Silver banana goes to…

In this issue of the peel:

• 🧾 The new tariffs went into effect at midnight. Yes, even the 104% tariff on China.

• 🤼‍♂️ The fight between Elon and Trump’s top economic advisor is getting messy!

• 💴 Ken Griffin and his billionaire besties are pissed off at Trump and calling him out publicly.

Market Snapshot

Banana Bits

• New tariffs went into effect Wednesday for 86 countries. Check out which ones here.

• Ken Griffin and other billionaire donors are tired of Trump’s antics and are letting him know publicly.

• Stocks started the day on a high note but tumbled to end the day in the red as reality sets in.

• So much for buying a home this year, mortgage rates shot up over the last few days.

• Rudy Gulianni, who has the record for the most L’s ever taken in a year, just received another one.

• Tech Analyst tells us what will happen if Trump gets his wish and iPhones are made in the US.

200% Growth, $10M+ Revenue—Why Investors Are Betting on RYSE

This smart home company grew 200% year-over-year …

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This year alone, RYSE has seen revenue grow by 200% year over year and expanded into 127 Best Buy stores, with international markets on the horizon. Plus, with partnerships with major retailers like Home Depot and Lowe’s already in the works, they’re just getting started. Now is your chance to invest in the company disrupting home automation—before they hit their next phase of explosive growth. But don’t wait; this opportunity won’t last long.

Invest today at $1.90 per share

Macro Monkey Says

The Circus is In Town

In the latest episode of the clown show that is our government, Elon Musk and Peter Navarro are having a classic face-off, and it’s getting messy. This time, it’s not just about electric cars, but a full-on public showdown between two male Karens. 

The drama kicked off when Navarro, former trade adviser to President Trump, threw a light shot at Elon, calling him a “car assembler,” which you’ve gotta admit is pretty funny. The point he was trying to make is that Musk relies too heavily on foreign-made parts. 

You didn’t think that would be the end of it, did you? Musk, never one to let an insult slide, took to X to let Navarro have it, calling him “dumber than a sack of bricks.” It’s a classic Musk move—straight to the point, zero filter.

But Navarro didn’t stop there. He went on to claim that Musk was all talk, with his shiny electric cars and SpaceX rockets, while being a "freeloader" thanks to government subsidies. This is the point where Elon drafted up his long-form, eloquent response and then deleted it, simply to call Navarro a “moron.”

While the two men argue over tariffs and trade policy, the rest of us are just trying to keep up and hope that our grocery bill doesn’t triple in the next few weeks. 

The ongoing spat highlights the friction between tech innovators and traditional trade hawks—especially when it comes to tariffs that hurt businesses while trying to protect domestic industries.

The Takeaway?

No one has a clue what’s going on, tempers are flaring, and everyone’s getting testy. It's a full-on ideological battle out there. Members of Trump’s team are split on where to go from here, and apparently, it’s causing a lot of internal disagreement. 

Maybe we make it simple and have the next trade policy move be determined by a poll on X. That would be the most democratic option, wouldn’t it?

Career Corner

Question

When an application for a program asks you to detail your individual experiences, is it okay to copy and paste the role description from your resume, even when it asks you also to submit the resume?

Answer

It’s fine, but I think the better approach is to rephrase a bit so you can use the space to your advantage, highlight your biggest achievements, and write in prose instead of bullets. But in the end, it probably won’t make a huge difference either way, so if you’re tight for time, it’s okay.

Head Mentor, WSO Academy

Check out WSO Academy!

What's Ripe

UnitedHealth (UNH) 5.4%

• Health Insurance stocks rallied across the board. The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services announced a better-than-expected 5% increase in payment rates for Medicare Advantage plans in 2026, boosting investor confidence in health insurers. A healthy dose of news can do wonders for your portfolio.

Carvana (CVNA) 5.0%

• The bright side about your stock getting pummeled to the ground is that sometimes the only way to go is up. A wise investor once said, “They can’t short the stock below zero.”  Carvana shareholders let optimism take over today after beating up shares relentlessly due to automobile tariffs.

What's Rotten

WeRide (WRD) 13.1%

• Uber and Chinese rideshare company WeRide announced a robotaxi partnership in Dubai. Yes, that sentence was equally confusing to me while I was writing it. 

