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Stock traders seek havens to hedge uncertain markets
For two years, Wall Street traders have minted profits simply by chasing the hottest stocks in the market regardless of price, fundamentals or the economic backdrop. Those days appear to be over.Suddenly, the equities universe has been afflicted by worries about shrinking growth and rising trade uncertainty brought on by President Donald Trump's policies. And it's killing the so-called momentum trade that's been driving the latest stock market rally.What that means is the technology, communications and consumer discretionary sectors led the S&P 500 Index in 2023 and 2024, but are at the bottom in 2025 as investors dump the shares. Meanwhile, typically safe areas of the stock market, like health care and consumer staples, are leading in 2025."When investors see a defense rally, they become even more defensive," said JC O'Hara, chief market technician at Roth Capital Partners.The S&P 500 tumbled again Thursday and after a hot start to the year is now down 0.3% for the 2025, underperforming benchmarks in Europe and even Canada. The US equities benchmark has lost 2.5% this week and 3% this month, and it's just another 1.4% decline from wiping out all of it gains since Trump's election.Meanwhile, the blows keep coming for equity investors. Nvidia Corp. had its worst day since the DeepSeek rout on Thursday after posting more subdued growth than investors were hoping for. Economic data showed weakness in business activity, inflation expectations, consumer confidence and jobless claims. Bond traders are bidding up Treasuries in a bet that the Federal Reserve will have to pivot from fighting inflation to dealing with a slowing economy."The S&P 500 has welcomed lower yields, but when the drop is this fast and furious, investors' first reaction is to ask what's wrong," O'Hara said, adding that as the market interprets the rally in bonds as a defensive move, it's also hastening the rotation out of riskier, trend-chasing trades.Investors' skittishness is perhaps most apparent in the market's riskiest niches.A Goldman Sachs basket of unprofitable tech stocks is close to giving up all of its gains from a post-election speculative frenzy. A gauge of heavily shorted firms has sunk to levels it last traded at in October. A Bloomberg index that follows the seven biggest technology stocks is in correction territory. And a gauge tracking cryptocurrency stocks has erased all of its so-called "Trump bump."
Categories: Business News
Canadians make anger toward US loud & clear
Canada isn't known for making a fuss, with niceness essentially part of its national brand. Not anymore. Canadians are angry, and they're showing it. Threats by President Donald Trump to impose 25% tariffs on Canadian exports and to annex the country have set off cascades of fury. "Do you know how angry you have to be with the United States to intentionally go out and purchase Canadian-made toothpaste? Because I'm there," Janel Comeau, a Canadian illustrator and writer based in Halifax, Nova Scotia, posted on the social platform X. The call to rally against Trump has helped unify provinces across the political spectrum, including Quebec, which has long defended its French identity. Recent polls have shown national pride in the province has risen. Even Americans, who rarely pay attention to matters north of the border, are taking note, with Canadian discontent becoming a regular talking point among U.S. television personalities. "You know it's bad when you've upset the Canadians," Seth Meyers, the host of Late Night, said on X. Here are some ways Canadians are manifesting their displeasure. Made in America? Back on the shelf it goes. Product labels have come under perhaps unprecedented scrutiny by Canadian shoppers. Grocery stores have plastered item displays with made-in-Canada signage. Responding to consumer demand, developers have rolled out applications, like MapleScan and Buy Beaver, that allow shoppers to scan a product's bar code and learn its origins. Canadians are also flooding social media forums to trade tips on amending grocery lists: ditch the Coca-Cola in favor of Canada Dry ginger ale (though despite the name, it is owned by an American company); forgo Colgate toothpaste for toothpaste made by the Green Beaver Co.; and skip the Kellogg's cornflakes and instead pick up Nature's Path granola. "Before, I would just go for what suits my pocketbook the best, and now I'm making a point," said Bill Fukazawa, who lives in Vancouver, British Columbia. "If there's a Canadian choice, I'm going to make a Canadian choice." Fukazawa, who runs a food channel on YouTube called Maplecook, said in an interview that he was willing to sacrifice the authentic American ingredients to make his favorite food, Kansas City-style barbecue, as a form of protest. "There's an overwhelming feeling in Canada of betrayal," Fukazawa said. "There is no country closer to us than the United States." Snowbirds seek sun elsewhere. Canadian travelers are redirecting their dollars to warm weather destinations outside the United States, with some seasonal residents even selling properties. (Although the trade feud is helping fuel this, the weak Canadian dollar is also playing a role.) Canada is the leading country of origin for foreign tourists to the United States, according to the U.S. Travel Association, an industry group. Last year, Canadians made more than 20 million visits to the United States and spent $20.5 billion. Before spring break for schools across Canada, there are signs that Canadians are heeding the suggestions of Canadian officials, including Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, to rethink their vacation plans. A Feb. 27 survey by the Quebec Tourism Industry Alliance, a province that makes up a sizable portion of Canada's snowbirds, found that half of travelers who planned to visit the United States year said they had canceled their trips. (Tourists to the United States from Quebec spend about $6 billion annually, according to the Tourism Industry Alliance.) Janet DePerry, a real estate broker in Dana Point, California, said she had fielded urgent requests in recent months from two clients who wanted to sell homes they owned in California -- one in Palm Desert and the other in Orange County. How eager were they to sell? "I told them what their house was worth, and they chose to list it for $50,000 less," DePerry said. "I couldn't say 'I'm sorry' enough to these people." Hockey fans dim a Canadian legend's star. Hockey fans in Canada were overjoyed after the country beat the United States this month in an inaugural four-nation championship. What would have normally been relatively friendly round-robin games for global bragging rights turned into icy geopolitical theater. "You can't take our country -- and you can't take our game," Trudeau wrote in a post on X after the final game, which included Canadian fans booing "The Star Spangled Banner." Many Canadian hockey fans also trained their ire against their country's most famous hockey player: Wayne Gretzky, who was Canada's honorary captain for the four-nation tournament. Gretzky had already ruffled some Canadian feathers by attending Trump's inauguration in January and remaining silent about the president wanting to make Canada the 51st state. Then, at the tournament, he did not wear a Canada team jersey or any other red-and-white apparel. Gretzky has said nothing about the backlash. But Trump has come to his defense. "He's the Greatest Canadian of them all, and I am therefore making him a 'free agent,' because I don't want anyone in Canada to say anything bad about him," Trump said in a social media post. Goodbye, 'Americano.' Hello, 'Canadiano.' The first few letters of "Americano" had been wiped off the chalkboard menu of Morning Owl, an Ottawa, Ontario, coffee shop tucked away in a government building. At a friend's suggestion, the owner, Todd Simpson, replaced the wording to read "Canadiano." It's written in red, with a maple leaf next to it for good measure. Simpson's gesture has drawn intense media attention and, he said, has lured locals and tourists into his off-the-beaten-path shop to show their support for Canada. Coffee shops in other parts of the country have also stopped using Americano as part of their menu selections. "It's just something to lighten up this horrible thing that's happening right now between the two countries," Simpson said. "It's a shame that all this is going on." Canadians turn to sketch TV to laugh it off. Actor Mark Critch delighted viewers with his impressions of Trump during the president's first term on the Canadian sketch comedy show "This Hour Has 22 Minutes," which is shown on Canadian Broadcasting Corp., the national broadcaster. Critch has reprised the role, to even bigger audiences, after Trump's reelection in November. "Times of confusion and uncertainty are great for comedy," said Kaari Sinnaeve, a CBC spokesperson, "especially now for '22 Minutes,' with so much material and audiences hungry for a comedic take." This article originally appeared in The New York Times.
Categories: Business News