Catch up on the top industries and stocks that were impacted, or were predicted to be impacted, by the comments, actions and policies of President Donald Trump with this daily recap compiled by The Fly:
TARIFF STRATEGY: The White House is refining its tariff strategy for the measures set to take effect on April 2, likely excluding industry-specific tariffs while imposing reciprocal duties on select nations that make up the majority of U.S. foreign trade, The Wall Street Journal’s Gavin Bade, Josh Dawsey, and Meridith McGraw report. President Trump has dubbed his April 2 deadline as “Liberation Day” for the U.S., marking the implementation of so-called reciprocal tariffs aimed at aligning U.S. duties with those imposed by trading partners and had also pledged to introduce tariffs on industries such as automobiles, pharmaceuticals, and semiconductors on that date, but an administration official now says those sector-specific tariffs are unlikely to be announced on April 2.
PRIVATIZATION OF FANNIE, FREDDIE: William Pulte, the head of the Federal Housing Finance Agency, ousted more than a dozen board members at Fannie Mae (FNMA) and Freddie Mac (FMCC) in his first full week on the job, Gina Heeb of Wall Street Journal reports. Trump officials have said they would pursue efforts to privatize Fannie and Freddie, adds Heeb. A proposal floated to the administration last week by a Trump ally laid out how the government could transfer Treasury’s ownership of the government sponsored entities to the sovereign-wealth fund that President Trump has vowed to create, a person familiar with the matter told the Journal. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent suggested last week on a podcast that the administration could use Fannie and Freddie for a sovereign-wealth fund, Heeb notes.
INVESTMENT IN THE U.S.: Hyundai (HYMTF) is set to announce a $20B investment in U.S. onshoring that includes a $5B steel plant in Louisiana, people familiar with the plans told CNBC‘s Seema Mody. The new steel plant will produce next-generation steel that will be used by Hyundai’s two U.S. auto plants to manufacture electric vehicles, the report noted. The investment is expected to be announced Monday at the White House by President Donald Trump, Hyundai Chairman Euisun Chung and Louisiana Gov. Jeff Landry, CNBC added. The South Korean company is a top seller of electric vehicles in the U.S. that competes directly with Tesla (TSLA), noted the report.
BILLIONS IN NEW CONTRACTS: Elon Musk’s SpaceX could secure billions in new contracts under President Donald Trump, The New York Times’ Eric Lipton reports. The boost in federal spending for SpaceX will come in part as a result of actions by President Trump and Elon Musk’s allies and employees who hold government positions, while supporters say he has the best technology. Publicly traded companies that compete with SpaceX include Rocket Lab (RKLB), Virgin Galactic (SPCE), Boeing (BA), and Lockheed Martin (LMT).
HIRING LOBBYISTS: With much of their funding at stake, universities are quietly hiring lobbyists and reaching out to politicians amid Washington’s quest to rein in academia, The Wall Street Journal’s Maggie Severns reports. During his election campaign, President Trump vowed “to reclaim our once great educational institutions from the radical Left,” and he has moved quickly to target diversity, equity and inclusion programs, alleged antisemitism and anything perceived as “woke,” while threatening to pull funding from universities that don’t comply. Publicly traded companies in the space include Adtalem Global Education (ATGE), American Public Education (APEI), Grand Canyon (LOPE), Lincoln Educational (LINC) and Strategic Education (STRA).