Happy Friday! Look for US retail sales due this morning. Economists predict strong spending numbers heading into the holiday season.

Now, let’s turn once more to the latest impact of the Trump Trade.

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Down goes healthcare and EVs

Each day that passes since the election seems to expand the definition of the Trump Trade. 

On Thursday, president-elect Donald Trump made two unrelated announcements that moved two disparate corners of the stock market. 

First, Trump said he plans to nominate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. for secretary of the Health and Human Services Department.

As part of his mission to “Make America Healthy Again,” the former independent candidate has been a vocal critic of various vaccines, chemicals, pollutants, food additives and pharmaceutical products. 

Investors recognize this. A handful of companies in the industry saw their share prices fall after the news:

• Pfizer, down 2.62%

• Moderna, down 5.62%

• BioNTech, down 7.1%

Kennedy said before the election that the Food and Drug Administration’s “war on public health” will be over soon.

Trump also announced the same day he intends to eliminate the electric vehicle tax credits that provide discounts as high as $7,500 for new EVs. 

Tesla, Rivian, and Lucid Motors all tumbled following the announcement. 

The move would indeed impact Tesla, yet Elon Musk — who emerged as an ally and confidant for Trump this election — has reportedly endorsed the plan. 

Tesla stock declined 5.77% on the day though it remains up 25% in November.

While some commentators predicted Musk would leverage his newfound camaraderie with the president to prevent any cuts to EV initiatives, Trump’s decision has already made that point moot. 

“We think Elon wants the government out of EVs as much as possible,” said Morningstar analyst David Whiston. 

Wedbush managing director Dan Ives, meanwhile, said Thursday that the update leaves Tesla better positioned than ever, given its existing market dominance.

“Losing the EV tax credit will enable Tesla to further fend off competition from Detroit as pricing/scale/scope is unmatched when compared to rest of auto industry,” Ives wrote on X, a platform which is also owned by Musk. 

Comments or feedback? Reply directly to this email or let me know on X @philrosenn.

Elsewhere:

🏦 Fed Powell isn’t rushing to cut rates. A solid economic backdrop gives policymakers time to figure out how to get inflation lower, he said at an event Thursday in Dallas: “The economy is not sending any signals that we need to be in a hurry to lower rates.” (Barron’s)

👀Jamie Dimon won’t join the White House. The JPMorgan CEO won’t be part of Trump’s new administration, the president announced Thursday. Dimon did not seem bothered: “I haven’t had a boss in 25 years and I’m not about ready to start.” (Bloomberg)

💰️ Warren Buffett bought Domino’s stock. Berkshire Hathaway took positions in the pizza chain as well as Pool Corp in the third quarter, new filings show. The conglomerate acquired about a 3.6% stake in Domino’s and a 1% stake in the pool equipment company. (Yahoo Finance)

Rapid-fire:

• SEC Chair Gary Gensler released a statement hinting at his resignation (Bitcoin Magazine)

• The “core” producer price index showed prices increased 3.1% in October, up from 2.8% the prior month and above expectations (Yahoo Finance)

• Citigroup is facing a US probe over ties to a sanctioned Russian billionaire (Reuters)

• Trump has his work cut out to increase economic productivity without causing a rebound in inflation (Pomp Letter)

• Eighteen states sed the SEC over “unconstitutional overreach” of digital assets (Fox Business)

Last thing:

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