The White House has announced dizzyingly high — and hard-to-follow — tariffs on goods from China. And Beijing has responded. But the real trade war may be between the US president and the American consumer. Today on the show, Katie Martin and Aiden Reiter dig into the tariffs battle and discuss China’s options. Also, Aiden doubles down on donkey metaphors and Katie goes short performative space expeditions.

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You can email Robert Armstrong and Katie Martin at unhedged@ft.com.

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Trump folded on Wednesday, reducing his so-called “reciprocal” tariffs across the board, with the notable exception of massive taxes on goods from China. Today on the show, Rob Armstrong and Katie Martin unpack the market gyrations that followed, and wonder if lasting damage has been done to America’s borrowing costs. Also, they go long global trade and long battered European stocks.

Join Unhedged for a subscriber webinar about the Trump effect on markets on April 23 at 13:00-14:00 UK time. Go to ft.com/trumpmarkets to register now and send your questions to the team.

For a free 30-day trial to the Unhedged newsletter go to: https://www.ft.com/unhedgedoffer.

You can email Robert Armstrong and Katie Martin at unhedged@ft.com.

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As the markets try to absorb and value the announced US tariffs, China has responded with its own levies. Today on the show, Katie Martin and Rob Armstrong sum up the old bad news, add it to the new bad news, and divide it by the good news. The result isn’t pretty. Also they go long patience and short buying the dip.

For a free 30-day trial to the Unhedged newsletter go to: https://www.ft.com/unhedgedoffer.

You can email Robert Armstrong and Katie Martin at unhedged@ft.com.

Read a transcript of this episode on FT.com

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On April 2, in the Rose Garden of the White House, President Donald Trump announced taxes on almost every kind of imported finished goods. Markets plunged as traders fled equities, and even the dollar weakened. Today on the show, Rob Armstrong and Aiden Reiter go over the tariffs and discuss how they will make it harder for American companies to make money. Also they go long TIPS, and short the fortunes of the American consumer, who will have to pay for all these new levies.

For a free 30-day trial to the Unhedged newsletter go to: https://www.ft.com/unhedgedoffer.

You can email Robert Armstrong and Katie Martin at unhedged@ft.com.

Read a transcript of this episode on FT.com

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 Markets, investors and companies are all feeling a little bit jumpy about the state of the economy. Surveys of managers, consumers and investors are all grim. Today on the show, Rob Armstrong and Aiden Reiter take a look at those soft numbers and compare them to hard numbers such as the Job Openings and Labor Turnover survey and try to figure out what’s really going on. Also they go short Indonesia’s plan for a sovereign wealth fund and short the president’s plan for “liberation day”.

For a free 30-day trial to the Unhedged newsletter go to: https://www.ft.com/unhedgedoffer.

You can email Robert Armstrong and Katie Martin at unhedged@ft.com.

Read a transcript of this episode on FT.com

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CoreWeave’s IPO is one of the odder tech plays to come along in a few years. It buys chips from Nvidia, and rents them out, mainly to Microsoft, but also to Nvidia. Today on the show, Rob Armstrong gets into the cloud computing company's business with Lex editor John Foley and the FT’s corporate finance editor Rob Smith. Also they go long Ferraris and short car tariffs.

For a free 30-day trial to the Unhedged newsletter go to: https://www.ft.com/unhedgedoffer.

You can email Robert Armstrong and Katie Martin at unhedged@ft.com.

Read a transcript of this episode on FT.com

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President Donald Trump has been clear he wants lower interest rates. Cheaper money would goose the market and give the government room to spend. But interest rates haven’t exactly been co-operating. Today on the show, Katie Martin, Rob Armstrong and Aiden Reiter discuss plans to move the needle on long-term bonds, from the stalled “Mar-a-Lago Accord” to Treasury secretary Scott Bessent’s embrace of shorter-duration bonds. Also they go long the price of oil and short the 10-year Treasury bond.

For a free 30-day trial to the Unhedged newsletter go to: https://www.ft.com/unhedgedoffer.

You can email Robert Armstrong and Katie Martin at unhedged@ft.com.

Read a transcript of this episode on FT.com

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On Wednesday Federal Reserve chair Jay Powell announced that US interest rates would remain unchanged. But the monetary policy committee is clearly worried that tariffs might slow growth and increase inflation. Today on the show, Rob Armstrong, Katie Martin and Aiden Reiter try to figure out why markets weren't worried by what they heard from the Fed. Also they go long Twitter (X… whatever) and short Tesla.

For a free 30-day trial to the Unhedged newsletter go to: https://www.ft.com/unhedgedoffer.

You can email Robert Armstrong and Katie Martin at unhedged@ft.com.

Read a transcript of this episode on FT.com

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.