May 30, 2025:

Trump only offers bad things for our economy. Everyone knows, since the last half of Trump’s first administration, that tariffs are his only policy. Moreover, tariffs only do harm. Thus, the more recent announcements of new tariffs have caused the stock market to plunge. Trump then chickens out and announces the tariffs are now off. The stock market then rallies. This is called the “TACO” or Trump always chickens out trade. There is no long-run growth or stability that can be expected. Since Trump only has tariffs as a policy for the economy there is no end in sight. There is no basis for stock investments in this environment. Just park your stock market money in a money market account and wait for a fundamental change in economic policy. If you are holding a portfolio of CEFs then continue to do so. My portfolio has sold off and then recovered somewhat. The dividends seem relatively safe but some funds like XFLT and EIC have reduced their dividends due to economic weakness and uncertainty. That is how CEFs maintain their NAVs and stay afloat. Ultimately, once Trump is gone, things will recover.