Wall Street Is Collateral Damage in Trump’s Trade War

The American investor class — that top 10% that owns almost all of the stocks — is quickly coming to terms with its new, much-diminished status in the era of Donald Trump’s trade offensive. From the corporate executives counting their stock options to the billionaire hedge-fund moguls and everyone in between, they’re merely collateral damage now.

The market crash Trump has stoked is one for the history books. The Nasdaq 100 has plunged into a bear market. More than $5 trillion was wiped off the value of all US shares in two days. Commodities have collapsed and corporate-bond investors have frantically bought insurance contracts that shield them from default. The losses have piled up nearly non-stop since the moment Trump announced tariff rates as high as 50% on dozens of countries, a plan so aggressive few thought it possible.