April 23, 2025

Markets:

Stock futures climbed on Wednesday after President Donald Trump said he doesn’t plan to remove Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell from his post as central bank leader. They also got a boost as Trump also signaled tariffs on Chinese imports may go down.

The rally in futures came after Trump said late Tuesday that he has “no intention” of firing Powell, whose term as Fed chair will end in May 2026.

The comment is a reversal of sorts for the president, who fired off barbs against Powell as recently as Monday, calling the central bank leader a “major loser” and demanding that interest rates come down. Just last week, Trump said in a Truth Social post that Powell’s “termination cannot come fast enough.”

Trump also said he’s willing to take a less confrontational approach to trade talks with China, noting that the current 145% tariff on Chinese imports is “very high, and it won’t be that high. … No, it won’t be anywhere near that high. It’ll come down substantially. But it won’t be zero.”

Stocks with higher exposure to China that have sold off in recent weeks rallied in the premarket on Trump’s softer stance. This included “Magnificent Seven” titans Apple and Nvidia, which were up 3% and 6%, respectively.

Shares of Tesla popped 7% also due to easing tariff pressures and after CEO Elon Musk said during the company’s Tuesday earnings call that his time spent running Trump’s Department of Government Efficiency will drop “significantly” starting next month.

Portfolio:

We’re holding positions in METU and S. Momentum is being driven by yet another major headline. But this one feels different—it could be the real deal. This shift in tone from the top might mark a meaningful change in narrative.

As we noted yesterday, earnings season is has begun, tariff fatigue is settling in, and now we might be witnessing the beginning of a major unwind from the short side. While we remain cautious, we continue to reiterate what we’ve said for weeks: once instability and headline risk—especially around tariffs—begin to clear, this market could present one of the best opportunities we’ve seen in years. Think post-2008 levels of upside.

So many names are still trading at heavily depressed prices, and if the tide turns, we could see a fast move back to November levels—and beyond to new highs.

That said, let’s not get ahead of ourselves. Watch how price action unfolds today—whether we build on this momentum or break down. More earnings are on the way, and the big ones for us hit next week.  Be ready today.