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March 28, 2025

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After a blistering snapback rally over last the week, a number of the Magnificent 7 stocks are actively testing their 200-day moving averages.  Let’s look at how three of these leading growth names are setting up from a technical perspective, and see how this week could provide crucial clues to broader market conditions into April.

META Remains Above an Upward-Sloping 200-Day

While most of the Mag 7 names already broke below their 200-day moving averages, Meta Platforms (META) is one of the few that have remained above this key trend indicator.  We can see a very straightforward downtrend of lower lows and lower highs from the mid-February peak around $740 to last week’s low around $575.

With the recent bounce, META has now established clear support at the 200-day as well as the December 2024 swing low.  This “confluence of support” suggests that a break below $575 would confirm a new downtrend phase for this leading internet stock.  Only if we saw a break back above the 50-day moving average around $650 would we consider an alternative bullish scenario here.

Will AMZN Hold This Long-Term Trend Barometer?

While META is still holding its 200-day moving average, Amazon.com (AMZN) broke below its 200-day back in early March.  The recent bounce off $190 has pushed AMZN back above the 200-day this week, with the Monday and Friday lows sitting almost perfectly on this long-term trend indicator.

The most important question here is whether Amazon will be able to hold above its 200-day, but given the meager momentum readings, a failure here seems more likely.  Note how despite the recent uptrend move, the RSI has remained below the 50 level through mid-week.  This lack of upside momentum indicates a lack of willing buyers, and suggests a breakout here as an unlikely outcome.  

Similar to the chart of META, we’re watching for any move above the 50-day moving average, which would tell us to consider the recent upswing to have further upside potential.  

Failure Here Would Signal Renewed Weakness for TSLA

Now we come to one of the weaker charts out of the mega cap growth names, Tesla Inc. (TSLA).  Tesla lost over half its value from a peak around $480 in mid-December 2024 to its March 2025 low around $220.  This week’s pop higher has pushed TSLA right up to the 200-day moving average, but no further.

Tesla was one of the first Magnificent 7 stocks to set a peak, as many of these growth names continued to make higher highs into early 2025.  TSLA finally registered an oversold condition for the RSI in late February, before a bounce in mid-March which pushed the RSI back above the crucial 30 level.

When a stock fails to break above the 200-day moving average, as we see so far this week for Tesla, it means that there just isn’t enough buying power present to reverse the longer-term downtrend phase.  Until and unless TSLA can push above the 200-day, we’d much rather look for opportunities elsewhere.  

As legendary investor Paul Tudor Jones is quoted, “Nothing good happens below the 200-day moving average.”  Given the recent upswings for these key growth stocks, and their current tests of this long-term trend barometer, investors should be prepared for a failure at the 200-day and brace for what could come next for the Magnificent 7.

RR#6,

Dave

PS- Ready to upgrade your investment process?  Check out my free behavioral investing course!

David Keller, CMT

President and Chief Strategist

Sierra Alpha Research LLC

Disclaimer: This blog is for educational purposes only and should not be construed as financial advice.  The ideas and strategies should never be used without first assessing your own personal and financial situation, or without consulting a financial professional.  

The author does not have a position in mentioned securities at the time of publication.    Any opinions expressed herein are solely those of the author and do not in any way represent the views or opinions of any other person or entity.

Wednesday’s stock market price action revealed a caution sign, and with it, any hope that rose from Monday’s price action just got buried. The Tech sector sold off, with the Nasdaq Composite ($COMPQ) falling over 2%.

The chart of $COMPQ indicated hesitation. Of the three broader indexes, it was the one that didn’t cross above its 200-day simple moving average (SMA), and its breadth wasn’t showing signs of expanding. The Dow Jones Industrial Average ($INDU) still holds on to its position above its 200-day SMA and 21-day EMA.

The S&P 500 is a concerning chart. The index crossed above its 200-day SMA on Monday; then, on Tuesday, there was a doji candlestick indicating indecision among investors. Then comes Wednesday, and we see a wide-range down day that closed well below the midpoint of Monday’s trading range. This satisfied the conditions for an evening doji star, which is a bearish reversal pattern. In addition, the index wasn’t able to close above its January low. This doesn’t leave a warm, fuzzy feeling.

