hey what's up everyone welcome back to my world of stocks now last week I did an update video on the whole tariffs situation and you guys were loud and clear about wanting a weekly version of that to keep you up to date with everything going on so that's what we'll be doing for now as long as you guys keep liking these update videos then I'll keep putting them out for you probably every Saturday morning we'll start first with how the market performed this week then we'll move into any news covering tariff updates and trade deals the current situation with China and any other macroeconomic news that might be affecting the market does that sound good all right then let's go ahead and jump straight into this okay so taking a look at the markets they mostly fell this week on renewed fears of inflation and rising global tensions with the S&P 500 dipping over 2.6% 6% which is also down over 10% this year and over 14% from the top while the tech heavy NASDAQ is down even more falling another close to 4% this week while also being down over 15% this year and almost 20% from the top essentially in a bare market now for this week specifically the biggest factor really had to do with commentary from Fed Chairman Jerome Powell that really spooked the markets this came basically midweek on Wednesday where Powell uh stated that the Fed can afford to remain patient before adjusting interest rates as it evaluates the economic impact of the Trump administration's new policies including tariffs basically taking a more kind of wait and see approach to the entire situation and although he did acknowledge the heightened market volatility he still maintains that the Fed should not intervene unless more serious market disruptions occur basically saying that he just hasn't seen really enough here to warrant taking any overly aggressive action uh you know immediately right now which again the market didn't really like to see because it could mean high interest rates for longer than you know it would like there to be don't forget the stock market usually wants interest rates to go down as that makes it cheaper for companies to operate thus helping their profits on top of this though Powell also warned that tariffs are likely going to push up inflation and unemployment potentially leading to a challenging scenario down the road of having to manage both accelerating inflation and a slowing economy at which point obviously that's really where the Fed would likely come in and start lowering rates but the market all you know always being kind of more forward-looking than that probably wants it to happen sooner rather than later and the same goes for Trump who voiced his critique of Powell's comments and would like to see the Fed cut interest rates right now even suggesting later in the week that he's open to replacing Powell before his current term even finishes which was set to expire next year saying in a truth social post that Powell is always too late and wrong referencing lower oil and grocery prices as a reason to start cutting rates immediately right now while America continues getting richer on tariffs finishing that his termination cannot come fast enough at which point though most experts think Kevin Worsh would be Trump's next appointment to the position a former Morgan Stanley banker who served as economic adviser to President Bush governor of the Federal Reserve Board and is noted for being a strong critic of government spending and resulting inflation although it should be noted that Walsh did actually advise Trump to not fire Powell prematurely before the end of his full term either way though as someone just kind of speculating here on the outside I would have to assume that a new appointee by Trump would be more than willing to cut rates and that's really something that I just think you know for Wall Street specifically is going to benefit the market once that happens obviously nothing is ever guaranteed but it is something to keep in mind of as this entire scenario plays out and unfolds what many think is much more important at the moment though is our current tariffs and international trade deals situation for which we actually have some pretty big developments on this week notably the White House claiming that around 75 countries have now reached out wanting to negotiate which they've they're prioritizing the 15 largest of those economies first who they claim to already be in active negotiations with and to give you an update on some of those too trump said during the week that he's 100% confident on getting a deal done with the European Union soon adding that they badly want to make a deal there's also Japan who's already had representatives fly to Washington to meet with Trump to which he's noted big progress in their talks as you might recall Japan has also said previously that they would offer a total package that includes new trade agree agreements on US natural gas cars agriculture and defense in an effort to eliminate tariffs entirely there's also the UK to which uh Vice President JD Vance said on Tuesday that there's a good chance they'll work out a great deal soon this coming off the weekend where the UK announced that it would suspend tariffs on 89 US goods and imports there's also South Korea for which Trump revealed this week that a trade deal is on the horizon after speaking with their president adding that they talked about large-scale purchases of US natural gas ship building a joint venture for an Alaska pipeline and even billions of dollars worth of military protection unfortunately talks with Vietnam seemed to regress a bit this week as they elected to take a meeting with Chinese President Xiinping to which Trump kind of mocked the meeting calling it a lovely meeting where they try to figure out how to screw America but unlike Vietnam Australia actually chose to decline an offer from China saying that they are quote not about to make common cause with China and that they won't be holding hands with China in respect of any contest that is going on in the world earlier in the month Australia also noted that they will not be retaliating against the US for their tariffs either we also have India continuing negotiations too on what is called the first phase of a trade deal that will be worth around half a trillion dollar by 2030 and ultimately cut tariffs and other various export controls at the moment though the US is still being tariffed between 5 to 30% on goods they send but India now says that they'll be reducing tariffs on over half of all US goods imported in of course all eyes are really on China though because not only is that the other global superpower but it's also where we've seen the most tension and escalation and although this week started off on a very negative note towards the end of the week we actually got a more optimistic update now starting with the negatives first I believe this was on Tuesday China banned new Boeing airplanes from being uh delivered to the country then we had Nvidia come out and say that new Trump chip restrictions are going to cost them $5.5 billion dollar as a new licensing rule targets their modified H20 AI chips that were specifically made to comply with Biden era restrictions all of which sent chip stocks falling before getting some a little bit of relief towards the end of the week some positive news uh coming from TSMC who reported better than expected earnings on strong AI demand but still it was not enough to lift Nvidia back up who ended the week down over 11% and still down over 30% year to date as well as bad as all of that was though we actually got some positive news on Thursday and Friday regarding China when Trump said during interviews that he is actually in trade talks with China and is confident that a deal will be reached soon also noting that top officials have actually reached out to Washington a quote number of times from China uh to work out a deal and when asked specifically on when uh we could expect a certain time frame for when this new trade deal could be reached between the US and China well Trump said quote I would think over the next 3 to four weeks which you know is much sooner than most people were probably anticipating adding that America has quote a big beautiful store and everybody wants a piece of that store finally Trump also said this week that he thinks most trade deals with other nations can be completed within a month now I don't personally see that happening so soon i do think some will for sure get done soon but uh the majority of them I just see going on a bit further than that getting closer to the bounds of that 90day pause period still I do think that there's a lot to be optimistic for here um and look I'm not saying that we should just blindly take Trump's word for any of this clearly he's a businessman that will say whatever he needs to to get leverage and momentum on his side but just the fact that other countries do seem to be eager to work out deals with America and the fact that he's even talking to China to whatever extent that may even be why I just think that it is still an overall positive sign for the stock market which is why I continue to tell you guys I know that this year is scary and by all accounts you should continue to expect extreme volatility in both the stock market and the economy but longer term it's not wise to bet against America and I do think deals will be coming over the next several months not years but actually months so regardless of how low stock prices might go this year long-term I do still think that this will all have proven to be a great buying opportunity for the highest quality stocks out there it doesn't mean rush in and pour all of your money in at once it just means for me personally what I'm doing is I'm constantly on the lookout for good deals on my favorite stocks and I won't be afraid to grab and take advantage of them either so make sure you're subscribed because I'll be updating you guys all along the way but thanks again for stopping by my friends i hope you enjoyed this week's update on the whole tariffs situation leave your thoughts down below and I will catch you in the next one all right take care everybody bye-bye