Trump's China trip is over, with nothing substantial coming from it. There was some talk about a deal for China to order 200 planes from Boeing, and possibly as many as 750, though details were sketchy, like everything else Trump touches and touts as wins.
The trip was a PR stunt from the start and Wall Street has apparently sniffed it out and is in the process of selling the news after buying the rumor. The president brought an entourage of large tech company CEOs with him, an attempt to woo China towards more support for American companies breaking into the vast Chinese market. The effort seemed to go well on the surface, but beneath the sheen, nothing of consequence has been reported. It's likely that China was simply being polite to the U.S., rather than pressing hard on various issues.
China's president Xi did manage to sneak in some snark, suggesting that America was a declining nation. Trump scrambled to find a retort via social media, once again blaming Joe Biden and his administration for America's decline and stating once again that the U.S. is the "hottest" country on the planet. The rhetoric has grown cold and stale and fools nobody.
Thus, stocks are set to open Friday with a very downbeat tone and bond yields have broken out to the upside as investors demand more for their money.
Up until Thursday's closing bell, stocks were doing just swell. For the week, through Thursday, the Dow was up 454 points, the NASDAQ ahead by a whopping 388, with the S&P adding 102.
With options expiry on Friday, there's certain to be a good degree of volatility though nothing has really changed in the overall market structure or global geo-politics. The Strait of Hormuz remains a choke-point for oil. Ukraine unresolved, inflation headed higher in the U.S.
Yield on the 30-year bond has burned through the five percent line and the 10-year yield stands at 4.56%, suggesting that bond buyers are affirming the existence of much higher inflation in months ahead.
While the set-up for Friday looks threatening, with Dow futures down 435, NASDAQ futures off 495, S&P futures giving back 86 points, and WTI crude futures hitting $100 this morning, there isn't any apparent sign of a rug-pull moment, though everybody knows it's overdue. Insiders need to keep stocks rising, but there are only so many suckers and profit-taking may render any dip-buying a moot point.
At the Close, Thursday, May 14, 2026:
Dow: 50,063.46, +370.26 (+0.75%)
NASDAQ: 26,635.22, +232.88 (+0.88%)
S&P 500: 7,501.24, +56.99 (+0.77%)
NYSE Composite: 23,101.85, +128.29 (+0.56%)
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