Japanese Finance Minister Katsunobu Kato drew attention by mentioning that the country’s more than $1.1 trillion in U.S. Treasury bonds could potentially be a “card on the table” in negotiations with Washington over Trump’s steep tariffs on autos and other imports.

In 100 days full of surprises for investors, the S&P 500 and Dow nearly recouped their April declines – even with a worse-than-expect GDP report.

Published first at US stocks gained about 5% last week and are now up about 14% from their low on April 7th. Naturally, the recovery in stocks has prompted speculation that the worst may be over. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent happily reported that the Nasdaq 100 was now in positive territory for the month of April.