Catherine Rampell

Even poor Elon Musk, as I've been saying, he invested $200 million into Donald Trump's campaign so that he and Trump could run government together. And it turns out, unfortunately, they suck at running government. And now he's like $130 billion poorer, right? Because Tesla stock has gone down.

Even poor Elon Musk, as I've been saying, he invested $200 million into Donald Trump's campaign so that he and Trump could run government together. And it turns out, unfortunately, they suck at running government. And now he's like $130 billion poorer, right? Because Tesla stock has gone down.

I think he lost like a quarter of his net worth since the beginning of the year or something like that. It's much bigger than 2%, whatever it is.

I think he lost like a quarter of his net worth since the beginning of the year or something like that. It's much bigger than 2%, whatever it is.

I think he lost like a quarter of his net worth since the beginning of the year or something like that. It's much bigger than 2%, whatever it is.

Yeah. To unpack that a little bit, usually when stock markets go down, it means people are selling off their stocks, right? And then they have cash, and then they dump that cash into bonds, so like treasuries.

Yeah. To unpack that a little bit, usually when stock markets go down, it means people are selling off their stocks, right? And then they have cash, and then they dump that cash into bonds, so like treasuries.

Yeah. To unpack that a little bit, usually when stock markets go down, it means people are selling off their stocks, right? And then they have cash, and then they dump that cash into bonds, so like treasuries.

Okay? So they put the cash into bonds, right? When they buy bonds, the price of bonds goes up and their interest rate goes down. Sorry for all the technical steps, but this is just to explain that usually when equities fall, you see bond rates falling too. We are not seeing that now. Okay. And... Trump clearly expected it to happen.

Okay? So they put the cash into bonds, right? When they buy bonds, the price of bonds goes up and their interest rate goes down. Sorry for all the technical steps, but this is just to explain that usually when equities fall, you see bond rates falling too. We are not seeing that now. Okay. And... Trump clearly expected it to happen.

Okay? So they put the cash into bonds, right? When they buy bonds, the price of bonds goes up and their interest rate goes down. Sorry for all the technical steps, but this is just to explain that usually when equities fall, you see bond rates falling too. We are not seeing that now. Okay. And... Trump clearly expected it to happen.

And it did happen in like very initially at the beginning of Tariffmageddon. We saw rates come down a little bit and he was like, aha, see, I'm reducing interest rates and the Fed is behind. And because, you know, Trump loves low interest rates. But then, in fact, this weird thing happened that Larry's talking about where where long term interest rates went.

And it did happen in like very initially at the beginning of Tariffmageddon. We saw rates come down a little bit and he was like, aha, see, I'm reducing interest rates and the Fed is behind. And because, you know, Trump loves low interest rates. But then, in fact, this weird thing happened that Larry's talking about where where long term interest rates went.

And it did happen in like very initially at the beginning of Tariffmageddon. We saw rates come down a little bit and he was like, aha, see, I'm reducing interest rates and the Fed is behind. And because, you know, Trump loves low interest rates. But then, in fact, this weird thing happened that Larry's talking about where where long term interest rates went.

That's not usually what you would expect. And so there's been some debate about why that might be happening. It might be that everybody's totally freaked out and they just want to hold cash. They're like, I'm not going to take my sellings from the stock market and put it into bonds. I'm just going to like hang tight and put it under my mattress or whatever. Could be that.

That's not usually what you would expect. And so there's been some debate about why that might be happening. It might be that everybody's totally freaked out and they just want to hold cash. They're like, I'm not going to take my sellings from the stock market and put it into bonds. I'm just going to like hang tight and put it under my mattress or whatever. Could be that.

That's not usually what you would expect. And so there's been some debate about why that might be happening. It might be that everybody's totally freaked out and they just want to hold cash. They're like, I'm not going to take my sellings from the stock market and put it into bonds. I'm just going to like hang tight and put it under my mattress or whatever. Could be that.

Well, it could be good advice if we didn't have high inflation, which may be what's going on here. So there are some questions about maybe it's that people are just holding on to the cash. Maybe it's that they're expecting higher inflation, which could happen as a result, sort of trend inflation could happen as a result of all of these tariffs.

Well, it could be good advice if we didn't have high inflation, which may be what's going on here. So there are some questions about maybe it's that people are just holding on to the cash. Maybe it's that they're expecting higher inflation, which could happen as a result, sort of trend inflation could happen as a result of all of these tariffs.

Well, it could be good advice if we didn't have high inflation, which may be what's going on here. So there are some questions about maybe it's that people are just holding on to the cash. Maybe it's that they're expecting higher inflation, which could happen as a result, sort of trend inflation could happen as a result of all of these tariffs.