FIGURE 1. BEARISH REVERSAL IN THE S&P 500 DAILY CHART? The evening doji star is an indication of a bearish reversal. Will this hold or will the pattern fail? It’s something to watch for as tariff concerns remain front and center. Chart source: StockCharts.com. For educational purposes.

Consumer Discretionary Sells Off

The back and forth with tariffs was the main cause of Wednesday’s selloff. The news of President Trump prepping to sign an auto tariff statement after the market closes elevated investor uncertainty. The automobile industry was the worst performer in the Consumer Discretionary sector (see MarketCarpet below).

FIGURE 2. CONSUMER DISCRETIONARY SECTOR’S MARKETCARPET. The automobile industry was the worst hit in this sector. After the tariff announcement on Wednesday, the sector could see further selling. Image source: StockCharts.com. For educational purposes.

Tesla, Inc. (TSLA), the largest weighted stock in the Automobile sub-industry, fell 5.58%. There were many other auto manufacturers such as Toyota Motor (TM), Ferrari (RACE), General Motors (GM), and Honda Motor Co. (HMC), who experienced a similar fate.

Mr. Market didn’t know the tariff details before the close, so the selloff was in anticipation of 25% tariffs being implemented. At around 5:30 pm EDT, President Trump announced the implementation of 25% tariffs on autos manufactured outside of the U.S. Shares of Ford Motor Co. (F), General Motors (GM), and Stellantis (STLA) were trading lower after Wednesday’s close. Don’t be surprised if Thursday is a volatile trading day.

Semis Tumble

Things weren’t so rosy in AI land, either. Microsoft, Inc. (MSFT) scaled back on its data center buildouts, which didn’t help tech stocks. The Technology sector was the worst-performing S&P sector on Wednesday.

The Technology sector MarketCarpet below gives a good picture of the magnitude of the selloff. Semiconductors were the worst hit, with NVIDIA Corp. (NVDA), Broadcom, Inc. (AVGO), and Taiwan Semiconductor Mfg. (TSM) seeing significant declines.

FIGURE 3. TECHNOLOGY SECTOR MARKETCARPET. The Technology sector was the hardest hit on Wednesday. As you can see, it was a sea of red with the large-cap weighted stocks seeing significant selloffs. Chart source: StockCharts.com. For educational purposes.

What a difference a day makes. The Cboe Volatility Index ($VIX) is inching higher after its slide since March 11. It’s back above 18 indicating that fear is back on the table.

Fasten Your Seatbelts

The rest of this week could be volatile. Keep your eyes on the macro picture. Treasury yields held on, but could rise further on Wednesday. As a result, the U.S. dollar could strengthen against the Japanese yen. If inflation expectations and concerns about economic growth rise, precious metals could shine.


Disclaimer: This blog is for educational purposes only and should not be construed as financial advice. The ideas and strategies should never be used without first assessing your own personal and financial situation, or without consulting a financial professional.

Gold has seen rapid price gains in 2025 — is its move past US$3,000 per ounce sustainable?

Joe Cavatoni, senior market strategist, Americas, at the World Gold Council, said although the metal’s ascent has been quick, it’s underpinned by strong fundamentals.

Securities Disclosure: I, Charlotte McLeod, hold no direct investment interest in any company mentioned in this article.

This post appeared first on investingnews.com

Danielle DiMartino Booth, CEO and chief strategist at QI Research, shares her US economic outlook, saying layoffs and bankruptcies are putting the Federal Reserve in a ‘tight position.’

She sees the central bank potentially cutting rates four to five times in 2025.

Securities Disclosure: I, Charlotte McLeod, hold no direct investment interest in any company mentioned in this article.

This post appeared first on investingnews.com

Fury Gold Mines (TSX:FURY,NYSEAMERICAN:FURY) announced that its acquisition of Québec Precious Metals (QPM) (TSXV:QPM,OTCQB:CJCFF) is advancing on schedule, on track to reach completion before April 30.

