Whether you like him, loathe him, or simply can’t look away, Donald Trump’s effect on financial markets alone makes him the most consequential person on the planet — just as he would like it. Liberation Day trade pronouncements this time last year crashed markets 20%. His fourth reversal on Iran war plans this past Monday sent them surging 6%.
Since the conflict with Iran erupted nearly a month ago, US financial markets have been violently whipsawed not by macroeconomic data, but by presidential Truth Social posts and quips. Donald Trump’s dizzying reversals and impromptu proclamations on Truth Social are driving wild intraday swings of 5%, 10%, and even up to 15% in some assets since the conflict began — a level of sheer volatility we have not witnessed since the height of the COVID-19 pandemic.
