Forbes Daily: Wall Street Fears Spike Over Trump’s Greenland Threats |
The uncertainty unleashed by President Donald Trump’s threats to take over Greenland sent markets into a spiral Tuesday.
The S&P 500 and Nasdaq tanked more than 2%, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average shedding 1.76%, after Trump said over the weekend that he would impose 10% tariffs on NATO members that deployed military personnel to Greenland, leading to concerns about retaliation. Wall Street’s “fear gauge,” the Cboe Volatility Index, reached its highest point since November. Meanwhile, geopolitical uncertainty drove investors to safe haven assets like gold and silver, the prices of which once again reached new heights Tuesday.
As world leaders gathered at the World Economic Forum in Davos, European leaders pushed back against Trump’s efforts. The “sovereignty and integrity” of Greenland is “non-negotiable,” said European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen.
Some European officials are considering imposing retaliatory trade restrictions amid President Donald Trump’s Greenland threats—and such restrictions could disrupt trade on goods valued at more than $109 billion, according to the Financial Times. French President Emmanuel Macron has reportedly requested the EU impose a trade policy tool often referred to as the “trade bazooka,” allowing the bloc to activate countermeasures against the U.S. that may include tariffs, restricted trade or restricted investments.
The Supreme Court will hear oral arguments today over whether President Donald Trump can legally fire Federal Reserve Governor Lisa Cook, a landmark debate over the Fed’s independence amid the Trump administration’s new attacks against its chair Jerome Powell. The case centers around whether Trump can fire Cook from the Fed’s board because of........