A fortnight ago, investors were counting down the hours to President Trump’s announcement of ‘reciprocal tariffs’. Global stock indices, led by the US majors, were already exhibiting evidence of investor concern.

The Dow and the Russell 2000 (a less popular stock index, but an important indicator of the mood towards US mid-cap, domestically-focused corporations) had both peaked in November.

The S&P 500 and NASDAQ, which both contain a significant weighting towards the tech giants, hit their all-time highs in mid-February. 

Since then, all the US majors sold off, taking them back below levels last seen just after Trump’s election victory on 5th November. They had a mild recovery in the latter half of March.

But it was evident that investors were becoming wary. The feeling was that tariffs could go either way. President Trump could announce a modest baseline tariff on those countries he believed were acting ‘unfairly’.

Or he could do something worse. In the end, he did something much, much worse. 

Most tariffs went through a fairly rapid ‘process’ of being postponed, altered and retargeted. But given what has happened since, it looks as if the 10% baseline tariff across exports from the US’s trading partners is much more in line with what the markets were hoping for.

Although in the absence of a string of successful country-by-country negotiations, these could revert to the original reciprocal rates in three months’ time. 

But one thing now looks certain, and that is that the Trump administration’s real target in all this brouhaha is China.

Add in the bellicose rhetoric and thin skins on both sides, and the tariff tiff has morphed into an all-out trade war. Investors are now trying to work out if this can be resolved, and if so, how long it could take.

Analysts have all come up with opposing theories over which side stands to be worst affected, and who is most likely to blink first. One argument goes that President Trump’s readiness to water down most tariffs is a sign of weakness. Maybe.

Although the fact that he ramped up China’s levies to 145% suggests not. It’s also said that China’s authoritarian regime is in a better position to accept hardships on its citizens in a way that Trump can’t.

But China’s economy is in a poor state, no matter what the data says, and its property implosion means that it can’t rely on its domestic market to replace its export market. 

On the other hand, it looks as if the Trump administration may have panicked when US Treasuries went into meltdown. It could accept a sell-off in equities, but not a threat to the world’s ultimate safe-haven asset.

The yield on the 30-year yield had its biggest weekly jump since the 1980s, even as the US dollar was in freefall. It looked as if something had burst. 

Was China to blame? It seems unlikely that they were wholly responsible for the bond market sell-off. It would largely be self-defeating given how much US government debt they own.

Also, such a move would push up the value of the yuan, which would only make life more difficult for Chinese exporters.

It seems more likely that the dislocation between the dollar and US Treasuries was largely due to massive deleveraging by hedge funds and the shadow banking system. 

Markets were a touch calmer in the week leading up to Easter. But it doesn’t feel like the crisis has peaked yet.

The egos involved are just too big, and the stakes far too high. At some stage, this will be resolved. But risk markets look likely to suffer a lot more pain before things get back on a more even keel.  

(David Morrison is a Senior Market Analyst at Trade Nation. Views are his own.)

The post Dangerous times appeared first on Invezz

The S&P 500 index has declined significantly over the past few months, forming a death cross pattern for the first time since 2022. It ended the week at $5,282, down by 14.2% from its highest level this year. 

The S&P 500 index will be in focus next week as investors watch any new developments on trade. Also, it will react to the upcoming corporate earnings, which will provide more information about how companies did ahead of Trump’s tariffs.

Tesla (TSLA)

Tesla’s stock price has crashed in the past few months. After peaking at $488 in January, the stock has declined by 50% to its current price of $240. It has shed billions of dollars in value in this period.

Analysts expect that Tesla will publish weak financial results on Tuesday as its deliveries in Europe and China tumbled. The average estimate is that Tesla’s revenues will be $21.54 billion, a 1.12% increase from the same period last year. 

For the year, analysts expect that Tesla’s revenues will be $106.9 billion, a 9.45% annual increase, its slowest rate in years. 

Alphabet (GOOG)

Alphabet, the parent company of Google and YouTube, has also pulled back in the past few months. It has dropped from a high of $208 in January to $153. 

The stock has dropped in line with the performance of other Magnificent 7 companies. As I wrote recently, there are concerns that its business is being disrupted by AI bots like Grok and Claude.

Analysts still expect that its business continued doing well in the first quarter as its revenues rose by 10.7% to $89.18 billion. Its annual revenue forecast is $387 billion, which wlll then jump to $429 billion in 2026. The average Google stock forecast by analysts is $201, higher than the current $153. 

IBM (IBM)

IBM is another S&P 500 stock to watch next week as it publishes its numbers on Wednesday. These numbers will come as its stock remains 10.50% below its highest point this year.

IBM’s business has slowed as competition from other top companies in the tech industry, like Google, Amazon, and Microsoft has intensified. Also, IBM may lose some contracts with the US government, as Accenture and other consulting firms have done. A key bright spot for the company is that its artificial intelligence is growing modestly.

