Breakfast | Trump considers tariffs "two-step approach," U.S. stock indices close higher! Tesla rises over 3%, DJT up nearly 9%

Market Overview

U.S. consumer confidence remains low, reigniting concerns about the economy. The U.S. stock market's upward momentum has faded, with all three major indices briefly turning negative, but ultimately closing slightly higher due to potential tariff relaxations by Trump.

Chip stocks retreated, with only NVIDIA among the tech giants declining. Tesla rose over 3%, Alphabet A increased by 1.72%, Apple gained 1.37%, Meta and Amazon both rose by 1.21%, and Microsoft was up 0.53%.

The China concept index fell over 1%, with PDD dropping more than 2%, Tencent Holdings ADR down 0.8%, and Xiaomi Group ADR down 0.72%.

Trump Media & Tech (DJT) surged nearly 9% after announcing a partnership with Crypto.com to launch a digital currency ETF.

GameStop (GME) briefly rose over 7% in after-hours trading, despite a 28% year-on-year decline in Q4 net sales, but plans to emulate the "Bitcoin whale" strategy by investing corporate funds into Bitcoin.

How Will U.S. Tariffs Be Collected in April? Reports: Trump Considering a "Two-Step" Tariff Plan

According to reports, the Trump administration is considering a "two-step" tariff strategy against trade partners, which may include immediate tariffs of up to 50% and the introduction of auto tariffs, restarting the national security investigation into the global auto industry from his first term.

Some countries are actively negotiating trade with the U.S. to significantly reduce or completely eliminate tariffs. Reports indicate that the UK is considering modifying its digital services tax, making tech giant tax policies a focal point of trade negotiations; while India is preparing to significantly cut tariffs on U.S. imports in exchange, involving goods worth over $23 billion.

Additionally, Trump may impose a 25% tariff on copper, causing New York copper prices to soar to historic highs, with intraday gains reaching 2%, surpassing $5.20 per pound. Since January of this year, New York copper prices have exceeded London copper prices, creating an unprecedented price gap and increasing arbitrage opportunities.

Alibaba's Joseph Tsai Warns: "Bubble" in AI Data Center Construction by U.S. Firms, Many Projects Lack Clear Customer Targeting

Joseph Tsai expressed concern when people began constructing data centers without clear demand. "The figures regarding investment in AI in the U.S. still shock me. People are literally talking about $500 billion, hundreds of billions. I think this is completely unnecessary." "Investments are ahead of the demand we see today, but they predict that demand will be much larger."

European Auto Market Slumps, February Sales Experience Largest Decline in Five Months, Tesla's Share Further Drops

Due to economic downturns, tariff threats, and intensified competition, new car sales in Europe fell 3.1% year-on-year in February, with gasoline and diesel vehicle sales dropping over 20%, while pure electric and hybrid vehicle sales surged by 26%. However, due to Musk's controversial political stance, Tesla's February sales plummeted 40% year-on-year, with its electric vehicle market share halving compared to last year.

Is Apple Joining the Computing Power Battle? Reports: Apple Orders NVIDIA GB300, Order Value Approximately $1 Billion

This development marks a significant shift in Apple's AI strategy, seemingly driven by the challenges of upgrading Siri AI. Analyst Baruah also revealed that Apple is collaborating with server manufacturers Dell and AMD to create large server clusters supporting generative AI applications

Apple's 2025 Worldwide Developers Conference is Coming, Online from June 9 to 13

Apple Inc. announced that it will hold its annual Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC25) online from June 9 to 13 this year, with a special offline event on June 9 inviting developers and students to participate in the celebration. The conference will be free for developers worldwide, focusing on showcasing the latest advancements, tools, and technologies in Apple software, while also providing opportunities to interact with Apple experts. Developers can participate through the Apple Developer app, website, and YouTube channel.

Google Executive: Quantum Computing May Be Just Five Years Away from Practical Application

Julian Kelly, head of Google Quantum AI hardware, stated that quantum computing technology may be just five years away from practical application, expected to solve complex problems that modern computers cannot handle. Quantum computers are anticipated to achieve breakthroughs in cutting-edge physics research and generating new types of data. On Tuesday, most quantum computing concept stocks fell.

Xiaomi Discounts 6.5% to Place 42.5 Billion HKD, Citigroup: Short-term Pressure on Stock Price, Long-term Optimization of Financial Structure

Citigroup analysts believe that although the stock price faces dilution pressure in the short term, the placement will optimize Xiaomi's financial structure, supporting the company's long-term development in areas such as artificial intelligence research and electric vehicle production capacity expansion.

Kuaishou Q4 Revenue Increases 8.7% Year-on-Year, Short Video E-commerce GMV Grows Over 50.0%, Keling AI Cumulative Revenue Exceeds 100 Million

Kuaishou's Q4 revenue increased by 8.7% year-on-year to 35.384 billion yuan, with net profit rising by 7.8%, and user scale maintaining steady growth. Keling AI's independent app has officially launched, and since monetization began until February 2025, cumulative revenue has exceeded 100 million yuan.

OpenAI Releases New Text-to-Image Model, Google's Strongest Model Gemini 2.5 Pro Released

OpenAI has made significant updates to GPT-4o and Sora, introducing a new text-to-image model. This model also supports custom operations, continuous questioning, style transfer, image PPT, and other highly practical features. Notably, the realism of generated images can rival or even surpass leading platforms in the field, such as Midjourney.

Gemini 2.5 Pro launched late at night; this "thinking" model is designed for complex tasks with powerful reasoning capabilities. Upon its release, it swept various rankings, achieving multiple TOP 1 positions and setting a record for the largest score leap in history.

Despite "Hard Data" Remaining Relatively Robust, U.S. "Soft Data" Continues to Deteriorate

The Philadelphia Fed's services sector index has dropped to its lowest level since the pandemic. The current activity index for the services sector plummeted from -13.1 to -32.5, reaching its lowest point since May 2020, with future activity expectations performing even worse.

The Conference Board's consumer expectations in the U.S. hit a twelve-year low, with consumer confidence declining for four consecutive months. Short-term inflation expectations soared to 6.2%, and bearish sentiment in the stock market increased, with only 37.4% of consumers expecting the stock market to rise, while 44.5% expect it to fall

The U.S. Secret War Plan Was Actually Leaked This Way

According to Niu Tanqin, U.S. National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan accidentally added Atlantic Monthly editor Jeffrey Goldberg to a group chat while discussing the bombing operation in Yemen on a secure messaging app, leading to the leak of a classified war plan. Interestingly, the group chat also revealed previously unknown details, such as Vice President Kamala Harris's opposition to the bombing operation, senior officials' disdain for Europe, and the expectation of economic returns for the U.S