2018-03-24 09:09:40 | Week in review: How Trump's policies moved stocksCatch up on the top industries and stocks that were impacted, or were predicted to be impacted, by the comments, actions and policies of President Trump and his administration with this weekly recap compiled by The Fly: 1. 2016 U.S. ELECTION: Shares of Facebook (FB) were in the spotlight this week after reports saying that Cambridge Analytica harvested private information from more than 50M users in developing techniques to support President Donald Trump's 2016 election campaign. The data analytics company has since been suspended by the social media platform, with Facebook hiring a digital forensics firm, Stroz Friedberg, to conduct a comprehensive audit of Cambridge Analytica. The data analytics company has agreed to comply and afford the company complete access to their servers and systems. On Thursday, following a statement by Mark Zuckerberg addressing concerns and announcing additional measures to ensure user privacy, House Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman Greg Walden and Ranking Member Frank Pallone released a statement calling on Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg to testify before the committee. 2. TARIFFS ON CHINESE IMPORTS: On Thursday, President Donald Trump signed an executive memorandum imposing retaliatory tariffs on up to $60B in Chinese imports, according to CNBC. The new measures are designed to penalize the country for trade practices that the White House says involve stealing American companies' intellectual property, the report noted, adding that the tariffs will primarily target certain products in the technology sector. Shares of Alibaba (BABA), Tencent (TCEHY) and Baidu (BIDU) were under pressure following the news. On Friday, China announced plans for reciprocal tariffs on 128 U.S. products that include pork, wine, fruit and steel, according to CNBC. 3. GUN SALES: On Thursday, shares of Smith & Wesson's parent American Outdoor Brands (AOBC) and Sturm Ruger (RGR) were under pressure after The New York Times reported that Citigroup (C) is setting restrictions on the sales of firearms by its business customers. The new policy prohibits the sale of firearms to customers who have not passed a background check or who are younger than 21, and bars the sale of bump stock and high-capacity magazines, the report added. The rules echo similar restrictions established by big retailers such as Walmart (WMT) and Dick's Sporting (DKS). 4. METAL: As fears grow of a potential global trade war, the Trump administration has backpedaled and is considering a larger blanket of exemptions. According to a Bloomberg article, U.S. trade representative Robert Lighthizer told the Senate Finance Committee on Thursday that "The U.S. will shield a list of allies including Europe, Australia, South Korea, Argentina and Brazil from steel and aluminum tariffs that take effect on Friday." Publicly traded companies in the space include U.S. Steel (X), Alcoa (AA), Century Aluminum (CENX), AK Steel (AKS), Steel Dynamics (STLD), Nucor (NUE), Allegheny Technologies (ATI), and Cleveland-Cliffs(CLF). 5. AUTO INDUSTRY: President Donald Trump's administration has dropped a contentious demand during NAFTA talks that all vehicles exported into the U.S. and made in Canada and Mexico must contain at least 50% U.S. content, according to The Globe and Mail reported, citing sources. Publicly traded automakers include Daimler AG (DDAIF), Fiat Chrysler (FCAU), Ford (F), General Motors (GM), Honda (HMC), Nissan (NSANY), Toyota (TM) and Volkswagen (VLKAY). 6. OPIOIDS: In a press conference detailing the $1.3T omnibus government funding bill President Trump announced he would sign, the president mentioned in passing that "we'll be suing" certain drug companies related to the opioid crisis. Opioid manufacturers include privately held Purdue Pharma, which makes OxyContin, and Johnson & Johnson (JNJ) unit Janssen Pharmaceuticals, which makes Duragesic fentanyl skin patches. Opioid distributors include Cardinal Health (CAH), AmerisourceBergen (ABC), and McKesson Corp. (MCK). 7. DEFENSE SPACE: On Tuesday, President Trump said his conversation with President Putin included a conversation about the arms race between the two companies. The race is "getting out of control," Trump said during a press conference at the White House. Trump added that the U.S. will remain well ahead of other countries in terms of defense and noted that the country is spending $700B this year on defense. Publicly traded companies in the defense space include BAE Systems (BAESY), Boeing (BA), General Dynamics (GD), Lockheed Martin (LMT), Northrop Grumman (NOC), Raytheon (RTN) and United Technologies (UTX). "Week in Review" is The Fly's weekly recap of its recurring series of "Trump Effect" exclusive stories. | |
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