🧪 The S&P Just Made History (Not the Good Kind)

Good Morning!

Markets are moody, earnings are messy, and Trump’s trade game is still a masterclass in confusion. Meanwhile, the S&P 500 just clocked the worst 100-day start to a presidency since the disco era. Not ideal. But hey, chaos = opportunity… if you know where to look.

From mega-cap tech earnings and soft economic data to meme coin moonshots and real-world asset tokenization, we’ve got the edge-slicing updates you actually need, not the noise.

Let’s get into it 👇

🌡 TradingLab’s Headline Roundup

Stock Markets

• $SPX ( ▲ 0.41% ) S&P 500 Logs Worst 100-Day Start to a President’s Term Since 1973

• $UBS ( ▼ 0.84% ) UBS Stock Pops 3% as Swiss Lender Delivers $1.7 Billion Net Profit for First Quarter

• $SBUX ( ▲ 0.84% ) Starbucks Stock Slumps 7% After Serving Up a Lukewarm Earnings Brew

• $SMC ( ▲ 0.38% ) Super Micro Stock Crashes as Earnings Slide Way Below Consensus

• How To Day Trade As A Complete Beginner

Crypto

• SEC drops investigation into PayPal’s stablecoin

• US Treasury’s OFAC can’t restore Tornado Cash sanctions, judge rules

• $BLK ( ▲ 0.12% ) BlackRock Looking to Tokenize Shares of Its $150B Treasury Trust Fund, SEC Filing Shows

• Telegram’s TON Takes On Real World Assets With Libre’s $500M Tokenized Bond Fund

Forex/Commodities

• $GBPUSD ( ▼ 0.04% ) Sterling Clocks 3-Year High Above $1.3440 as Double-Top Pattern Shapes Up

Inside TradingLab Premium

^{Your peek inside my private circle… trade with me here.}

🤑 Eve's Signal hit a +44% win on FartCoin
Eve continues to prove she’s got the magic touch  her latest signal on the meme-powered FartCoin ($FARTCOIN.X ( ▲ 2.12% )) pumped a whopping +44%. Premium members had the heads-up.

📈 Mr. M’s $TEM Signal hit a +25% gain in 2 days
Mr. M dropped a textbook-perfect setup on $TEM ( ▲ 1.25% ) and it smashed through all key levels in just two days, locking in a solid +25% gain for my members. That’s what sniper entries and pro-level patience look like.

💰 Member Broski made $1,187.58 on $FUEL
Shoutout to Broski, who crushed it with a long play on $FUEL.X ( ▲ 0.65% ) , booking a tidy $1,187.58 USDT profit. Bag secured.

Upcoming Earnings

^{via LevelFields}

📅 MON.
Domino’s Pizza (DPZ), Cadence Design (CDNS), F5 Networks (FFIV), Waste Management (WM), SBA Communications (SBAC), Nucor (NUE), Universal Health Services (UHS)

📅 TUES.
Pfizer (PFE), Coca-Cola (KO), Spotify (SPOT), General Motors (GM), PayPal (PYPL), Visa (V), Starbucks (SBUX)

📅 WED.
Meta Platforms (META), Microsoft (MSFT), Qualcomm (QCOM), Caterpillar (CAT), Humana (HUM), KLA Corp (KLAC), Stryker (SYK)

📅 THURS.
Apple (AAPL), Amazon (AMZN), McDonald’s (MCD), CVS Health (CVS), Mastercard (MA), Biogen (BIIB), Eli Lilly (LLY)

📅 FRI.
Exxon Mobil (XOM), Chevron (CVX), The Cigna Group (CI), T. Rowe Price (TROW), AES Corp (AES), Cboe Global Markets (CBOE), Wendy’s (WEN)

📈 What’s Moving Markets Today?

🔥 Futures Fizzle: Markets On Hold Before the Tech Show

Wall Street seems to be nursing a hangover from Tuesday’s tariff optimism, with U.S. stock futures sliding slightly as traders brace for a triple threat of mega-cap earnings, critical economic data, and, of course, more trade chaos from the White House.

