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The US stock market loses $10T
Using PineScript to estimate the SP500 “total market cap”
Since the start of the year, the S&P 500 has lost nearly $10T in market cap. Trump is whipsawing global markets with sweeping tariffs, and China is showing early indications it won’t back down in the trade war.
China has seen a remarkable ascent in gross domestic product in recent decades. As a world-historical event, president Trump has started a nuclear economic war with its biggest rival.
China is also the second-largest foreign holder of $750B+ US Treasuries. Over the past year, it has been reducing its US government debt holdings by nearly $40B. The recent tariff escalation could accelerate their liquidation — threatening a cornerstone of the global monetary system.
At the same time, China has been stacking metric tons of gold as a key reserve alternative. Assuming Fort Knox is intact, however, the US is still the world’s largest gold holder by far.