The deal, announced in February, aims to consolidate a 157,000 hectare portfolio of gold and critical minerals projects in Québec, positioning the combined company for enhanced exploration and growth.

QPM has obtained both a no-objection letter from Corporations Canada and an interim order from the Québec Superior Court. These allow it to proceed with an April 22 meeting where shareholders will vote on the proposed acquisition.

For its part, Fury has secured conditional approvals from the Toronto Stock Exchange and NYSE American.

QPM’s shareholder circular, which is now available on SEDAR+, outlines the details of the merger and includes updated financial disclosures from Fury. Notably, Fury expects to record a non-cash impairment charge as of December 31, 2024, to align the carrying value of its mineral properties with its market capitalization.

Under the terms of the agreement, QPM shareholders will receive 0.0741 Fury shares for each QPM share, valuing QPM at approximately C$0.04 per share — a 33 percent premium based on closing prices as of February 25.

Upon completion of the deal, Fury shareholders will own approximately 95 percent of the combined company, while QPM shareholders will hold the remaining 5 percent.

“This transaction is an exciting opportunity given it doubles Fury’s land package in the Eeyou Istchee James Bay Region of Quebec and unites complementary assets, teams, and investor bases, which should ultimately increase shareholder value at both companies,’ Fury CEO Tim Clark said, describing the transaction as a transformational step.

Normand Champigny, CEO of QPM, echoed this sentiment, commenting, ‘By combining with Fury, QPM’s shareholders will benefit from the synergies and cost savings of leveraging the combined company’s excellent management team for funding and obtaining required permits to continue drilling at Sakami.”

The merger will significantly expand Fury’s footprint in Québec’s resource-rich Eeyou Istchee James Bay region.

QPM’s flagship Sakami project, a 70,900 hectare gold and lithium property, has demonstrated strong exploration potential, with drilling identifying gold mineralization across widths of up to 75 meters and depths of up to 500 meters.

Its Elmer East project contains a 4.2 kilometer gold- and base metals-bearing structure, where grab samples have returned gold values as high as 68.1 grams per metric ton, alongside significant zinc and copper concentrations.

Beyond gold and lithium, QPM brings a strategic rare earths asset into the combined portfolio.

The Kipawa heavy rare earth elements project, in which QPM holds a 68 percent interest, hosts a historically defined 2013 reserve estimate of 19.8 million metric tons. It has road access and is in proximity to infrastructure.

While the transaction is moving forward as planned, it remains subject to various conditions, including approval from at least two-thirds of QPM shareholders, and final court and regulatory approvals.

Securities Disclosure: I, Giann Liguid, hold no direct investment interest in any company mentioned in this article.

This post appeared first on investingnews.com

The global auto industry was thrown into turmoil on Wednesday (March 26) as US President Donald Trump announced sweeping 25 percent tariffs on imported vehicles and auto parts.

The tariffs, set to take effect in early April, mark a significant escalation in Trump’s ongoing trade war and are expected to raise car prices, disrupt supply chains and provoke retaliatory measures from key US allies.

The White House is framing the measure as a strategy to boost domestic manufacturing and address what Trump has called an unfair reliance on foreign production. However, the tariffs apply not only to foreign automakers, but also to American brands, which rely heavily on imported parts and assemble many of their vehicles outside the US.

Carmakers take share price hits

The announcement sent shockwaves through global stock markets, particularly in the automotive sector.

Shares of major automakers in Japan, South Korea and Europe plummeted, with Toyota Motor (NYSE:TM,TSE:7203) and Mazda Motor (TSE:7261) leading declines in Tokyo. South Korean carmakers Hyundai Motor (KRX:005380) and Kia (KRX:000270) also took heavy losses, while auto parts suppliers in India and Germany saw sharp drops.

US automakers were not spared — shares of General Motors (NYSE:GM) tumbled nearly 7 percent, while Ford Motor (NYSE:F) and Stellantis (NYSE:STLA) each fell more than 4 percent in after-hours trading on Wednesday.

