Citigroup profits rise 21%, stock trading revenue rises 23%

 CNBC:

Citigroup on Tuesday posted first-quarter results that exceeded analysts’ estimates as the firm’s traders generated more revenue than expected. ... “increased market volatility” and higher client activity led to more transactions ... a boom in equities trading revenue as the banks took advantage of volatility in the quarter. ...

Bank of America overall profits up 11%, stock trading revenue up 17%

Bank of America on Tuesday posted first-quarter results that topped analysts’ expectations for profit and revenue on stronger-than-expected net interest income and trading revenue. ...

JPMorgan Chase, Morgan Stanley and Goldman Sachs each exceeded analysts’ estimates on a boom in equities trading revenue as banks took advantage of volatility in the quarter.

More.

Morgan Stanley: But we'll be there for ya!

Morgan Stanley: Expect to be ‘fooled many more times’ on tariffs

Trump tariff chaos is literally equity traders' gold

 

 On again, off again, on again tariffs from The Puppet Master have enriched stock traders Goldman Sachs, JP Morgan Chase, and Morgan Stanley. They don't care if stocks go up, or down, as long as they keep going up, going down, going up. Trump chaos is literally traders' gold.

Goldman profit is up 15% from the year earlier period.

Goldman Sachs tops estimates on boom in equities trading revenue

 ... equity trading revenue rose 27%. ... On Friday, rivals JPMorgan Chase and Morgan Stanley each topped expectations for first-quarter results on booming equities trading.

Equities trading revenue surged 48% and 45% at the banks, respectively, thanks to volatility in the opening months of Trump’s tenure amid his efforts to reshape global trade agreements.

 

Crimes in high places: Mad King Ludwig admits he decided to pause tariffs early in the morning on Wednesday when he also posted "This is a great time to buy", which amounts to market manipulation

 

 Trump was asked by a reporter on Wednesday when he decided to put a pause on the tariffs. 

“I would say this morning. Over the last few days, I’ve been thinking about it. Fairly early this morning,” he said.

Quoted here in "Fund managers quietly fear Trump doesn't have a tariff plan and that he 'might be insane'".

Markets fell big again after yesterday's tariff pause rally

 

You thought tariffs were supposed to be Liberation Day for you when it was really for them

 It's always for them.

He should be in Sing Sing for this utter corruption.

Meanwhile all that bullshit about Liberation will have to wait 90 days.

Trump’s morning ‘buy’ call nets huge returns for those who listened

... Trump Media & Technology shares initially popped after Trump referenced his initials in the post, with some investors appearing to know he was referring to the stock ticker.

The stock fell to $16.69 in the minute of his post to buy shares. It has since soared as high as $20.40, which marks a jump of more than 22%. ...

The S&P 500 is down 18.9% since Feb 19th, $9.77 trillion

Tariffs have no power here: US Treasury yields pop higher, 30-year mortgage hits highest in a month 6.85%, S&P 500 gives up 4% relief rally

 Stock market relief rally fizzles out with S&P 500 erasing 4% gain: Live updates

Mortgage rates slingshot higher as tariff uncertainty roils markets

 

 

Trump says Hang Tough because we have $5 trillion of new investment after $11 trillion in stocks wiped out lol

What, $5 trillion in crypto? Ukraine?

 

Trump nukes $6.6 trillion from the stock market in the last two days with tariff announcement, the biggest 2-day wipeout in history, $11.1 trillion since the inauguration

 

Reported here:

Roughly $11.1 trillion has been wiped away from the U.S. stock market since Jan. 17, the Friday before President Donald Trump took the oath of office and began his second term, according to data from Dow Jones Market Data.

Some $6.6 trillion of that figure was lost on Thursday and Friday alone — the largest two-day wipeout of shareholder value on record, Dow Jones data showed. ...

Investors sell gold to cover stock losses, but price remains above moving average of $3,023

 

 Reported here:

... Spot gold was down 2.9% at $3,024.2 an ounce, after hitting a session low of $3,015.29 earlier in the session.

It hit a record high of $3,167.57 on Thursday. For the week, gold was down 1.9%.

U.S. gold futures settled 2.8% lower at $3,035.40.

On the technical front, spot gold price managed to hold above its 21-day moving average of $3,023. ...

Mad King Ludwig says his tariffs will bring in $1T in the next year lol

 President Trump has argued that some of the tariffs he's imposing this week could help the government raise over $1 trillion in the next year or so

 S&P 500 loses $2.4 trillion in market value, biggest one-day loss since 2020

Stocks tank to inaugurate Trump's golden age of tariffs

 

The S&P 500 is now down 10.1% from the Feb 19th high of 6144

 A correction.

Mad King Ludwig attacks stock markets, won't answer pleas from businesses, Prince Elon's X suffers major cyberattack from unknown actors hehe

 

The king exercises his power, won't remove tariffs, markets sink

 He's reveling in the moment.

 

"I'm going to reduce interest rates by crashing the stock market with tariffs"

Bessent says Trump is focused on the 10-year Treasury yield and won't push the Fed to cut rates

 

Andrew Sullivan: The point is the abuse, whether it's Canada's Trudeau, Mexico's Sheinbaum, Germany's Scholz, Ukraine's Zelensky, or the S&P 500

 

Trump doesn't really believe in the tariffs, that they'll do anything one way or another. They are simply the readiest instruments which demonstrate his power, and the daily reminder to all and sundry that he is the king, Mad King Ludwig II of Bavaria reincarnate.

 

Trump says he’s not even looking at stock market, tariffs will make U.S. ‘very strong’ 

Trump ‘an agent of chaos and confusion,’ economists say — but a U.S. recession isn’t in the cards yet

So long, Trump bump: Tech stocks wipe out last of post-election gains 

 

Trump rejects pleas from business for more clarity on tariffs: ‘They always say that’ 

 

... Bartiromo interjected: “That’s not clarity.” ...

 

The Bully In His Pulpit

 

... Canada and Mexico are best understood as the baby in the playpen [whom Trump pelted with stones when he was five or six]. Trump himself re-negotiated a trade agreement with both in his first term. Have they violated that deal? No. Have they refused to cooperate on fentanyl and illegal migrants? No. Has Mexico reduced the pressure on the Southern border to almost nothing. Dramatically. Is there anything they can or could do to please Trump? No. The point is the abuse. And like all abusers, Trump constantly shifts what he is demanding, gaslights, threatens, charms, attacks … so that you begin to realize there is nothing you can do except wait for his mood to change. Welcome to monarchy. ...

Despite record highs in stocks in 2024, real return since the last secular peak in August 2000 still significantly lags previous periods of peak-to-peak returns

 

During four months in 2021, real return since August 2000 briefly hit the 5s: 5.06% in August, 5.02% in September, 5.17% in November, and 5.15% in December.

Real return swooned after that, as low as 3.63% in October 2022, making it seem like 2021 might have been a secular turning point.

But by October 2024 real return since August 2000 had recovered to 5.11%, and 5.2% in November, and 5.24% in December.

Is this the new secular peak?

Return might suggest, No, seeing how low it still is.

Valuation might suggest, Yes.

The annual average of the S&P 500 divided by GDP in trillions hit 186 in 2024, a level not seen since 1930 (228) on an annualized basis.

That ratio never got above 139 (2000) between 1937 (165) and 2020 (151).

And this ratio was 180 in 2021, 158 in 2022, and 155 in 2023, all unprecedented for the post-war.

But 186 in 2024 really takes the cake.

The price of the market is really, really rich for the return you get.