by early September to hit U.S. shelves right after the Thanksgiving holiday at the end of November, taking into account customs clearance and the distribution chain, said Renaud Anjoran, CEO of Agilian Technology, an electronics manufacturer in China. The Guangdong-based company delivers half of its products to the U.S. market.
It takes around six months to manufacture, test, assemble, and package, meaning suppliers ideally should have started preparing for these orders in March, said Anjoran.

Shrinking shipments

Many U.S. buyers had started stockpiling inventories since late last year, anticipating higher tariffs after Trump returned to office. As frontloading continued, China’s exports to the U.S. rose by 9.1% in March from a year ago, according to CNBC’s calculation of official customs data, while imports from fell 9.5% on year. April trade figures are expected to be released on May 9.
But those frontloading efforts have started to dwindle. The number of cargo-carrying container ships departing from China to the U.S. has fallen sharply in recent weeks, according to Morgan Stanley’s tracking of high-frequency shipping indicators. Cancelled shipments have also skyrocketed by 14 times in the four weeks from April 14 to May 5, compared to the period from March 10 to April 7, the investment bank said.
In April, a gauge of new export orders from Chinese factories fell to the lowest level since late 2022, according to the national statistics bureau.
“Currently, we do not have a lot of purchase orders for the next few months from American customers,” Anjoran said. Most of his clients have stockpiled inventory that was shipped to the U.S. before Chinese New Year at the end of January, with some orders trickling in March and April.

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Some U.S. buyers are waiting to see whether tariffs will be reduced to a more acceptable level in May before resuming shipments, Ryan Zhao, a director at Jiangsu Green Willow Textile, told CNBC. For now, the company has production on hold for orders from its U.S. clients.
Recent reports pointed to some tariff reliefs on the ground as both governments sought to blunt the economic impacts of punitive tariffs. China reportedly granted tariff exemptions to certain U.S. goods, including pharmaceuticals, aerospace equipment, semiconductors, and ethane imports.
In the latest relief, Trump signed an executive order exempting foreign car and parts imports from additional levies, following an earlier rollback of tariffs on a range of electronic products, including smartphones, computers and chips.

Trying to time it right

Despite concerns about profit margins, some businesses are hedging their bets by partially refilling orders from China rather than enduring the sight of empty store shelves, said Tidalwave Solutions’ Johnson.
“A few factories told me some U.S. importers have instructed them to resume production in an attempt to ‘time’ anticipated tariff relief,” Martin Crowley, vice president of product development at Seattle-based wholesale toy seller Toysmith, said in an email Tuesday. The company’s website urges customers to place orders by May 16, for shipping by July 31, “to lock in current, non-tariffed pricing.”
In the last few days, many factories in the manufacturing centers of Yiwu, Shantou, and Dongguan have received clearance from Walmart and Target to resume production, Crowley added. Walmart and Target did not immediately respond to a CNBC request for comment.
Some Agilian customers are also placing relatively smaller orders, betting that tariff rates will decrease by the time their products arrive at U.S. ports.
However, in the event of a breakthrough in U.S.-China trade negotiations — and a rush to backfill orders ensues — that could drive up factories’ production costs and shipping prices.
“It is possible to rush, arrange production faster if quantities are not large … but if all American customers rush at the same time, the factories are going to be overwhelmed and air shipments will be quite expensive,” said Anjoran. More

As he exits his efforts to curtail wasteful government spending, Elon Musk tis taking one last shot, calling into question the $2.5 billion Federal Reserve building renovation.
Musk’s DOGE claims to have saved taxpayers $160 billion during its short operating life looking through the government’s books.

Construction work is done around the Federal Reserve building on September 17, 2024 in Washington, DC. 
Anna Moneymaker | Getty Images News | Getty Images

As he exits his efforts to curtail wasteful government spending, Elon Musk is taking one last shot, calling into question the $2.5 billion Federal Reserve building renovation.
In a rare interview with print reporters, the initiator of the Department of Government Efficiency advisory board said the price tag for the central bank operation “sounds high.”

