There are not many certainties in the world of money, but this traditionally has been one of them: When life turns scary, people take refuge in American government bonds. Investors buy U.S. Treasuries on the assumption that, come what may — financial panic, war, natural disaster — the federal government will endure and stand by
A haunting childhood moment defined how John Kakuk would think about investing his own money when the time came. During the 2008 financial crisis, his mother asked him if he would be willing to contribute the meager savings in his piggy bank to his family’s grocery fund should his father, a lawyer, lose his job.
Shares in automakers around the world wobbled on Thursday after President Trump announced plans to impose a 25 percent tariff on imported cars and some parts beginning next week. The stocks of major Detroit carmakers, which build some of their vehicles in Canada and Mexico, were rattled on Wall Street. Shares in General Motors, which
Stocks rose on Wednesday after a tumultuous few days of trading following President Trump’s decision to impose tariffs on some of the United States’ biggest trading partners and retaliatory measures by the European Union, China and Canada. Futures on the S&P 500, which allow investors to trade ahead of exchanges opening, were slightly higher. The
President Trump made a lot of promises on the campaign trail last year. Investors and business leaders enthusiastically cheered some, like lower taxes and relaxed regulation, and expressed wariness about others, like tariffs and reduced immigration. But when Mr. Trump won the election, there was little sign of that ambivalence: Stock prices soared, as did