The Kobeissi Letter Profile picture
Apr 3 14 tweets 6 min read Read on X
It's official:

After "Liberation Day," the Russell 2000 has closed in BEAR market territory for the first time since 2022.

Over the last 24 hours, S&P 500 stocks have erased -$120 billion PER HOUR for a total of -$2.9 trillion.

What's next? Let us explain.

(a thread) Image
The last 24 hours:

On April 2nd, we saw stocks rally into the market's close as investors anticipated lighter tariff announcements.

After the 10% baseline tariff was announced, stocks rallied.

However, stocks collapsed minutes later as more reciprocal tariffs were read off. Image
Beginning at 11:00 AM ET today, the S&P 500 started to rebound, rising from 5415 toward 5500.

However, the rally was sold after a key headline emerged.

President Trump comments on the stock market's reaction and says "it's going very well" and the "market is going to boom." Image
Since March 6th, President Trump has been saying that he is "not watching the stock market."

On March 10th, he told Fox News the "market is not down much" and "you can't really watch it."

Today, President Trump reiterated that same message

Markets have made a key realization. Image
Trump is doing exactly what he has been saying he will do since March 6th.

He is prioritizing what he believes will be "long-term gain" for "short-term pain."

Today's selloff is the first time markets have begun to price-in this mindset.

It's no longer viewed as "posturing." Image
Heading into the announcement yesterday, the Volatility Index, $VIX, dropped sharply.

We viewed this as a complete misread by the market.

In fact, we have been SELLING all rallies on the notion that Trump was no longer "posturing."

Even today's $VIX reaction is underwhelming. Image
That's when we posted the below alert premium subscribers prior to the close yesterday.

We took shorts at 5650 and outlined EXACTLY that, the market misread Trump.

These puts are now up +600% and we have secured profits.

Subscribe at the link below:

thekobeissiletter.com/subscribeImage
What's even more incredible is the S&P 500 is down just -7.3% YTD.

However, sentiment is as if we are down 30%+.

Why is this the case?

Because the Magnificent 7 index, which capital is highly concentrated in, is down -25% from its high.

The Mag7 is in a bear market. Image
The share of investors expressing bearish sentiment in the AAII survey hit 61.9%, the most since March 2009.

This is also the 3rd-highest reading since the survey began in 1987.

AAII Bearish Sentiment has been above 55.0% for 6 weeks, the longest stretch since the 1990s. Image
And, the bond market is the most telling part:

Even as inflation forecasts have risen to 5%+ due to tariffs, interest rates are crashing.

Bond markets are pricing in a >50% chance of a recession hitting the US.

Oil prices also collapsed as much as -8% today on the news. Image
On March 6th, we posted the below alert for our premium members as we began building a position in $TLT.

We called for the 10-year note yield to drop below 4.00% which just happened.

Bond positions are up SHARPLY.

Subscribe below to access our alerts:

thekobeissiletter.com/subscribeImage
Furthermore, the market's reaction today was bad, but not terrible.

Markets still seem to have some belief that tariffs will NOT be long-lived.

If markets bought Trump's narrative that tariffs will be long-lived, the S&P 500 would be down 10%+ today.

The $VIX would be at 70+. Image
On the consumer front, already inflation-exhausted consumers will NOT welcome more price increases.

Also, US households held a record 29% of financial assets in stocks at the end of 2024.

These households are now feeling the pain of lower asset prices and prolonged inflation. Image
More uncertainty is the only certainty for investors.

For now, the selloff has been "orderly" without clear signs of capitulation.

The "V-shaped" recovery many are hoping for is becoming less likely.

Follow us @KobeissiLetter for real time analysis as this develops. Image

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More from @KobeissiLetter

Apr 16
What just happened?

After rising +2,400 points since its April 7th low, the Nasdaq is now down nearly -900 points since Monday's high.

Today, Fed Chair Powell made it clear that the "Fed put" is NOT saving the market any time soon.

Here's what happened.

(a thread) Image
First, selling pressure began mounting yesterday at around 6 PM ET.

Nvidia, $NVDA, said the US banned them from selling H20 chips to China "for the indefinite future."

Nvidia says this will come with a $5.5 billion charge to Q1 earnings.

$NVDA fell over -10% intraday today. Image
Then, the selloff accelerated following the below WSJ report.