“I mean, what do you get for $2.5 billion in redecorating? Must be incredible,” the Tesla CEO said.
The Fed began the project in 2021 with an initial price tag of $1.9 billion. Since then, multiple factors have converged to drive up costs, including rising costs of materials, construction delays, changes in the design and site problems.
Among the goals for the renovation are dealing with a backlog of upgrades, meeting building codes and regulations, updating technology, and addressing energy efficiency. Fed officials say the changes ultimately will save money by consolidating staff into one space, which will reduce leasing costs, “and provide a modern, efficient workspace for employees to conduct their work on behalf of the American people.”
Musk, though, said the cost overruns should be part of the broader examination of government waste. DOGE claims to have saved taxpayers $160 billion during its short operating life looking through the government’s books.
“Since, at the end of the day, this is all taxpayer money, I think … we should certainly look to see if indeed the Federal Reserve is spending $2.5 billion on their interior designer,” Musk said. “That’s an eyebrow-raiser, you know? They’re like, can we see pictures of what you get for that?”

The Fed is not actually funded by taxpayers but rather by the interest the central banks earns on its securities as well as fees from banks it supervises. Members of the Fed board of governors have their salaries set by Congress and also are paid through the same funding mechanism.
Normally, the money the Fed earns beyond its operating costs are paid back to the Treasury. However, the past two years the central bank has seen operating losses due to rising interest rates that it must pay on bank reserves.
As for the renovation, documents filed with the National Capital Planning Commission note that, “While there have been regular modifications and renovations to the building over its 80-year history, many of the building systems are at the end of their useful life, and the building no longer fully serves the Board’s needs.”
Fed officials declined comment.

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The IRS treats gold and other precious metals as collectibles for tax purposes. The same is true of exchange-traded funds backed by physical gold.
Collectibles have a 28% top federal tax rate for long-term capital gains. Stocks have a maximum rate of 20%.
Many investors in popular gold funds — like SPDR Gold Shares (GLD), iShares Gold Trust (IAU), and abrdn Physical Gold Shares ETF (SGOL) — may be surprised to learn they face a higher tax rate.

Akos Stiller/Bloomberg via Getty Images

Gold returns are shining — but investors holding gold exchange-traded funds may get hit with an unexpectedly high tax bill on their profits.
The Internal Revenue Service considers gold and other precious metals to be “collectibles,” similar to other physical property like art, antiques, stamps, coins, wine, cars and rare comic books.

That’s also true of ETFs that are physically backed by precious metals, according to tax experts.
Here’s why that matters: Collectibles generally carry a 28% top federal tax rate on long-term capital gains. (That rate applies to profits on assets held for longer than one year.)
By comparison, stocks and other assets like real estate are generally subject to a lower — 20% — maximum rate on long-term capital gains.

Investors in popular gold funds — including SPDR Gold Shares (GLD), iShares Gold Trust (IAU), and abrdn Physical Gold Shares ETF (SGOL) — may be surprised to learn they face a 28% top tax rate on long-term capital gains, tax experts explain.
“The IRS treats such ETFs the same as an investment in the metal itself, which would be considered an investment in collectibles,” wrote Emily Doak, director of ETF and index fund research at the Schwab Center for Financial Research.

The collectibles capital-gains tax rate only applies to ETFs structured as trusts.

Gold prices soar

Investors have racked up big profits on gold over the past year.
Spot gold prices hit an all-time high above $3,500 per ounce last week, up from roughly $2,200 to $2,300 a year ago. Gold futures prices are up about 23% in 2025 and 36% over the past year.
A barrage of tariffs announced by President Donald Trump in early April fueled concern that a global trade war will push the U.S. economy into recession. Investors typically see gold as a safe haven during times of fear.  

Long-term capital gains are different for collectibles

Investors who hold stocks, stock funds and other traditional financial assets generally pay one of three tax rates on their long-term capital gains: 0%, 15% or a maximum rate of 20%. The rate depends on their annual income.
However, collectibles are different from stocks.
Their long-term capital-gains tax rates align with the seven marginal income-tax rates, capped at a 28% maximum. (These marginal rates — 10%, 12%, 22%, 24%, 32%, 35% and 37% — are the same ones employees pays on wages earned at work, for example.)
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Here’s an example: An investor whose annual income places them in the 12% marginal income-tax bracket would pay a 12% tax rate on their long-term collectibles profits. An investor in the 37% tax bracket would have theirs capped at 28%.
Meanwhile, investors who hold stocks or collectibles for one year or less pay a different tax rate on their profits, known as short-term capital-gains. They generally are taxed at the same rate as their ordinary income, anywhere from 10% to 37%.
Taxpayers might also owe a 3.8% net investment income tax or state and local taxes in additional to federal taxes. More