Let's talk about a roller coaster.
After several days of decline, stocks soared on Wednesday afternoon following President Trump's announcement of a suspension of tariffs. The S&P 500 jumped 9%, recording its third-largest daily gain since World War II.
Gold also saw fluctuations, falling below $3,000 an ounce, but the yellow metal recovered much of its loss and closed above $3,100.
It's hard to know what will happen next.
The only thing that seems certain is uncertainty.
Market volatility skyrocketed with the start of the trade war. The VIX volatility index shot up to 57.85 on April 9. To put that in perspective, it rose to 66 during the early days of the pandemic and to 79 in October 2008.
While the volatility index cooled slightly after the announcement of the suspension of tariffs, there is still a lot of uncertainty and nervousness in the market. We are just one announcement away from another round of market chaos.
Do you know what markets and companies dislike?
Uncertainty. What is regime uncertainty?
We are in a period of extreme political uncertainty. Whether you are an investor, business owner, or entrepreneur, it is extremely difficult to plan for the future under these conditions.
Regime uncertainty describes a lack of confidence in the direction of a government's future policies regarding taxes, regulations, and, in more extreme situations, the protection of property rights and consistent enforcement of the rule of law.