Wall Street pushed from pillar to post by Trump Tariff Chaos

The American Federal Reserve’s favorite inflation meter came in a fairly common vanilla Friday and perhaps pointed the way to Wall Street’s favorite flavor: Stockings. But even the bit of good news was not enough to reassure investors who tried to read the tea magazines about what the White House will or will not do, or do not mean when it comes to triggering a regional or global trade war. And as if it wasn’t bad enough, President Donald Trump issued a fresh round of Amorfe Trade Treats today. The S&P 500 deleted a rally that approached 1%, while Greenback hovered near the session’s heights in the middle of reports that there will be duties coming on Saturday, or maybe in March, or maybe not at all. “Going into the weekend seems that even staff who are closest to the oval office have no details,” Max Gokhman said at Franklin Templeton Investment Solutions. “So some bulls go back to the stable to sit out of a probable storm.”

With the exception of his one-day showdown With Colombia, Trump has so far failed to follow his countless promises of immediate tariffs against China or America’s two neighbors. So what happens if he finally does? The 78-year-old Republican now says duty is really Coming tomorrow. Assuming it is happening, the conventional wisdom of economists is that it will be some version of their own goal where Americans suffering higher inflation or reduced economic growth or both. But when it comes to stocks, the effect is unclear. “Because we do not know what is to happen, we must assume that there is a general increase in customs duty in almost everything that is imported into the states,” said Chris Beckett, research manager at Quilter Cheviot. “Then you start to worry about tit-for-tat receding and general reductions in free trade.” Here’s a look at which global equities and sectors could be most exposed to Trump’s threats.