Stacks of shipping containers sit at the Port of Baltimore in Baltimore, Maryland, on March 31, 2025.Â
Jim Watson | Afp | Getty Images
My top 10 things to watch Tuesday, April 1
1. Tomorrow is when we’re supposed to hear more from President Donald Trump on his reciprocal tariff plans, in what he’s calling “liberation day.” Of course, nothing has been liberated yet except the bears. Time to admit Trump has forgotten about the primacy of the investor and is focused more on revenge than helping your 401(k).
2. We’re on track for a lower open across the board today. Stocks mounted a late-day rally yesterday after the S&P 500 briefly reentered correction territory. Still, the index finished March with its worst monthly performance since December 2022. The S&P and Nasdaq posted their worst quarters since 2022, falling 4.6% and 10.4%, respectively.
3. Johnson & Johnson shares are down this morning after a U.S. judge once again rejected the company’s attempt to settle its thousands of talc cases using the “Texas two-step” maneuver. That’s when a subsidiary created to house all the litigation files for bankruptcy, and then they get the plaintiffs to agree to it. Back to the drawing board?
4. OpenAI closed its $40 billion funding round that values the ChatGPT creator at $300 billion. That valuation is justified by its reliance on Nvidia chips, which last long, thereby questioning the notion of obsolescence. Has all the negativity toward Nvidia finally overreached after yesterday’s bout of AI spending fears?
5. Advanced Micro Devices completed its $4.9 billion acquisition of ZT Systems, which should accelerate the company’s data center initiatives. It will especially help AMD offer more rack-scale AI solutions beyond just chips, a key advantage so far for Nvidia.
6. Tesla’s vehicle sales in France for March fell nearly 37% from a year ago. Steep quarterly drops in numerous European countries, including Sweden and Denmark. Time to go all in on humanoid robots? Its Optimus robots need faster chips.
7. Jefferies downgraded American Airlines and Delta Air Lines to holds from buys. Both stocks have been horrible lately. Analysts also went to a sell-equivalent underperform from hold on Southwest. Mounting macro uncertainty is pressuring corporate and consumer sentiment and could lead to more guidance cuts, analysts warned.
8. China launched large-scale military operations around Taiwan and called the president of the self-governed island a “parasite.” We’ve seen China do military exercises around Taiwan, which it claims as its own, in the past, but fears of something more severe are always present.
9. AT&T, Cloudflare and GE Vernova were added to Goldman Sachs’ conviction buy list. Norwegian Cruise Line and IBM were removed. I really like the story at AT&T and it’s shown up in the stock’s recent strong performance.
10. Elsewhere at Goldman, AutoZone was upgraded to a hold-equivalent neutral from sell. They should never have been at a sell. This is a great company with a big buyback and, as analysts pointed out, its business has defensive characteristics.
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