US officials are planning to use negotiations with 70+ nations to ask them to disallow China to ship goods through their countries..

The US is reportedly attempting to "isolate" China.

Yet another escalation. Image
Read 13 tweets
Apr 16
Gold is trading like we are in a depression:

Over the last 20 years, gold is now OUTPERFORMING stocks, up +620% compared to a +580% gain in the S&P 500.

Over the last 9 months, gold has officially surged by over +$1,000/oz.

What is gold telling us?

(a thread) Image
Beginning in 2020, stocks widened their performance gap against gold.

However, as equities have entered a bear market, capital has rushed into gold.

As we have been writing for the last 12+ months, gold is the ONLY global safe haven asset now.

US bonds are not as desired. Image
As shown below, gold has CRUSHED bond returns over the last 4-5 years.

Since March 2020, gold is now up +114% while a popular bond-tracking ETF, $TLT, is down -45%.

This shift in sentiment has been gold's most bullish development in recent history.

So, why did it happen? Image
Read 13 tweets
Apr 10
We now know Trump's TOP economic priority:

For weeks, President Trump said there would be NO tariff delay, even as stocks erased $12+ TRILLION.

Then, the bond market BROKE and a 90-day tariff pause was implemented 12 hours later.

Keep watching bonds.

(a thread) Image
Prior to the April 2nd "reciprocal tariffs," the 10-year note yield was falling in a straight line lower.

This meant the trade war could continue because rates were falling.

However, as the basis trade unwound due to volatility, the 10-year note yield surged +65 bps to 4.50%. Image
President Trump has made it clear that LOWER interest rates are one of his top priorities.

Even on April 4th, Trump called on Fed Chair Powell to "cut interest rates."

The trade war was sending energy prices and interest rates lower.

So, Trump could continue the pressure. Image
Read 12 tweets
Apr 9
The bond market just BROKE:

In just 3 days, the 10Y Note Yield surged 60 basis points while the S&P 500 fell -8%.

This marks the LARGEST 3-day increase since 1982 and one of the largest divergences in history.

What happened? The basis trade broke.

(a thread) Image
More specifically, something broke last night.

Between 7 PM ET and 12 AM ET, the 10-year note yield surged ANOTHER +25 basis points.

The 30-year note yield jumped above 5.00% even as stock market futures collapsed.

This is extremely unusual price action, something broke. Image
This put the 10Y note yield 60+ bps ABOVE levels when the "Fed pivot" began in September 2024.

In a market that is pricing-in a recession, bond prices should be rising and yields should be falling.

We are now seeing the exact opposite in one of the fastest moves in decades. Image
Read 13 tweets
Apr 8
The BULL trap:

We just witnessed the biggest bull trap of 2025 with the S&P 500 erasing a ~4.5% rally in ~3 hours.

Between 10:30 AM ET and 3:15 PM ET, the S&P 500 erased -$2.3 TRILLION of market cap.

Bull traps are TEXTBOOK signs of a bear market.

(a thread) Image
The day began with an ALL GREEN heat map pushing the S&P 500 toward 5300.

This put the index nearly +450 points ABOVE levels seen at yesterday's low.

However, we continued to reiterate that it simply did NOT make sense.

The trade war only got worse, but stocks were rising. Image
The bull trap really began yesterday, at around 10:15 AM ET.

This is when rumors emerged of a 90-day tariff delay which CNBC then reported.

After the White House called it "fake news", the S&P 500 still closed the day 230+ points above its lows.

It did not make sense. Image
Read 13 tweets
Apr 7
The LESSON investors learned today:

At 10:15 AM ET, US stocks swung $7 TRILLION in 30 minutes on a "fake" tariff deal headline.

While the move was undone, we obtained KEY information about the current state of the market.

Here's what you need to know.

(a thread) Image
Beginning with some background:

At around 10:15 AM ET, it was reported that Trump was considering a 90-day pause on tariffs.

The S&P 500 rose +400 POINTS in a matter of minutes before the White House called this "fake news."

Then, the S&P 500 erased -300 points of that rally. Image
Minutes later, President Trump announced perhaps the biggest news of the day.

He is imposing another 50% tariff on China IF they do not cancel their 34% tariff by April 8th.

This means the US is now set to impose a total tariff of 104% on Chinese imports (20% + 34% + 50%). Image
Read 13 tweets

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