📌 Market Snapshot:

• S&P 500 Futures: Down 12 points, or 0.2%

• Nasdaq Futures: Off by 65 points, or 0.3%

• Dow Futures: Basically flat—a masterclass in hesitation

The real fireworks are coming later in the week when the "Magnificent Seven" tech giants start reporting. Microsoft $MSFT ( ▲ 0.04% ) and Meta Platforms $META ( ▼ 2.35% ) step up first. And yes, everyone’s going to be asking about AI spending, because apparently, we’re building the future one GPU at a time.

📌 What's Next:

• GDP, inflation, and jobs data are all on deck

• Analysts expect Q1 GDP to slow to 0.2% (from 2.4%)… ouch

• Consumer confidence just tanked, while job openings dipped a bit

🚘 Trump Loosens the Tariff Noose (Kind Of)

Trump took a break from campaign rallies to sign off on some auto tariff relief that’s giving carmakers a little breathing room. He’s not pulling the 25% tariffs entirely (don’t get your hopes up), but he is giving companies two years to bring more manufacturing back to U.S. soil.

📌 What Went Down:

• The move comes as Trump visited Michigan, because of course he did

• Automakers have been begging for exemptions, given how global supply chains work

• Trump says he "doesn’t want to penalize" firms if they can’t get the parts, a softer tone than usual

Meanwhile, Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick (yes, that Lutnick) claimed a trade deal was reached with an unnamed foreign country. Because who doesn’t love a little international mystery?

💻 Tech Titans Take the Stage

Get ready: this week is a buffet of mega-cap tech earnings, and Wall Street is watching like hawks with trust issues. Microsoft and Meta report today, with Apple and Amazon hot on their heels tomorrow.

📌 Why It Matters:

• These stocks have underperformed in 2025 after years of dominance

• Investors want answers on:

  • AI spending, especially after DeepSeek entered the chat with a dirt-cheap model

  • The impact of Trump's tariffs on capex plans

• Oh, and don’t forget Qualcomm $QCOM ( ▼ 0.24% ) and Caterpillar $CAT ( ▲ 0.04% ), two big economic bellwethers also reporting today

Let’s just say, if these reports flop, this rally could unravel fast.

📊 Data Drops Incoming

The Fed may be in wait-and-see mode, but investors aren’t. With the PCE inflation index, private payrolls, and GDP data all hitting this week, it's data roulette time.

📌 What to Watch:

• GDP Estimate: Just 0.2% growth expected for Q1, basically flatlining

• PCE Inflation Data: The Fed’s favorite metric drops Friday

• ADP Private Payrolls: Projected to fall to 114K jobs in April (from 155K)

Analysts are already wondering if this soft data is the first real sign that Trump’s tariff tantrums are starting to bite.

🛢 Oil Tanks on Trade Woes

Oil prices are getting pummeled as traders panic over slowing global demand, again. Brent crude and WTI are both down sharply, headed for their worst month since November 2021.

📌 Quick Stats:

• Brent Crude: Down 1.5% to $62.33

• WTI Crude: Down 1.7% to $59.41

• Monthly Drop: Over 15%, cue the screaming in energy ETFs

Weak Chinese manufacturing data poured salt in the wound. Pair that with fading hopes for a resolution to the trade war, and yeah... oil bulls are in full retreat.

🎢 The Takeaway: Hold Onto Your Sanity

Between earnings roulette, a fragile economy, and Trump’s tariff mood swings, this market feels like it’s walking a tightrope with a blindfold. The bulls may still be in charge, but one bad headline could flip the script fast.

My advice? Stay nimble. Stay cynical. And maybe keep some gold or a margarita nearby… whichever hedge suits your style. 🍹

Stay ahead, stay informed, and most importantly, stay profitable.

‘til next time,

TradingLab