• Investors said “thanks, but no thanks.” The collaboration aims to integrate WeRide’s self-driving technology into Uber’s platform and targets Dubai, which aims to have 25% of all vehicles on the road be self-driving by 2030.

Albemarle (ALBM) 12.6%

• Albemarle’s stock took a hit due to a couple of Analyst downgrades. And we’re not talking a few percentage points. UBS lowered its price target from $86 to $64, a 25% revision. 

• Ouch. The firm anticipates another challenging earnings cycle, with upstream/commodity earnings impacted by higher costs and potentially weaker end-of-quarter demand. 

Thought Banana

Billionaire Boys Club

Did anyone have Ken Griffin becoming an interventionist activist on their 2025 bingo card? Yeah, me neither. Lately the Republican donor class has been speaking up, and it's a different tone than we've heard before. 

Hedge fund manager Ken Griffin, one of the largest donors to the GOP, has sharply criticized the Trump administration's recent tariffs, calling them a “huge policy mistake” and noting that they effectively function as a tax on middle-class families. 

Griffin, no stranger to influencing political outcomes, has previously downplayed the potential fallout from such tariffs, but now that they’re a reality, he’s had a change of heart. He even went as far as to point out that tariffs could hurt economic growth and accelerate inflation—a warning he had initially dismissed. 

Griffin isn’t alone, with other Republican mega-donors like Ken Langone also expressing frustration over the economic strain these policies could cause.

This shift in donor sentiment could have significant implications for future Republican policy. With high-profile financiers like Griffin voicing opposition, there's growing pressure on Congress to reconsider the sweeping tariffs, which were initially touted as a way to bring jobs back to the U.S. 

The debate among Republican donors underscores the complex balancing act between protecting American industries and maintaining a stable economic environment.

CEOs, who have long been silent on the matter, are starting to put their big boy pants on now. After months of playing down the issue, they’re starting to see their bottom lines impacted.

​CEOs across various industries have expressed a range of concerns regarding President Trump's recent tariff policies. While some acknowledge the potential long-term benefits of such measures, many are apprehensive about the immediate economic implications.​

Ron Vachris, CEO of Costco

Vachris voiced concerns about potential price hikes due to the tariffs, especially a proposed 50% increase on Chinese imports.

He noted that approximately one-third of Costco's U.S. sales involve imported goods, with less than half sourced from China, Mexico, and Canada. 

To mitigate rising costs, Costco plans to leverage its "treasure hunt" strategy, offering a rotating selection of goods to adapt quickly to changing import costs. 

Elon Musk, CEO of Tesla

Musk publicly clashed with trade adviser Peter Navarro over the tariffs, labeling Navarro's claims as ignorant. 

He expressed support for a U.S.-Europe free-trade zone with zero tariffs and broader worker mobility, highlighting concerns about the tariffs' impact on Tesla's operations and the broader economy. ​

Larry Fink, CEO of BlackRock

Fink warned that the U.S. economy might already be in a recession, attributing this downturn to the aggressive tariff policies. 

He noted that most CEOs he communicates with share this concern, with a significant majority predicting an imminent recession. The recent imposition of tariffs has contributed to market volatility, with the S&P 500 experiencing a 10% drop over two days. ​

Jamie Dimon, CEO of JPMorgan Chase

In his annual letter to shareholders, Dimon cautioned that the tariffs could lead to higher prices and increased inflation, thereby raising the risk of a U.S. recession. 

He emphasized the importance of maintaining strong economic alliances and warned against an "America alone" approach, suggesting that such isolation could weaken the country over time. 

The Takeaway?

It seems that even the financial backbone of America is starting to feel the pinch from Trump's economic policies. From wealthy donors to CEOs, the pushback may signal that the GOP could recalibrate its stance on tariffs in the coming months, especially if more donors join the chorus of criticism. 

As inflation rises and economic recovery hangs in the balance, this back-and-forth could shape the political landscape heading into the 2025 midterm elections. Will the GOP pivot, or double down? Time will tell, but the winds of change are blowing.

The Big Question: Are billionaire donors the new checks and balances on economic policy—or just loud voices protecting their portfolios?

Banana Brain Teaser

Previous

How many prime numbers between 1 and 100 are factors of 7,150?

Answer: 4

Today

If m^-1 = -1/3, then m^-2 is equal to?

Send your guesses to [email protected]

How Would You Rate Today's Peel?

Happy Investing,
Chris, Vyom, Ankit & Patrick

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