Tesla’s (NASDAQ:TSLA) share price, however, saw a slight increase, despite a warning from CEO Elon Musk that the tariffs will still have a ‘significant’ impact on his company.

Beyond the stock market reaction, industry analysts predict the tariffs could add thousands of dollars to the cost of vehicles, further straining American consumers already facing high inflation. The tariffs are expected to increase vehicle prices, with estimates suggesting an average rise of US$4,400 per new car.

The Center for Automotive Research previously projected that such tariffs could lead to a reduction of approximately 2 million in US new vehicle sales and result in the loss of nearly 714,700 jobs.

‘The tariffs imposed today will make it more expensive to produce and sell cars in the United States, ultimately leading to higher prices, fewer options for consumers, and fewer manufacturing jobs in the US,’ said Jennifer Safavian, president and CEO of Autos Drive America, in a recent statement.

International backlash and retaliation threats

Key US allies, including Canada, Japan, South Korea and the European Union, swiftly condemned the move from the Trump administration and signaled potential retaliatory actions.

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen described the tariffs as ‘bad for businesses, worse for consumers,’ while Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney called them a ‘direct attack’ on Canadian workers.

‘We will defend our workers, we will defend our companies, we will defend our country and we will defend it together,’ Carney stated. He has also said Canada’s old relationship with the US is ‘over.’

Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba said Tokyo is considering ‘all options’ in response to the new tariffs, and South Korea announced plans to implement an emergency response for its auto industry by early April.

Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva also criticized the move, warning that it could lead to inflation in the US and damage global economic stability. ‘Protectionism doesn’t help any country in the world,’ Lula said at a press conference in Tokyo, vowing to file a complaint with the World Trade Organization.

Trump, however, has remained defiant.

In an Oval Office statement, he defended the tariffs as a necessary step to curb what he described as foreign nations ‘taking our jobs, taking our wealth, taking a lot of the things that they’ve been taking over the years.’

He warned that if Canada and the EU retaliate, the US will respond with even ‘larger-scale tariffs.’

In a post on Truth Social, Trump stated, ‘If the European Union works with Canada in order to do economic harm to the USA, large-scale tariffs, far larger than currently planned, will be placed on them both in order to protect the best friend that each of those two countries has ever had.’

Auto industry divided on tariffs

While many automakers and trade groups have voiced opposition to the new tariffs, the United Auto Workers (UAW) union, an American union with over 400,000 active members, has applauded the move.

‘These tariffs are a major step in the right direction for autoworkers and blue-collar communities across the country, and it is now on the automakers, from the Big Three to Volkswagen and beyond, to bring back good union jobs to the U.S.,’ UAW President Shawn Fain said in a statement released on Wednesday.

Some foreign automakers have already announced plans to expand their US operations in an attempt to mitigate the impact of the tariffs. For example, Hyundai recently pledged to invest US$21 billion in the US over the next four years, including a new steel production facility in Louisiana.

Mercedes-Benz Group (OTC Pink:MBGAF,ETR:MBG) has indicated it will expand operations in Alabama, though it remains unclear how significantly these moves will offset the broader economic impact.

What comes next?

Trump’s auto tariff decision is the latest in a string of aggressive trade measures since his return to office.

Earlier this year, he announced tariffs on Canada and Mexico over their alleged roles in allowing fentanyl into the US; in addition to that, Trump has imposed new duties on Chinese imports, and has hinted at an upcoming reciprocal tariff policy that would match the import taxes of other countries.

Trade officials around the world are preparing potential countermeasures. The European Union is reportedly considering tariffs on US agricultural exports, while Canada is exploring retaliatory duties on American goods.

The move also raises questions about Trump’s long-term economic strategy.

While his administration argues that tariffs will encourage companies to bring production back to the US, many economists believe the costs will ultimately be passed on to American consumers and businesses.

For now, the global auto industry is bracing for uncertainty, with markets watching closely for further retaliatory measures and potential negotiations to mitigate the immediate impact of the tariffs.

Securities Disclosure: I, Giann Liguid, hold no direct investment interest in any company mentioned in this article.

