Summing Up The Week

President Donald Trump continues to be the market mover when it comes to catalysts affecting the markets. The week kicked off following Trump announcing significant tariff increases on Canada, Mexico, and the European Union (EU) over the weekend.

Throughout the week, Trump continued his attacks of Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell, flip-flopping from nearly terminating the Chair to claiming he wouldn’t fire Powell and will let him finish his term.

However, the week wasn’t all about Trump with inflation reports and more, so let’s take a deep dive into the news that moved the markets this week…

Market News

Trump announces tariffs on Canada, Mexico, and the EU

On Friday evening, President Donald Trump announced a 35% tariff on Canada, and, then, later over the weekend, Trump announced similar tariffs on both Mexico and the European Union (EU), reported several news sources including CNBC, Fox News, CNN, and MSNBC.

On Monday, stocks initially opened down slightly before recovering slightly. A columnist for the Financial Times referred to this type of price action as “The TACO Trade,” an acronym meaning “Trump Always Chickens Out.” While Trump took offense to this acronym, the market continues to see through his threats believing that the final tariffs that take effect (if any at all) will be much, much smaller than what Trump claims he will do prior to the actual activation.

Inflation rises in June, rising at 2.7% year-over-year

On Tuesday, the Consumer Price Index (CPI) showed inflation increased 0.3% in June resulting in an annual inflation rate of 2.7%, in line with economist expectations, reported CNBC.

Prior to June, inflation had been coming down for the preceding months despite fears that Trump’s tariffs might cause inflation to… reinflate. However, some analysts did point out that the tariffs might act as a lag, first affecting producers who might eat the costs until the final tariffs were implemented. That appears to be the case now.

Some experts still believe tariffs aren’t responsible for this increase. “It’s really hard to point to this report or any details in the report and say, ‘Aha! See what’s happened to prices because of tariffs,'” said Dan North, senior economist at Allianz Trade North America. “You get these pretty massive tariff increases. It’s bound to pass through to the consumers, and I still think it will, but it’s not in this report so far.”

Wholesale inflation unchanged in June

On Wednesday, the Producer Price Index (PPI) showed inflation remained unchanged last month, reported CNBC. While this report contradicted the increase of 0.2% that Dow Jones economists had been predicting, the flat inflation number was a result of an increase in goods prices rising 0.3% being offset by a 0.1% fall in services pricing.

In other words, we are seeing an increase in prices for goods but a decrease in prices for services. This could be a direct result of the tariffs since the United States imports a lot of goods, but do not import outside services remotely as much.

Trump attacks Powell for Fed renovations

During the week, President Donald Trump made claims that the Federal Reserve made more than $2 billion in renovations to its properties which Trump claimed could be fraud that may lead to the termination of Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell for cause, and also led to analysts gaming out what might happen if the President does fire the Fed Chair, reported CNBC.

“We expect, as does everyone else, that it would be significantly negative for markets, likely driving both an equity selloff and a counterproductive spike in long-term yields,” Wolfe Research’s Tobin Marcus and Chutong Zhu write in the note to clients. Wolfe Research speculated that the Supreme Court could ultimately decide whether Trump has the power to fire Powell for cause.

After causing the stock market to sell off a bit on Wednesday, Trump reiterated that he does not intend to fire Powell. “We’re not planning on doing it,” he said. “I don’t rule out anything … but I think it’s highly unlikely, unless he has to leave for fraud.”

Consumer inflation concerns lowers to pre-tariff levels

On Friday, the University of Michigan Consumer Sentiment Survey results showed that consumers’ concerns over inflation have dropped to levels not seen since before the tariffs were announced, reported CNBC. The survey  also showed overall sentiment rising slightly, up 1.8% from June to 61.8, in line with the Dow Jones’ estimates.

“Both readings are the lowest since February 2025 but remain above December 2024, indicating that consumers still perceive substantial risk that inflation will increase in the future,” survey director Joanne Hsu said in a statement. However, the fact that consumers’ concerns are lowering is a good sign overall.

Despite what were positive results, the markets didn’t react in either direction with stocks remaining flat at morning trading.

Next Week’s Gameplan

Between Trump going after Powell and the fact we’re back in earnings season, there will be lots of unknown catalysts in the coming week! As for news catalysts, there’s not a lot next week with S&P flash services and manufacturing PMI on Thursday followed by durable-goods orders on Friday.

As for my holdings, I’m looking at the following earnings reports:

• On Wednesday, we’ve got both IBM (IBM) and Tesla (TSLA) After Market Close (AMC).
• On Thursday, we’ve got Dow Chemical (DOW), Iridium Communications (IRDM), and Union Pacific (UNP) Before Market Open (BMO).
• Also on Thursday but AMC, we have Digital Realty Trust (DLR), Intel (INTC), and Newmont Mining (NEM). Newmont will be particularly interesting given the recent unexpected resignation of the company’s CFO.

So, there will be plenty to talk about when I meet you back here on Friday, friends!

Check out Get Irked Premium on Substack!

After providing FREE content since 2018, the time constraints of producing Investments in Play, Speculation in Play, the Pandemic Portfolio, and Stock Shopping List have become too much to continue doing for free.

On Substack, you can subscribe for FREE to have the Week in Review and Crypto Corner, now separate newsletters, sent to your email inbox at no cost. The portfolio updates and Stock Shopping List are now part of a premium subscription plan.

