The Week in Review 05/26/25

"Inspiration is a guest that does not willingly visit the lazy." - Pyotr Tchaikovsky

Good Morning,

We hope you enjoyed your long Memorial Day Weekend!

Often, reality is stranger than fiction… last week was full of negatives, and plenty of sellers were around.

First, Moody’s downgrades our sovereign debt from the sacred “AAA” rating, because they see our national debt and deficits are” unsustainable”.

The other rating services dropped the rating years ago, so it wasn’t as cataclysmic as one might think… but the bond and stock markets paid the price.

If that wasn’t enough negativity, President Trump went on the warpath (again) with tariff threats of 50% against the UK, and against our own US company, Apple.

Apple will have to pay a 25% tariff on any of the iPhones it makes in China, and they make a lot of them in China. Tim Cook, CEO of Apple, has already agreed to spend $500B on new US manufacturing facilities over the next 5 years.

The President is most eager to push the negotiations along and is frustrated with the pace of progress in them.

The Leading Economic Index dropped 1.0% in April—its steepest decline since March 2023. Good times!

The 30-year Treasury is yielding back above 5%, trading at 5.04%... and the 2 year is now 3.99%.

Lastly, The House narrowly passed the “One Big, Beautiful Bill” by a 215-214 vote.
Next stop: The Senate.

Economic data to ponder this week…

Have a wonderful week!

Michael D. Hilger, CEP^®
Managing Director
Senior Vice President, Wealth Management

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