This post appeared first on investingnews.com

It’s been 30 years, but Dr. Gladys Kalema-Zikusoka still remembers the first time she ever saw a mountain gorilla.

It was the summer of 1994. Deep in the jungle of Uganda’s Bwindi Impenetrable National Park, the then-23-year-old student was hundreds of miles from her home in the country’s capital, Kampala.

Bwindi is one of only two places in the world where mountain gorillas live, and after graduating from the Royal Veterinary College in London, Kalema-Zikusoka had her heart set on seeing the great apes. For the first week of her month-long placement, she’d been stuck at base camp with a terrible cold, unable to join the jungle treks, with her frustration and anticipation rising every day.

Finally, after what felt like endless waiting, Kalema-Zikusoka was cleared to hike.

Pushing through tangled vines and roots in the thick forest, she could hear bubbling waterfalls, birds squawking, and chimpanzees hooting. But gorillas, she says, are silent.

“You don’t hear them, but you see their trails as you’re walking,” says Kalema-Zikusoka. “You can be looking for them, thinking will I ever see them? Then suddenly — they’re there. It’s such a magical feeling.”

Sitting in a forest clearing was a silverback gorilla, called Kacupira.

“When I got to see Kacupira, having wanted to see gorillas for so long — suddenly this gorilla was sitting there chewing on a piece of bark, and I was like, ‘wow,’” recalls Kalema-Zikusoka, now 55.

“I looked into his very intelligent brown eyes, and I felt a really deep connection. He was just willing to let us into his presence, and not at all threatening.”

After this encounter, Kalema-Zikusoka decided to stay at Bwindi. Her one-month summer placement turned into three decades of conservation work at the park, where she became the nation’s first wildlife veterinarian in 1996. With her help, Bwindi’s gorilla population grew from less than 300 to 459, and the subspecies is no longer critically endangered, according to the IUCN Red List.

“The mountain gorillas have really shaped my life,” says Kalema-Zikusoka. And in turn, “the gorillas have really transformed Uganda, and brought Ugandan conservation and tourism back on the map.”

A violent history

For millennia, mountain gorillas roamed across the forests of Uganda, Rwanda, and the Democratic Republic of Congo.

But in the last 100 years, rampant deforestation, poaching, and conflicts have left them on the brink of extinction, clinging to just two surviving habitats: Bwindi and the Virungas.

In the 1970s, Uganda’s gorillas faced another existential threat. The eight-year dictatorship of Idi Amin — who was known as the “Butcher of Uganda” for his brutality — devastated the country, killing up to 300,000 people, destroying land and resources, and slaughtering much of the nation’s wildlife.

Kalema-Zikusoka was just two years old at the time of the military coup, and her father was a minister in the government that was overthrown by Amin.

“When Amin came into power, my dad was one of the first victims,” she recalls. “He was abducted when he was taking a relative back home; he was followed by a vehicle, and never seen again.”

Growing up in political turmoil, Kalema-Zikusoka found solace with her many household pets: her older siblings often rescued stray cats and dogs, who became her companions, and she decided at “a very young age” that she wanted to be a veterinarian. It was her neighbor’s pet monkey, Poncho, that sparked her interest in primates: the mischievous creature would sneak in through the window and pull the dog’s tail, steal food, and even plunk keys on the piano.

As a teenager, Kalema-Zikusoka joined her school’s wildlife club, and on a field trip to Queen Elizabeth National Park she saw firsthand how little wildlife remained, even in conservation areas. “I started thinking to myself, why can’t I become a vet who brings back the wildlife to Uganda?”

While Kalema-Zikusoka’s veterinarian studies took her to the UK, she always planned to return to Uganda and build on the work of her father.

“When I was old enough to understand what had happened to him, I felt like I wanted to continue his dream, his legacy, of a prosperous Uganda, through my passion for wildlife.”

Health for all

Less than a year after Kalema-Zikusoka began working at Bwindi, there was an outbreak of an unknown skin disease among the gorillas: they were losing hair and developing white, scaly skin. Kalema-Zikusoka consulted with a doctor friend, who told her about the human disease scabies, common at the time among low-income communities in rural Uganda.

