Minutes before President Donald Trump’s tariff pause, investors made strangely prudent financial moves.
On the internet, people are ablaze with suspicion.
The stock market descended rapidly last Thursday and Friday, as the Trump administration doubled down on a larger-than-expected ‘reciprocal’ tariff policy.
But then Trump paused the policy via a post on Truth Social at 1:18pm on April 9, sending stock prices soaring in a record-setting single-day rally.
In the 18 minutes leading up to Trump’s tariff pause announcement, a handful of popular ETFs lit up with unusual trading activity. Volumes on QQQ, SPY, and TQQQ surged — and fast.
For example, in the five-minute interval that ended 18 minutes before Trump posted the news online, trading in QQQ spiked from a steady clip of around 214,000 shares every five minutes to nearly 1.5 million, according to MarketWatch data.
The volume spikes of the ETF lit up Subreddits, like Wall Street Bets ELITE, including one thread titled ‘Is Trump Pulling Off the Biggest Financial Fraud in History? A Dire Warning.’
The thread has 5,500 likes and 163 comments.
Stocks were pummelled by Presdent Trump’s tariffs – Reddit users are skeptical
‘It’s so frustrating,’ one commenter said.
‘I actually have money to invest in the market and terrified on where to put it. Seems like anything but savings account is a huge risk right now.’
Congressional Democrats are also speaking out about the financial moves.
‘Who in the administration knew about Trump’s latest tariff flip flop ahead of time?’ California Senator Adam Schiff wrote on X.
‘Did anyone buy or sell stocks and profit at the public’s expense?’
It is legal for members of Congress to purchase stocks. However, the latest moves have renewed a conversation about the potential for corruption on the stock market.
Multiple representatives have come under fire because of their recent moves.
Democratic representative Nancy Pelosi of California, the Speaker Emerita, has long faced scrutiny for her largely successful stock trades.
Marjorie Taylor Greene, one of Trump’s biggest advocates, purchased stocks on the tariff dip
Marjorie Taylor Greene’s financial advisor made purchases in several retail stocks
This week, Marjorie Taylor Greene, one of President Donald Trump’s most avid supporters in Washington, reported that she bought stocks on the dip.
Greene, an outspoken Republican congresswoman, purchased retail stocks from April 2 through 4 as investors dumped them in a panic.
The stock moves were made as part of a ‘fiduciary agreement to allow my financial advisor to control my investments,’ Greene told the Associated Press.
‘All of my investments are reported with full transparency.’
Both representatives have denied any wrongdoing.
But other members at the US Capitol have said that reforms are necessary.
‘I’ve been hearing some interesting chatter on the floor’ New York’s Democratic Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez said in a post on X.
‘It’s time to ban insider trading in Congress.’
The congresswoman bought stocks of Nike, a company that was worried Trump’s tariffs would devastate its US business
Senators Ruben Gallego (D – Arizona) joined Sen. Schiff on a letter calling for a federal probe into stock actions potentially made by investors close to the White House.
‘President Trump’s decision to ease most tariffs predictably caused the financial markets to skyrocket after crashing and undergoing wild fluctuations,’ the Senators wrote.
‘The President, his family, and his advisors are uniquely positioned to be privy to and take advantage of nonpublic information to inform their investment decisions.’
Bret Kenwell, an investment and options analyst at trading cite eToro threw cold water on allegations of foul play in conversation with DailyMail.com.
‘While I can’t speculate as to who was buying or why, what we do know is that in light of recent market volatility, retail investors have been buying the dip,’ he said.
‘This trend started last week and they continued buying into Monday and Tuesday. Now they’re being rewarded.
‘These investors recognized an opportunity in the markets and had the confidence to pounce.’
