If this keeps up, the Easter Bunny will be handing out IOUs.
Skyrocketing egg prices were a political football during the recent presidential election and remain a key issue among consumers.
Egg prices increased an average of 10.4% last month and nearly 59% from a year ago, according to the latest Consumer Price Index report.
But it’s not just eggs that people are worried about. The stock market has been battered by the Trump administration’s tariff war with America’s trading partners.
On March 12 Canada announced retaliatory trade duties on $21 billion of U.S. goods in response to President Donald Trump’s imposition of steel and aluminum tariffs.
The European Union also joined the fray, unveiling retaliatory tariffs on $28 billion of a wide range of U.S. goods imported to Europe such as boats, motorbikes and alcohol.
TheStreet Pro’s James “Rev Shark” DePorre said the market was grappling with sharp uncertainty about Trump’s tariff policies as well as the economy in general.
President Donald Trump has said tariffs are making American great again. Photo: Win McNamee/Bloomberg via Getty Images
Veteran trader: Market struggling with tariffs
“The two issues are interrelated, and there is growing concern that tariffs will not lead to the golden economic age that Trump is promising,” DePorre said in his recent TheStreet Pro column. “Ironically, one of the primary problems is that Trump is offering too much transparency.”
Typically, economic negotiations like those with Canada and Mexico would be taking place behind closed doors, DePorre said, “but instead, we are seeing a steady barrage of headlines as each side makes its next move.”
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“Trump is convinced that his tariffs and policies will produce an economic boom, but the market is skeptical and struggling with the impact of tariffs,” DePorre said.Â
“It will take a while before we have greater certainty, which means we will continue to experience elevated volatility and ongoing technical pressure.”
Paul Christopher, head of global investment strategy at Wells Fargo Investment Institute, said Trump’s negotiating tactics “of threats and concessions by turns has been disorienting to market sentiment.”
“Broadly speaking, the policies on trade and federal spending show us costs and benefits, but nothing that we think will derail a moderating but sustainable pace of economic growth,” he said.
Christopher said Wells Fargo’s investment guidance continued to focus on a recovery for cyclical equities and commodities as well as a more selective approach to fixed-income.
Goldman points to uncertaintyÂ
Market uncertainty pushed down the S&P 500 gauge by more than 9% from its record in mid-February, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq 100 recently tumbled into correction.
Goldman Sachs strategists slashed their target for the U.S. equity benchmark and lifted their view on European earnings, Bloomberg reported, in a further sign of growing skepticism about the outlook for the world’s largest economy.
The bank’s strategists cut the year-end target for the S&P 500 Index to 6,200 from 6,500, indicating an 11% gain from Tuesday’s close. The reduction also came in view of declines in the Magnificent 7 tech stocks.
“Our revised estimates reflect the recently reduced GDP growth forecast of our US economics team, a higher assumed tariff rate, and higher level of uncertainty that is typically associated with a greater equity risk premium,” strategists including David Kostin and Jenny Ma wrote in a research note.
Related: CPI inflation report provides early relief on tariff concerns
Goldman strategists trimmed their earnings growth forecast for the year to 7% from 9% and reduced their expected price-to-earnings multiple by 4%. Kostin was among analysts who were bullish on U.S. stocks last year; in recent weeks he has warned of growth risk to equities.
A separate team led by Lilia Peytavin raised its Stoxx Europe 600 earnings-per-share growth forecast to 4% for 2025 and 6% for 2026 and 2027.
“This upgrade reflects a stronger medium-term economic growth outlook in the euro area and tailwinds from a weaker euro compared with our 2025 outlook,” they wrote.
Analysts at Citigroup and HSBC Holdings also downgraded their views on U.S. equities, citing similar worries around the economy and noting better opportunities elsewhere.
Market forecasters at banks including JPMorgan Chase and RBC Capital Markets have also tempered bullish calls for 2025.
Related: Veteran fund manager unveils eye-popping S&P 500 forecast