After chimpanzees and bonobos, gorillas are our closest genetic relatives, sharing around 98.4% of their DNA with humans. This genetic similarity also makes gorillas vulnerable to many of the same diseases as humans.

Kalema-Zikusoka and the team tracked down the afflicted gorilla family: it was Kacupira’s group, the gentle giant she had met on her first trek. Many of the apes were extremely unwell, including a baby gorilla that, despite medical interventions, died.

“This made me realize that you couldn’t protect the gorillas without improving the health of their human neighbors,” she says.

Bwindi is located in one of Uganda’s most densely populated rural regions, leaving limited space for a buffer zone. Instead, farmland and villages are pressed up against its borders. The park is also relatively small — at just 321 square kilometers (123 square miles), it is just 2% of the size of the 14,700-square-kilometer (5,600-square-mile) Serengeti in Tanzania — which puts further pressure on its borders and resources and increases the likelihood of human-gorilla interactions.

To help remedy the situation Kalema-Zikusoka founded Conservation Through Public Health (CTPH) in 2003, a non-profit that has worked with around 10,000 households around the national park to improve the community’s health and well-being.

Local farmers are trained to safely herd gorillas back to the forest when they venture onto community land, and a network of village health teams educates families on ways to improve hygiene and reduce the spread of disease.

And now that the gorilla population is growing, so is tourism in the area: 27 gorilla families are now habituated to people, and the number of “gorilla tourists” in Uganda has risen from around 1,300 in 1993 to almost 39,000 in 2023.

It’s improved the well-being of villagers living near the park, says Joshua Masereka, the community conservation warden at Uganda Wildlife Authority. “When tourists come to this place, there’s more money and therefore more benefits, more jobs, more opportunities, more developments,” he says, adding that the park allocates 20% of its revenue to community projects, such as building schools and roads.

CTPH is one of the wildlife authority’s “prime partners” and has been pivotal to the conservation work at the park, says Masereka. “Gladys, I think she’s born with conservation in her blood. If you go through the life of her family, how she was brought up, she was brought up in that life of being a conservationist and I think she’ll die a conservationist.”

Kalema-Zikusoka’s dedication has inspired others in the community into action. Born and raised around Bwindi, Alex Ngabirano worked for CTPH for 15 years, before starting his own non-profit organization, Mubare Biodiversity, which focuses on reforming poachers around the park. Gorillas are rarely poached intentionally, but subsistence hunters looking to put food on the table sometimes go after pigs or antelope in the forest, and accidentally snare or spear gorillas in the process.

By educating the local community on the benefits of gorilla tourism, Ngabirano and his team have convinced more than 300 former poachers to give up their tools, and are now retraining them as rangers, guides, and farmers.

“Dr. Gladys has done amazing work in Bwindi community. She’s the first person to introduce the one health approach in this area,” says Ngabirano. “The (community) started understanding that in the future, their children will become rangers and guides, all those jobs associated with conservation and tourism activities.”

Kalema-Zikusoka’s conservation efforts have been recognized internationally, too: she is a National Geographic explorer, and her many accolades include the Whitley Gold Award in 2009, the Leopold Award in 2020, and the Tällberg-SNF-Eliasson Global Leadership Prize in 2022.

And her hard work continues to show in the expanding gorilla population: in the last two months alone, three baby gorillas were born in the forest.

“I always get very excited when I hear that a baby mountain gorilla has been born,” says Kalema-Zokusoka. “It gives me hope that the numbers are continuing to grow. It means that we’re bringing the gorillas back from the brink of extinction.”

This post appeared first on cnn.com

India has emerged as a growing player in the illicit fentanyl trade, a new US intelligence report says, a designation likely to raise alarm in New Delhi as President Donald Trump wields tariffs on countries he accuses of not doing enough to stop the deadly drug from flowing into the United States.

Fentanyl, a powerful synthetic opioid that can be 100 times more potent than morphine, is the most common drug involved in overdose deaths in the US – fueling an opioid crisis that has become a high-priority issue for the Trump administration.

