Seeking Alpha’s roundup of statements, announcements, and remarks that could impact markets, sectors, or individual stocks.
- Bridgewater Associates founder Ray Dalio said President Trump’s aggressive foreign policy tactics could end up scaring off investors from buying U.S. assets.
“On the other side of trade deficits and trade wars, there are capital and capital wars,” Dalio told CNBC at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland. “If you take the conflicts, you can’t ignore the possibility of the capital wars. In other words, maybe there’s not the same inclination to buy U.S. debt and so on.”
Dalio added he is worried that countries with significant holdings of U.S. dollars and Treasurys will be less inclined to finance American deficits amid escalating geopolitical tensions.
“We know that both the holders of U.S. dollars are denominated … and those who need it, the United States, are worried about each other. Right? So if you have other countries who are holding it, and they’re worried about each other, and we’re producing a lot of it, that’s a big issue,” Dalio said.
- Amazon (AMZN) CEO Andy Jassy said higher U.S. tariffs are beginning to be reflected in the prices of certain goods sold through its website.
Jassy attributed the rise to merchants exhausting inventories pre-purchased ahead of the tariffs.
“So you start to see some of the tariffs creep into some of the prices, some of the items, and you see some sellers are deciding that they’re passing on those higher costs to consumers in the form of higher prices, some are deciding that they’ll absorb it to drive demand, and some are doing something in between,” Jassy told CNBC at the Davos summit. “I think you’re starting to see more of that impact.”
- Novartis (NVS) CEO Vas Narasimhan said he believes the Swiss company’s trade deal with the Trump administration, which calls for Novartis to invest $23B in U.S. operations, will likely shield it from U.S. tariffs on pharmaceuticals.
“We expect to be in a position by middle of this year where we are not really exposed to tariffs because we’re able to produce in the U.S. for the U.S. We have inventory on hand,” Narasimhan told CNBC at Davos.
“We also have an agreement with the U.S. government that excludes us from any tariffs, we think, but in case that were not to be the case, we’re also future-proofed in the other direction as well,” Narasimhan added.