Stock Market Live July 7: S&P 500 (VOO) Dives on Tariff, Debt, and “America Party” Worries

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  • President Trump signed the Big, Beautiful Bill into law over the July 4 weekend.

  • The President also promised multiple trade agreements will be signed this week.

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9:38 am

Tesla stock is reacting negatively to news of Elon Musk’s political ambitions. President Trump called the idea of starting a third party “ridiculous,” and investors seem to agree. Shares of the EV leader are down 7.8%.

The Voo opened 0.3% lower, and remains at that level.

This article will be updated throughout the day, so check back often for more daily updates.

It sounded like good news, but the stock market is reacting like it’s bad news: Over the weekend, President Trump and Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick told reporters that tariffs — delayed by “90 days” three months ago — will in fact not “go into effect” until August 1. And for some countries, they may not go into effect at all!

Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent told CNBC this morning that the U.S. is in the process of signing several trade agreements with foreign countries, which may avoid or diminish the tariffs first announced in April. Other trade partners are being peppered with “letters” from the President urging them to “move things along” and get trade deals finalized soonest.

Offsetting this optimism, however, the President warned over the weekend that he might impose a new 10% tariff on countries with “anti-American policies.” In other news, the President signed his “big, beautiful bill” on July 4, setting the stage for further deficit spending and higher national debt. And the President continues to feud with Elon Musk, who announced over the weekend that he will form and back a new “America Party” to compete in elections with the established Democratic and Republican blocs.

Attempting to digest all this news, the Vanguard S&P 500 ETF (NYSEMKT: VOO) is trading down 0.3% pre-market.

Analyst Calls

Wall Street is rushing back to work after the long holiday weekend. This morning, Raymond James upgraded shares of S&P 500 component company US Bancorp (NYSE: USB) to strong buy with a $57 price target. “We have increasing confidence that the bank will reach its targeted medium-term profitability metrics, driven by 200+ bp of positive operating leverage this year and 150+ bp of positive operating leverage in 2026,” said RJ.

In less positive news, Barclays Capital downgraded a pair of insurance companies this morning. Chubb Corporation (NYSE: CB) and Travelers (NYSE: TRV), both S&P 500 component companies, are both cut to equalweight.

William Blair downgraded Tesla (NYSE: TSLA) stock to market perform after the big, beautiful bill (see above) called for the $7,500 tax credit on new electric vehicle sales to terminate sooner than expected, on September 30, 2025. Moreover, the bill eliminates the need for traditional automakers to purchase clean energy credits from Tesla, eliminating a $2 billion-a-year high-margin revenue stream that Tesla has come to depend upon.

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