For many years, China has been the largest source of both legal supplies of the drug – which is prescribed for severe pain relief – and illicit supplies of precursor chemicals that are typically processed in labs in Mexico before the final product is smuggled across the US border.

But India’s role in the illegal trade is becoming more prominent, according to the 2025 Annual Threat Assessment (ATA) report published by the Office of the Director of National Intelligence this month.

“Nonstate groups are often enabled, both directly and indirectly, by state actors, such as China and India as sources of precursors and equipment for drug traffickers,” the report said.

“China remains the primary source country for illicit fentanyl precursor chemicals and pill pressing equipment, followed by India.”

Last year’s ATA report named India as among countries other than China where Mexican cartels were sourcing precursor chemicals to a “lesser extent.” The 2023 report made no mention of India in relation to fentanyl.

India is a global leader in generic drug manufacturing, supplying a significant portion of the world’s vaccines and medicines. It has a pharmaceutical industry so large, it is often referred to as the “Pharmacy of the World.” But the industry has been marred by controversy, raising concerns about regulation and quality control.

Days later, the US Department of Justice indicted three top executives from a Hyderabad-based pharmaceutical company for allegedly importing ingredients used to make illicit fentanyl.

The report comes at a delicate time for India as it mounts a case to avoid US tariffs.

The US was India’s largest trading partner in 2024, accounting for almost $120 billion in trade, yet India only ranked tenth in the list of US trading partners for the same year.

Indian economist and researcher Soumya Bhowmik said the ATA report “may introduce complexities in India-US relations,” and could “open the door for tougher rhetoric and potentially even targeted tariffs.”

Earlier this month, the Trump administration enacted tariffs against the US’ top three trading partners: China, Mexico and Canada, saying the levies of up to 25% were necessary to stem the flow of fentanyl into the US.

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi visited Washington in February, where he spoke with Trump about a range of issues from defense and technology to trade and economic growth.

The two leaders “resolved to expand trade and investment to make their citizens more prosperous, nations stronger, economies more innovative and supply chains more resilient,” a joint statement from that meeting said.

A Washington delegation is currently in New Delhi for trade talks.

India has “proactively undertaken measures to respond to potential trade tensions and mitigate the impact of impending US tariffs,” said Bhowmik, including a proposal to remove import duties on goods essential for manufacturing.

The ATA report also “highlights the critical importance of collaborative efforts between (the US and India) to address the global opioid crisis,” Bhowmik said.

This post appeared first on cnn.com

A former police officer who fatally Tasered a 95-year-old Australian woman after she refused his orders to drop a knife has been spared jail, with the victim’s family decrying the sentence as a “slap on the wrist.”

Kristian White was found guilty of manslaughter after shocking Clare Nowland with the Taser while on police duty in the early hours of May 17, 2023, in a case that sparked public outcry.

Last November, a jury rejected his claim that Nowland posed a threat and found the former senior constable guilty of breaching his duty of care by deploying his weapon against the elderly woman, who later died of her injuries.

Sentencing White on Friday, New South Wales Supreme Court Justice Ian Harrison said the former officer’s actions were “a terrible mistake,” but that his crime fell at the lower end of objective seriousness.

Police were called to Nowland’s nursing home in Cooma – about 70 miles south of the capital Canberra – after the great-grandmother, who was showing signs of dementia, refused repeated requests by staff to surrender knives she was holding and return to her room.

After responding to the call-out, White spent about three minutes trying to convince Nowland to put down a steak knife, before saying, “Nah, bugger it,” and deploying his Taser.

Nowland, who had a walking aid, fell and hit her head, fracturing her skull. She died in hospital a week later, surrounded by family.

White was sentenced to a community corrections order for a period of two years, and 425 hours of community service. The order allows convicted criminals to serve their sentence in the community under some restrictions, such as curfews and alcohol bans.

Harrison said in his sentencing that a jail term was not necessary given White had already lost his job and become an “unwelcome member” of the Cooma community as a result of his actions.

