Golly it sure is difficult to make some trades when the daily drama is pitching the portfolio plus or minus 10%+ depending on the drama. The week was looking quite promising until details about Nvidia (NVDA) chip restrictions were announced.

I don't hold NVDA, I don't have any positions in NVDA, but NVDA is such a market-mover that the tech sector go on the express train to frown-town.

My AMD position was impacted however since:

AMD says that the U.S. government’s license control requirement for exporting AI chips to China and certain other countries may impact it significantly.

Whether or not I agree with the concept of technology export restrictions, and the protectionist flaws they exhibit, this uncertainty is the noose hanging around all of our necks. The semiconductor industry has former President Joe Biden to blame for building the gallows, but current President Trump is the one who keeps the industry in perpetual jeopardy by applying policies inconsistently, rapidly changing course, and approaching the entirety of the economy without any clear fundamental strategy.

The damage from the reckless game of chicken with tariffs has yet to be even remotely undone, because the madman still has his finger on the trigger. In the meantime I recommend this analysis on how the pressure from the bond market ultimately caused the Trump administration to cave. Not before erasing tremendous value from the market, but cave nonetheless.

While Trump was gearing up his trade war machine, Carney, Canada’s Prime Minister, wasn’t just sitting in Ottawa twiddling his thumbs. He’d been quietly increasing Canada’s holdings of U.S. Treasury bonds—over $350 billion worth by early 2025, part of the $8.53 trillion foreign countries hold in U.S. debt. On the surface, it looked like a safe play, a hedge against economic chaos. But it wasn’t just defense. It was a loaded gun.

In my case, I still need to see some more stability before I resume trading anything more than covered calls. The Trump-tariff fiasco erased so much value in my holdings that I'm bouncing around my personal safe minimums on a daily basis.

I don't know what it will take to bring the market back up barring an unexpected interest rate change or some other piece of notable news.