- Stock markets digested multiple major developments today including President Donald Trump’s announcement that he spoke with Chinese leader Xi Jinping on tariffs and trade. Meanwhile, Trump and his former confidant Tesla CEO Elon Musk continued to trade passive-aggressive—and just plain aggressive—jabs on their social media platforms Truth Social and X, respectively.
An action-packed Thursday drove markets down as multiple glugs of headlines prompted stock market moves. The Dow closed down 0.25%, while the S&P 500 closed down 0.53%. The tech-driven Nasdaq dropped 0.83%.
However, the major driver was a growing public feud between two billionaire titans: President Donald Trump and his former consigliere Elon Musk. Shares of Tesla, where Musk is the CEO, fell more than 14% today, as investors feared the fallout between the president and electric vehicle manufacturer could further dent Tesla’s fortunes.
“It’s not what you want to see as as a Tesla shareholder,” said Tesla mega-bull Dan Ives, speaking on CNBC, adding that he didn’t think the feud was wrapping up just yet. “Get the popcorn out.”
The battle between Trump and Musk that played out over social media has raised questions about the future of Tesla being simpatico with regulators when it comes to autonomous vehicles, said Ives. “Does Trump now not want to play nice in the sandbox with Musk,” he added.
Musk’s timing in going off on Trump is also a head-scratcher, said Ives, given Tesla is launching its Cybercab robotaxi service in Austin, Texas this month. Investors will wonder whether the “beef” between the two will increase or taper off, Ives said. But, he noted: “Friends fight.”
Early cracks began to show between the two former buddies when Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) czar Musk appeared to be divided over the tax cuts and spending package referred to as Trump’s “big beautiful bill.” Early on, Musk was deferential in his public comments on the bill, even as he said he feared it might undercut DOGE’s attempts to slash federal spending. However, after his light criticism was public, he announced that he would get out of DOGE.
Then last Friday, Trump and Musk put on a show of unity with a farewell press briefing in the Oval Office where Trump presented Musk with a golden key and both men showered praise on each other.
Less than a week later, the rift was stark.
“[Musk] hasn’t said bad about me personally but I’m sure that will be next,” Trump told reporters. “I’m very disappointed in Elon; I’ve helped Elon a lot.”
Meanwhile, Musk did not mince words about the bill, calling it a “disgusting abomination.” He posted on X: “In the entire history of civilization, there has never been legislation that [was] both big and beautiful,” wrote Musk. “Either you get a big and ugly bill or a slim and beautiful bill.”
Trump posted on Truth Social that “Elon was ‘wearing thin,’ I asked him to leave, I took away his EV Mandate that forced everyone to buy Electric Cars that nobody else wanted (that he knew for months I was going to do!), and he just went CRAZY!”
“Such an obvious lie. So sad,” posted Musk in response on Thursday afternoon.
The battle escalated until later in the day when Musk alleged on X that Trump was “in the Epstein files.”
“That is the real reason they have not been made public,” wrote Musk. “Have a nice day, DJT!”
The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Meanwhile, earlier in the day Trump wrote on Truth Social that he had a productive call with President Xi Jinping of China on a trade deal for about 90 minutes. The outcome was a “very positive conclusion for both Countries,” the president wrote on social media. He said the conversation was focused almost entirely on “TRADE.”
While it remains unclear how trade talks between the two nations will progress, the announcement led to an initial climb that ultimately cooled down before turning negative.
Investor Takeaways
While headlines drive stock markets to move up and down throughout the day, many investors are blocking out the noise and looking for opportunities in the volatility.
Kimball Brooker, portfolio manager and co-head of First Eagle Investments global value team, told Fortune that day-to-day issues aren’t impacting their assessment of the value of the businesses they’re invested in. If anything, the volatility can be beneficial for investors who have predetermined target prices, said Brooker.
“If things get crazy enough and people are worried enough that volatility goes up, that can be a very helpful thing as long as you know what you want to buy and what you want to pay for it,” Brooker said.
A few hours of news isn’t going to have a huge impact on Google’s future performance, for instance.
“We’ve got a list of companies we want to buy and we have identified what we’re willing to pay for the companies on that list,” he said. “If you think about the market and volatility increasing, there’s just a higher chance—everything else being equal— that it’s going to come into our range.”
Similarly, ValueWorks hedge fund founder Charles Lemonides told Fortune that even though markets have been largely flat for an extended period, businesses are still performing well.
Dollar General stock was up 1.9% on Thursday, while Dollar Tree was up 9%. Five Below stock is up 5.6%.
“Those numbers are telling you people are still shopping and the world is still going around,” said Lemonides. “There is a lot of noise on the tariffs and in politics and personalities and the equity markets—but in the real world, things are pretty status quo.”
He suggested that if investors think a company is “awesome” and they want to own it in three or five years from now, they should go ahead and move forward. He noted that stocks like Qualcomm and Micron are relatively inexpensive right now.
His fund purchased Hudson Pacific Properties yesterday, said Lemonides. The real estate investment trust owns office buildings on the West Coast and the stock was previously under a dollar per share. Now, it’s trading around $2.
Ultimately, while stock prices move around, the actual health of companies isn’t impacted all that much, noted Brooker.
“If you’re willing to wait, volatility really does become your friend,” Brooker said. “It’s unpleasant. I realize many people don’t like things moving around, especially when they’re going down. But it actually can be a very helpful aspect because it does give you a chance to buy securities at prices you might like.”
This story was originally featured on Fortune.com