I hope you will join me on Substack as I continue on this exciting journey!

THANK YOU FOR YOUR ONGOING SUPPORT!

Crytpo Corner

Bitcoin Price Action

Bitcoin Destroys the Bear Case!

Bitcoin continued to demonstrate incredibly bullish price action over the past week, making yet another all-time high on Monday at $123,231.07 before pulling back to make a much higher weekly-low at $115,697.37 on Tuesday when compared with last week’s $107,268.84.

The Bullish Case

The bullish momentum remains undeniable in Bitcoin with second-banana Ethereum even catching a bid over the past week. Bulls are very much in control with some analysts saying we’ll see $150,000 before the end of the summer (and some more bullish Bulls believing that figure will be hit much, much sooner).

The Bearish Case

Bears have been trying to claim that Bitcoin’s recent run is just a sign of froth and liquidity in the overall markets. These Bears believe the markets are warming up for a substantial pullback sometime between the seasonally weak period between August and October.

I do concur that we often see weakness in September-October as many investment funds end their fiscal years during that time period resulting in profit-taking and tax-loss harvesting. These firms’ sales will often cause a cascade as investors not familiar with the price action will sell based on thinking something darker is afoot.

If we do see such a pullback, I will be buying across the board in Bitcoin, crypto, and stock market equities as those pullbacks are typically buying opportunities, not reasons to take losses or sell entirely.

Bitcoin Trade Update

Premium subscribers to Get Irked get access to all the moves I’ve made in my Bitcoin trade over the past week as well as my next thirty (30) … yes, 30 … buys in Bitcoin including price levels, quantities, and a full layout of my ongoing long-term trade in the world’s biggest crypto.

If you aren’t already, subscribe to my Substack today!

Not Your Keys, Not Your Crypto…

In light of brokerage failures in 2022, I no longer keep any of my crypto on an exchange and I only keep enough USD on the exchanges I use to execute my next few buys. I use multiple cold wallets from the brands Ledger and Trezor to hold my crypto (click the links to access the direct sites, and I receive no affiliate benefits from these links).

Additionally, I have now divided my allocated USD between two different exchanges – Gemini and Coinbase – in case one (or both) becomes insolvent. Disclaimer: We both receive a bonus if you use my Gemini referral link to open an account.

I do not trust anyone in the space, even with Coinbase (COIN) being publicly traded (and one of my own Investments in Play positions).

No price target is unrealistic in the cryptocurrency space – Bullish or Bearish.

While traditional stock market investors and traders may think the price targets in the cryptocurrency space are outlandish due to the incredible spread (possible moves include drops of -90% or more and gains of +1000% or more), Bitcoin has demonstrated that, more than any speculative asset, its price is capable of doing anything.

Here are some of Bitcoin’s price movements over the past couple of years:

• In 2017, Bitcoin rose +2,707% from its January low of $734.64 to make an all-time high of $19,891.99 in December.
• Then, Bitcoin crashed nearly -85% from its high to a December 2018 low of $3128.89.
• In the first half of 2019, Bitcoin rallied +343% to $13,868.44.
• In December, Bitcoin crashed -54% to a low of $6430.00 in December 2019.
• In February 2020, Bitcoin rallied +64% to $10,522.51.
• In March , Bitcoin crashed nearly -63% to a low of $3858.00, mostly in 24 hours.
• Then, Bitcoin rallied +988% to a new all-time high of $41,986.37 in January 2021.
• Later in January 2021, Bitcoin dropped -32% to a low of $28,732.00.
• In February, Bitcoin rallied +103% to a new all-time high of $58,367.00.
• Later in February, Bitcoin dropped -26% to a low of $43,016.00.
• In April , Bitcoin rallied +51% to a new all-time high of $64,896.75.
• In June , Bitcoin crashed -56% to a low of $28,800.00.
• In November, Bitcoin rallied +140% to a new all-time high of $69,000.00.
• In November 2022, Bitcoin crashed -78% to a low of $15,460.00.
• In April 2023, Bitcoin rallied +101% to a high of $31,050.00.
• In June, Bitcoin dropped -20% to a low of $24,750.00
• In July, Bitcoin rallied +29% to a high of $31,862.21.
• In September, Bitcoin dropped -22% to a low of $24,900.00.
• In January 2024, Bitcoin rallied +97% to a high of $49,102.29.
• Later in January, Bitcoin dropped -22% to a low of $38,501.00.
• In March, Bitcoin rallied +92% to a new all-time high of $73,835.57.
• In August, Bitcoin dropped -33% to a low of $49,050.01.
• In January 2025, Bitcoin rallied +150% to a new all-time high of $109,358.01.
• In April, Bitcoin dropped -32% to a low of $74,420.69.
• In May, Bitcoin rallied +51% to a new all-time high of $112,000.00.
• In June, Bitcoin dropped -12% to a low of $98,247.01.
• In July, Bitcoin rallied +25% to a new all-time high of $123,231.07.

Where will Bitcoin go from here? Truly, anything is possible…

What if Bitcoin’s headed to zero?

DISCLAIMER: Anyone considering speculating in the crypto sector should only do so with funds they are prepared to lose completely. All interested individuals should consult a professional financial adviser to see if speculation is right for them. No Get Irked contributor is a financial professional of any kind.