US President Trump once again targeted the Federal Reserve Chairman last night, publicly stating that the United States has almost no signs of inflation, mocking Powell for always being half a beat behind and being a perpetual loser, and strongly demanding that the Federal Reserve immediately cut interest rates, otherwise the US economy may fall into a downturn.
Many people are calling for "preventive interest rate cuts". With energy prices dropping significantly, food prices (including Biden's "egg disaster") notably decreasing, and most other commodity prices gradually declining, there are almost no signs of inflation.
These costs are stabilizing and dropping as I previously predicted, and inflation can hardly persist. Unless the always-late gentleman, the complete loser - Powell, immediately lowers interest rates now, the economy may slow down.
Europe has cut interest rates seven times. Powell is always "half a beat behind", with the only exception being during the big election, when he quickly acted and cut rates in time to help "Sleepy Joe" Biden and later Harris get elected. But what are the results now? Let's see the effects of all this.
Japan Takes a Hard Stance, Bilateral Negotiations Outlook Unclear
On the other hand, after the first US-Japan trade negotiations, Japanese Prime Minister Ishiba Shige expressed the toughest stance since the Trump administration launched the tariff war on the 21st in parliament, emphasizing that he will not "give up everything" to reach an agreement, detailing various measures for agricultural protection, including tariffs and minimum entry rules, and explicitly stating that protecting national consumer safety is the bottom line.
The Japanese negotiation representative clearly ruled out the possibility of "quickly reaching an agreement", and the Minister of Economic Revitalization, Akazawa Ryo, frankly admitted after the first round of negotiations that the differences between the two sides are difficult to resolve, requesting the US to specify priorities to assess the scope of concessions. It is understood that this week, Japanese Finance Minister Kato Katsunobu will go to Washington to participate in the G20 and World Bank Spring Meetings, where he is expected to discuss subsequent developments with US Treasury Secretary Becent.
Subsequent analyses by Nikkei Asia Review and Reuters pointed out that although the stance is tough, Japan's economic structure is deeply influenced by the US market, and it is actually still striving to find negotiation chips to seek partial tariff exemptions. Previously, the US gave a 90-day temporary suspension of tariffs on Japanese automobiles and steel/aluminum, and Japan may use increased imports of US agricultural products such as rice and soybeans, as well as relaxing automotive safety standards as bargaining space.
US Stocks Plummet, Tech Giants Spared No Mercy
Trump's fierce rhetoric and the lack of progress in US-Japan negotiations once again brought pressure to the financial markets, with a broad decline at the opening on the 21st:
- The Dow Jones Industrial Average plummeted 971.82 points, or 2.48%, closing at 39,142.23 points
- The Nasdaq Composite dropped 415.55 points, or 2.55%, closing at 15,870.9 points
- The S&P 500 index fell 124.5 points, or 2.36%, closing at 5,158.2 points
- The Philadelphia Semiconductor Index dropped 78.93 points, or 2.10%, closing at 3,753.53 points.
The technology sector was also under significant pressure, with all seven US tech giants closing in the red. Among them, Tesla (TSLA) fell the most at -5.75%, closing at $227.5; NVIDIA (NVDA) also performed poorly, closing at $96.9, a sharp decline of -4.51%.
Bitcoin Breaks $88,000, Strategy Adds More Position
In the cryptocurrency market, which was initially falling in sync with traditional stocks last night, Bitcoin (BTC) quickly rebounded this morning, reaching $88,878 before press time, creating a one-month high with a 24-hour gain of 1.42%.
However, other Altcoins did not perform as well, with Ethereum (ETH) closing at $1,582, down 2.06% in the past 24 hours, and Solana (SOL) at $138.75, down 1.97% in the past 24 hours.
Additionally, according to the latest details disclosed by Strategy last night, the company once again demonstrated its firm commitment to Bitcoin by acquiring approximately $555.8 million, raising its Bitcoin holdings to an astonishing 538,200 coins.
This acquisition occurred between April 14 and 20, purchasing 6,556 Bitcoins at a total cost of about $555.8 million, with an average price of approximately $84,785 per Bitcoin. After completing this transaction, Strategy's total Bitcoin holdings reached 538,200 coins. To date, Strategy has invested a total of approximately $36.47 billion in Bitcoin purchases, with an average holding cost of about $67,766 per coin.
Based on the market price of around $87,000 in April 2025, the total market value of Strategy's Bitcoin holdings is approximately $4.68 billion, accumulating an unrealized profit of about $10 billion.
