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The crypto faithful did not see this coming. They thought their new commander-in-chief wouldn’t slap tariffs on China, Canada, and Mexico. Maybe it was just a negotiation tactic? Maybe America’s trade partners wouldn’t fight back? Maybe they forgot Trump is as volatile as crypto itself? They priced in the usual — an underwhelming executive order on crypto, no Bitcoin national reserve, and regulatory shake-ups. But not this. “The dumbest trade war in history.” And they paid for it. Dearly.

The Magnificent 7 have carried the market, but their days of running circles around the other 493 stocks might be numbered. In 2023, they flexed with 36% profit growth while the rest of the S&P 500 shrank by 4% — a massive gap. But that gap won’t last forever. Goldman Sachs sees Mag 7 earnings growth cooling to 33% in 2024, while the rest of the market finally turns positive at 3%. Still a gap, but not as ridiculous.

From Tokyo to Wall Street, markets woke up in panic mode after Trump unleashed his first trade war broadside. Investors scrambled as the White House slapped 25% tariffs on Canada and Mexico, 10% on China, all taking effect Tuesday. The EU isn’t caught in the crossfire just yet, but everyone knows it’s probably next. The damage was immediate. S&P 500 and Nasdaq 100 futures tumbled 2%, Japan’s Nikkei 225 slid nearly 3%.

Market watchers will have a lot to take in this week. In India, all eyes will be on whether the Reserve Bank makes a long-awaited rate cut. And in the US and the Gulf, there’ll be some big names revealing their earnings info — we’re talking Amazon, Alphabet and Emaar. Here’s what you need to be paying attention to. Alphabet and Amazon have their turn in the earnings spotlight this week, with some big numbers also expected from the AI and chip space, including AMD, Qualcomm and Palantir.

The 2025 union budget sends one clear message: spend, spend, spend. With tax cuts fattening wallets, investors piled into stocks of carmakers, FMCG giants, and food delivery firms in a rare Saturday trading session. Short-term demand got a shot in the arm, and investors cheered, but big-ticket reforms? Nowhere to be seen. That puts the pressure on the Reserve Bank of India — if it slashes rates next week, the markets could finally see off the gloom.

Alarm bells have been ringing for months about a slowdown in India’s economy. Well, don’t expect any sudden turnaround. That’s the message from the country’s chief economic advisor, V. Anantha Nageswaran, who’s projecting that the pace isn’t likely to pick up through next year, as hurdles to global trade pile up. We’re looking at flat growth for the time being.

Donald Trump has never been shy about mixing business with politics, but his crypto playbook is fast blurring the line between personal profit and presidential policy. And people are taking notice. Just look on social media, where he’s getting called out for being a shameless grifter. While Trump’s positioned himself as crypto’s loudest cheerleader, his growing web of financial entanglements is raising some serious ethical alarms. The latest venture?

Calling it a ticking bomb is generous. Palantir is trading at a valuation no other stock on Wall Street comes close to. NO OTHER. Investors are desperate for the next Nvidia, but paying sky-high prices today for possible gains in 4-5 years? That’s a bold bet. Price-to-sales? An absurd 50x. Price-to-earnings? A wild 168x. The S&P 500? A chill 27x. Revenue growth? A modest 20% — nowhere near Nvidia’s stratospheric rise. Yet in less than three months, Palantir has added $90 billion in market value.

As ChatGPT and DeepSeek upend the global tech game, India faces a daunting question: can it ever produce an AI contender? With the budget announcement on Saturday, the tech industry is eager for policy shifts that could transform India from a software services giant into an IP-driven innovation powerhouse. India’s tech ecosystem has thrived on consumer tech — Jio, Flipkart, Swiggy — but true disruption has been scarce in AI and deep tech.