Stock Market Today: A tweet on China, inflation cools, plus Nvidia and Tesla
Today is a microcosm of the entire year. A tweet sends a stable market lower despite good economic news.
The weekend is almost here! We're expected to have a lovely one in Colorado. I hope yours will be similarly wonderful.
I wasn't planning to start the day with a tweet, but let's do it.
BREAKING: President Trump says China has “totally violated its agreement with us.”
In an apparent breakdown of the trade deal, Trump says “so much for being Mr. Nice Guy.”
Did the US-China trade deal just collapse? pic.twitter.com/bEssPlOQIL— The Kobeissi Letter (@KobeissiLetter) May 30, 2025
This has prompted what was a fairly flat market to drop today. As I write this, S&P futures are down 33 points. The Nasdaq is lower by 130, and crude oil is now down 52 cents after being about 70 cents higher.
Here's an overnight chart of the S&P 500.
It's hard to tell now if we're in for a wild ride today or whether traders are having a level of fatigue and will watch before making further reactions.
In the meantime, we just got today's big economic news. The PCE Index, short for Personal Consumption Expenditures Index, is a measure of inflation. The Bureau of Economic Analysis reports that April's PCE increased by $47.8 billion, or 0.2%, which was 2.1% higher than a year earlier but lower than the 2.3% expectation.
In other words, inflation is cooling.
The PCE is the Federal Reserve's preferred benchmark for prices as it determines interest-rate policy.
Premarket most actives include Nvidia (NVDA) , which had been down as much 1.4% but is now 0.4% lower.
Jim Cramer attributes the dip to "meme money," which, to be honest, is driving so much of our markets these days.
I was hoping there would be less meme money in Nvidia but i was wrong. Witness the stock in premarket is down 87 cents. That's just small motivated shareholders knocking it down. Probably no more than 35,000 shares sold took the biggest stock down a huge percentage— Jim Cramer (@jimcramer) May 30, 2025
And hey, while we're at it, let's talk Tesla (TSLA) . Well, Elon Musk, actually. Today is expected to be the billionaire's last day in office as his official time with Doge comes to an end. Expect a news conference later this afternoon from the Oval Office with Musk and President Trump.
However, the New York Times reports today that Musk used heavy amounts of drugs while on the campaign trail last fall with Trump. In fact, the paper reports, his use of ketamine was so great that he suffered from bladder problems, a known effect of chronic use.
As Musk integrates himself back into Tesla leadership, shareholders will likely question him on this and it could become an issue.
