Last week, the Supreme Court ruled that President Trump’s tariffs were illegal. In a 170-page document, the court said that Trump did not have the power to impose tariffs on imports unilaterally.
Reuters reported that Trump characterized the ruling as ridiculous. In response, he announced an immediate new 10% tariff rate on imports from all countries. Hours later on Saturday, the President raised the rate to 15%. That is additional to the existing tariffs.
Neither the ruling nor the President's response will mean much for stock markets. Investors should not buy volatility ETFs (VXX). Betting on increased uncertainty for markets is unlikely to play out. Instead, look closely at gold (GLD), silver (SLV), copper, oil, and the U.S. dollar.
Last year, the government's imposition of tariffs strengthened the U.S. dollar. The opposite should have happened. When import volumes declined, demand for U.S. currency should weaken. Recently, the currency (DXY) (UUP) traded in a holding pattern. The chances are higher that the U.S. dollar index will weaken, now that the White House needs to find workarounds to tariffs.
Gold and silver might renew their rally from here. Gold rebounded to $5,105 over the weekend. It has a good chance of re-testing the ~ $5,600 all-time high as central banks de-dollarize.
Oil prices are generally weaker, but as concerns about oversupply ease, stocks like ExxonMobil (XOM) and Chevron (CVX) should perform well. Shares in those firms broke out in 2026.