Furthermore, he said, White does not represent a risk to the community or of reoffending. He said imposing community service work would be an “appropriate and adequate method” of meeting the sentencing conditions of punishment.

White had served as a police officer for 12 years before being removed from his position following his conviction.

The ‘axis’ of the family

Nowland’s eldest son, Michael, told reporters outside the court in Sydney that the verdict was “really disappointing for the family” and was “a slap on the wrist for someone that’s killed our mother.”

“It’s very, very hard to process that,” he told reporters.

Over the course of the trial, some of Nowland’s children and grandchildren read victim statements to the court, describing her as the “axis” of the family.

She had raised eight children alone but also had made time for others in her community, they said. Nowland also had dozens of grandchildren and great-grandchildren.

Michael Nowland told the court in February of his “shock, disbelief and anger” at hearing what had happened to her.

“I could not process how a normal human being, let alone a police officer, could possibly perform such an inappropriate and inhumane act on a frail, 95-year-old lady who weighed 47 kilos (103 pounds),” Michael Nowland said.

Gemma Murphy, Clare Nowland’s daughter, said she’d be forever haunted by the former officer’s bodycam video, that showed the moment he deployed the Taser on her mother.

“The irreverent footage of my mother’s last moments has left an indelible mark on my psyche. It is a grotesque image that I cannot erase, made even more unbearable by the echoes of Kristian White’s words – ‘Nah, bugger it’ and ‘got her.’”

“The utter disregard (White) displayed for my mum in her time of need and care will forever echo in my ears,” she said.

Several of Nowland’s relatives told of their distress at the media coverage, with one of her daughters, Jennifer Jordan, describing how her mother, a “humble, independent person,” would have been “mortified” by the large attendance at her funeral.

White ‘misread’ the situation, judge rules

White was one of two police officers called to the Yallambee Lodge nursing home by staff who asked for help with a resident who was holding two knives.

While the deployment of a Taser was unlawful and dangerous, Justice Harrison ruled that White made “an error of judgment” and that his actions were motivated by an “honest but mistaken and unreasonable belief about the existence and nature of the threat that was posed.”

“The simple but tragic fact would seem to me to be that Mr. White completely, and on one available view inexplicably, misread and misunderstood the dynamics of the situation,” Harrison said.

In a letter to Nowland’s family provided to the court, White apologized and expressed regret.

“I deeply regret my actions and the severe consequences they have caused, to not only Mrs. Nowland, but also to your family and the greater community,” White wrote. “I understand that my actions were adjudged to be wrong and have caused great harm not only to Mrs. Nowland, but also the emotional pain it caused to others, and for that, I am truly sorry.”

White’s defense lawyer Warwick Anderson told reporters outside court Friday that the former officer’s family were “very relieved” at the outcome, according to public broadcaster ABC.

“They’re now going to take their time and move on with their lives,” Anderson said.

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A powerful 7.7 earthquake hit central Myanmar on Friday, close to the country’s second city of Mandalay, home to around 1 million people and historic temple complexes, with tremors shaking buildings as far away as the Thai capital of Bangkok.

Video posted online from both countries showed panicked residents running from swaying residential towers as dust fills the air, and traffic comes to a sudden stop on busy city streets.

Myanmar is already reeling from more than four years of civil war sparked by a bloody and economically destructive military coup, with has seen military forces battle rebel groups across the country. It remains one of Asia’s poorest nations and is ill-equipped to deal with major natural disasters.

“We saw other people running out of the buildings too. It was very sudden and very strong.”

Another resident said phone networks in the city home to around 8 million people were briefly down following the quake but were now running again.

The epicenter was in nearby Sagaing region, which has been ravaged by the civil war, with the junta, pro-military militia and rebel groups battling for control and all running checkpoints, making travel by road or river extremely difficult.

A resident in Thailand’s northern city of Chiang Mai, who also did not want to be named, said “I felt it for about ten seconds in my room then I figured out I couldn’t stay inside. So I rushed out on to the street.

Tremors were also felt in China’s southwestern Yunnan province, according to Xinhua.

This is a developing story and will be updated.

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