Analysts anticipate that IBM’s revenues will be $14.39 billion, a 0.39% decline from the same period last year. Its earnings per share will be $1.43, a drop from the $1.68 a year earlier. IBM has done better than expected in the past few quarters.

Boeing (BA)

Boeing stock price has crashed by about 40% from its highest level in 2023 as it moved from one crisis to another. It made headlines this year when Beijing instructed its companies to halt new orders and deliveries.

Therefore, Boeing’s earnings, which will come out on Thursday, will provide more information about its business. They will also provide more hints about how Trump’s tariffs will hit its business, and how its turnaround efforts are going on.

Other top S&P 500 stocks to watch

There are other top S&P 500 index companies to watch next week. For example, Intel will publish its financial results on Thursday, providing more information about its business as concerns remain. 

The other top companies to watch will be popular names like Philip Morris International, Thermo Fisher, Texas Instruments, NextEra Energy, Chipotle, PepsiCo, Verizon, and Lockheed Martin.

The post S&P 500 index stocks to watch: Google, Tesla, IBM, Intel, AT&T, Boeing, Chipotle appeared first on Invezz

3M stock price has crashed in the past few weeks as investors assess the impact of Donald Trump’s tariffs on its business. After peaking at $155 earlier this year, it has bottomed to $130, down by 17% from its highest point this year. This article examines whether the MMM stock is a good investment ahead of the company’s earnings announcement on Tuesday. 

3M has faced challenges in the past few years

3M is a top industrial company that manufactures products used in several industries. Its top divisions are industries like safety and industrial, transportation and electronics, and consumer. 

3M is known for products like adhesives and tapes, safety glasses and eyewear, sandpaper, abrasives, and other sponges and pads. 

The company has faced numerous challenges in the past. For example, it was forced to pay $12.5 billion for manufacturing forever chemicals and $6 billion for selling faulty earplugs to the US military. Before that, Minnesota fined it $850 million for PFAS disposal in the state. 

3M has done a lot to remedy its business and boost its growth. It replaced its then CEO with William Brown, a highly experienced executive who helped to turn L3Harris around. 

Brown has adopted a cost-cutting approach in an effort to boost profitability. He has also pledged to focus on innovation, especially in his goal to end the reliance on forever chemicals.

At the same time, Brown has talked about the need for expanding its solutions since most of 3M products are no longer growing as fast.

The most significant corporate event that 3M made was spinning off its healthcare business into an independent firm known as Solventum, that is currently valued at over $11.6 billion. It also sold a stake in Combi Packaging Systems to SIAT Group.

The current main challenge is that the firm is facing potentially slow growth due to Donald Trump’s tariffs. These levies will affect its supply and demand side. Demand will be impacted as it is forced to boost prices of its products. In the supply side, the company will see higher costs.

Read more: 3M is a ‘growth stock’ after Q4 earnings, says Cramer: should you invest?

3M earnings ahead

The next catalyst for the 3M stock price is its upcoming financial results scheduled on Tuesday. These numbers will be the first ones after it delivered its short and medium-term forecasts. It hopes that its organic sales will outperform the macro in 2026 and 2027, and that its operating margin will get to 25% by 2027. It also hopes to have a 100% free cash flow conversion.

The most recent results showed that its sales rose by 2.1% YoY to $5.8 billion, while the EPS rose by 2% to 1.68. Its free cash flow rose to $1.3 billion. Altogether, 3M’s annual sales rose by 1.2% to $23.6 billion. 

The average analyst estimate is that 3M’s quarterly sales will be $5.73 billion, while its EPS will be $1.77 billion. Analysts expect that its annual revenue and EPS will be $23.9 billion and $7.76.

3M stock price analysis

The daily chart shows that the 3M share price peaked at $154.85, forming a triple-top chart pattern. It has dropped below the neckline at $141, its lowest swing on March 7. 

3M shares have also moved below the 50-day and 200-day Weighted Moving Averages (EMA). Oscillators like the Relative Strength Index (RSI) and MACD indicators have all pointed downwards.

Therefore, the stock will likely continue falling as sellers target the key support at $122.13, its lowest point this year. A drop below that level will point to more downside to the support at $110.

The post 3M stock price analysis: buy, sell, or hold ahead of earnings appeared first on Invezz

The S&P 500 index has declined significantly over the past few months, forming a death cross pattern for the first time since 2022. It ended the week at $5,282, down by 14.2% from its highest level this year. 

The S&P 500 index will be in focus next week as investors watch any new developments on trade. Also, it will react to the upcoming corporate earnings, which will provide more information about how companies did ahead of Trump’s tariffs.

