Market Musings 4/14/2025
Quick thoughts on the markets and major portfolio news. Not on Ursa yet? Download Ursa from the App Store!
Markets rally as the White House appears to soften #Tariffs on electronics and cars
It’s Monday and we already have a flood of new tariff updates.
First up, some confusion with electronics…
Late Friday night, US Customs released a list of #Tariffs exemptions that included electronic items like smartphones, laptops and TVs. These electronics will NOT be subject to the 10% global tariff or 125% reciprocal tariff on China. (Although, they’ll will still be subject to China’s 20% “fentanyl” tariff.)
However by Saturday morning, the White House was already claiming the exemption was just a “temporary reprieve” and will be included in future semiconductor #Tariffs.
Regardless, it was perceived to be a market win for electronic makers like Apple. It looks like no $3000 iPhone for now…
Second, the White House announced investigations into semiconductors and pharmaceuticals.
While nothing announced yet, the White House has implied the end goal of these investigations is likely to determine the #Tariffs on these industries. Markets seem to be largely shrugging off this for now. Investors likely hoping any #Tariffs would just end up being in the 25% range similar to the targeted steel and auto ones and not as massive as the reciprocal #Tariffs.
And speaking of Autos, finally some good news…
The White House hinted they might temporarily exempt US automakers from the 25% #Tariffs announced last month. The reprieve would allow carmakers time to overhaul complex supply chains spanning multiple countries. Similar to the electronics relief, the White House maintains these are just temporary－likely to avoid public backlash from immediate price spikes. Autos like General Motors & Ford rebounding with optimism.
#Tariffs remain a headwind on markets. However, despite the “temporary” qualifier, the White House does appear to be lightening up some on its #Tariffs policies.
Markets continued to rally today, but pulled back from earlier highs likely due to the ongoing uncertainty. Despite the market’s eternal optimism, we still expect the turbulent policy to still have an impact on global markets especially given the uncertainty and randomness of which #Tariffs get walked back and which get expanded upon.
Outside of more #Tariffs updates, we’re looking towards Q1 earnings to gauge how companies are feeling and temperature check on #ConsumerConfidence.
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As of the publish date, Ursa portfolios may own AAPL, GM & F. The stocks mentioned in this article may cease to be owned by Ursa portfolios at any point.
The statements, opinions and analyses presented here are provided as general information. This article is the opinion of the author. Anything within this article should NOT be considered an investment recommendation or advice. See Ursa’s full disclosures here.
Original Photo by Pixabay.