
Inside the historic $8 trillion market comeback
CNN
In early April, Wall Street threw an epic temper tantrum that would make a toddler proud.
In early April, Wall Street threw a temper tantrum that would make a toddler proud. Fearing President Donald Trump’s chaotic trade war would ignite a global recession, investors scrambled to dump US assets. The rare simultaneous selloff of both stocks and bonds reflected a serious loss of confidence in White House policy. Then Trump changed his tune. The president paused so-called “reciprocal tariffs” for 90 days and later slashed tariffs on China, though many items still face higher tariffs than before the Trump administration. US stocks reversed course, too, setting off a historic rally on Wall Street in the past month. The S&P 500 has now fully erased the year’s losses and gained nearly $8 trillion in market value since its April 8 lows. It’s a remarkable comeback that underscores palpable relief among investors and easing recession fears since Trump’s stunning reversal. “The markets had a tantrum and stomped their collective feet and got what they wanted: Trump to back off,” Ed Yardeni, president of investment advisory Yardeni Research, told CNN in a phone interview. “Trump realized he was toying around with liquid nitroglycerine and that it was time to back off.” The early 2025 selloff was breathtaking in its speed and intensity.

Cara Petersen, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau’s acting enforcement director, resigned from the agency on Tuesday. In an email to colleagues announcing her decision, Petersen slammed the Trump administration’s efforts to dismantle the agency, which was established as a banking watchdog following the 2008 global financial crisis.