Trump vs Powell: Fed Follies, Market Mayhem, and Bitcoin’s Bold Bounce 🚀

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  • Trump unleashes his usual fireworks at Powell — declares him a “major loser” and threatens doom.
  • “Experts” whisper of rate cuts, while Powell clings to his chair like a determined barnacle.

On the 21st of April, President Donald Trump — that paragon of subtlety — once again turned his Tiny Twitter (or as he prefers, Truth Social) cannon on Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell, dubbing him a “major loser” and forecasting a bleak economic weather forecast unless rates come tumbling down.

The Trumpian Art of the Jab

In a post dripping with confidence and a touch less civility, Trump bellowed that unless Powell, whom he mockingly calls Mr. Too Late, slashes interest rates faster than one can say “economic slowdown,” we might as well prepare for gloom and doom. After all, prices dropping means no inflation, right? But don’t get cocky: recession lurks just around the corner.

Trump pronounced with unmistakable flair:

“With these costs trending so nicely downward, just what I predicted they would do, there can almost be no inflation, but there can be a SLOWING of the economy unless Mr. Too Late, a major loser, lowers interest rates, NOW.”

Markets in Meltdown and Crypto Capers

Following this spectacle, U.S. stock markets took a nosedive worthy of a Shakespearean tragedy: the S&P 500 slipped 2.4%, Nasdaq stumbled 2.5%, and the Dow Jones lost nearly 1,000 points — a 2.5% clip — leaving investors clutching their pearls. Year-to-date, the S&P 500 has surrendered over 12%, while the Nasdaq has vanished nearly 18%, tech dreamers left weeping in their Keurig-light glow.

Yet amid this carnage lurks a digital phoenix: Bitcoin. The cheeky crypto managed to rally to a four-week high of $88,500 on April 22nd, lending a shiny counterpoint to the bear market blues.

While the broader crypto kingdom dipped ever so slightly to $2.75 trillion, Bitcoin stayed strong, trading at $88,175 after a mild 0.75% tick up, according to CoinMarketCap — apparently shrugging off the collective jitters still hanging about from the “Crypto Fear and Greed Index” at a modest 47, up from a gloomy 31.

Powell’s Job Security: The Impossibility of the Trump Sacking

In the latest episode of “Presidents and their frustrations,” Trump’s calls to fire Powell — the man he actually picked himself — raised eyebrows and legal scholars’ blood pressure alike. Alas for Trump, the good Mr. Powell remains inviolate under current law, dangling happily in his seat until May 2026.

Attempts to oust him could unravel Wall Street in spectacular fashion. Krishna Guha of Evercore ISI, appearing bemused on “Squawk Box,” warned that messing with the Federal Reserve’s independence might just turn the market into a playground for panic:

“If you start to raise questions about Federal Reserve independence, you are raising the bar for the Federal Reserve to cut.”

And then, with the grim finality of a noir detective’s line:

“If you actually did try to remove the Federal Reserve chairman, I think you would see a severe reaction in markets with yields higher, dollars lower and equities selling off.”

Despite Powell’s firm grip on the rate hike reins, many market sages expect rate cuts this year — Citigroup boldly predicts a June rate chop and a cumulative 125 basis points shaved off by the end of 2025. One wonders if Powell has secret popcorn at his desk for the show yet to come.

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2025-04-22 14:22