Tesla (TSLA)

Tesla’s stock price has crashed in the past few months. After peaking at $488 in January, the stock has declined by 50% to its current price of $240. It has shed billions of dollars in value in this period.

Analysts expect that Tesla will publish weak financial results on Tuesday as its deliveries in Europe and China tumbled. The average estimate is that Tesla’s revenues will be $21.54 billion, a 1.12% increase from the same period last year. 

For the year, analysts expect that Tesla’s revenues will be $106.9 billion, a 9.45% annual increase, its slowest rate in years. 

Alphabet (GOOG)

Alphabet, the parent company of Google and YouTube, has also pulled back in the past few months. It has dropped from a high of $208 in January to $153. 

The stock has dropped in line with the performance of other Magnificent 7 companies. As I wrote recently, there are concerns that its business is being disrupted by AI bots like Grok and Claude.

Analysts still expect that its business continued doing well in the first quarter as its revenues rose by 10.7% to $89.18 billion. Its annual revenue forecast is $387 billion, which wlll then jump to $429 billion in 2026. The average Google stock forecast by analysts is $201, higher than the current $153. 

IBM (IBM)

IBM is another S&P 500 stock to watch next week as it publishes its numbers on Wednesday. These numbers will come as its stock remains 10.50% below its highest point this year.

IBM’s business has slowed as competition from other top companies in the tech industry, like Google, Amazon, and Microsoft has intensified. Also, IBM may lose some contracts with the US government, as Accenture and other consulting firms have done. A key bright spot for the company is that its artificial intelligence is growing modestly.

Analysts anticipate that IBM’s revenues will be $14.39 billion, a 0.39% decline from the same period last year. Its earnings per share will be $1.43, a drop from the $1.68 a year earlier. IBM has done better than expected in the past few quarters.

Boeing (BA)

Boeing stock price has crashed by about 40% from its highest level in 2023 as it moved from one crisis to another. It made headlines this year when Beijing instructed its companies to halt new orders and deliveries.

Therefore, Boeing’s earnings, which will come out on Thursday, will provide more information about its business. They will also provide more hints about how Trump’s tariffs will hit its business, and how its turnaround efforts are going on.

Other top S&P 500 stocks to watch

There are other top S&P 500 index companies to watch next week. For example, Intel will publish its financial results on Thursday, providing more information about its business as concerns remain. 

The other top companies to watch will be popular names like Philip Morris International, Thermo Fisher, Texas Instruments, NextEra Energy, Chipotle, PepsiCo, Verizon, and Lockheed Martin.

The post S&P 500 index stocks to watch: Google, Tesla, IBM, Intel, AT&T, Boeing, Chipotle appeared first on Invezz

Despite a big hit to AI stocks in recent months, artificial intelligence remains at the front and centre of all financial debates this year.

Earlier this month, Meta Platforms announced plans to spend $1 billion to set up a new data centre in Wisconsin, indicating the company expects continued demand for AI.

Such a narrative makes not only the AI stocks attractive to own on the pullback but also a bunch of artificial intelligence-focused meme coins. These include the up-and-coming and PepeX.

The demand PepeX has attracted during its own presale suggests that it may prove to be a better investment than even the more established names like Dogecoin in 2025.

PepeX is yet to see explosive growth

Meme coins are known for explosive growth in the initial stages. However, not all manage to sustain the momentum over a longer period.

So, the best time to invest in a meme coin in the early stages. Once a meme coin has already had its moment in the sun, investing in it tends to become that much riskier.

That’s what makes PepeX a lot more attractive to own at the time of writing than Dogecoin. The former is in its very early stages, while the latter has already had its initial phase of explosive growth.

Therefore, the probability of securing 100x gains with PepeX in 2025 is much higher than with Dogecoin.

AI narrative to attract investors to PepeX

Another reason to prefer PepeX over Dogecoin is the fact that PepeX is an AI-enabled meme coin.

PepeX taps on artificial intelligence to makes launching and marketing new memes that much easier. The AI narrative will likely attract more investors to PepeX over time than Dogecoin that lacks the AI angle.

Plus, according to Statista, the artificial intelligence market is expected to grow at a compound annualised rate of more than 27% through the end of this decade.

That’s an exciting growth rate that investors gain exposure to with an investment with PepeX instead of Dogecoin.

PepeX has better tokenomics than Dogecoin

Dogecoin’s supply model is infinite, meaning there’s no cap on the number of coins that can be created. This raises concerns about inflation over time, which can dilute the value of individual tokens.

PepeX, on the other hand, has a well-thought-out tokenomics model that balances supply and demand. It incorporates mechanisms like token burns and rewards for long-term holders, ensuring a more sustainable growth trajectory.

If you’re interested in learning more about PepeX and how to build an early position in it, click here to visit its website now.

The post PepeX vs Dogecoin: Why PepeX is a better investment in 2025 appeared first on Invezz