Good morning!

The first shots have been fired by President Trump in his tariff war, and they have already had major implications for the markets and the economy. Here's what's happening this week...

• It's another huge week for earnings, with more than 650 companies reporting, including the final two members of the Magnificent 7 tech stocks. This morning, Toyota, Merck, PepsiCo, and Pfizer report, with after-hours numbers due from Alphabet (Google), AMD, and Amgen. Wednesday earnings are up for Novo Nordisk, Alibaba Group, Walt Disney, QUALCOMM, ARM Holding, Boston Scientific, and Uber, followed Thursday by Amazon, Eli Lilly, Philip Morris, Honeywell, Bristol-Myers, and ConocoPhillips. Friday is light for recognizable names, with earnings due from Kimco Realty and Cboe Global. *

• The markets started shaky this week from the buzz of President Trump's tariff announcements. Last Saturday, he signed orders imposing 25% tariffs on goods imported from Canada and Mexico, and a new 10% tariff on goods from China. The energy industry gets a break with a 10% tariff on crude oil imported from Canada. Canada, the largest exporter of crude oil to the United States, pipes most of it to refineries in the Midwest. Stocks pared some of their earlier declines Monday following news that Mexico President Claudia Sheinbaum has agreed to deploy 10,000 troops to the U.S border and, in return, has won a one-month reprieve on tariffs. Goldman Sachs cautioned the potential impact for U.S stocks on Trump's proposed tariffs, suggesting the potential for a 5% pullback for the S&P 500 from current levels. **

• The U.S. employment report for December is released Friday. Forecasters expect an addition of 195,000 payroll jobs and for the unemployment rate to hold steady at 4.1%. While the job market has exhibited surprising strength with strong job growth and a decrease in the unemployment rate, analysts still caution that a slowdown in job growth or an increase in the unemployment rate to 4.3% or higher could lead to a significant reevaluation of potential Federal Reserve rate cuts this year. *** 

The financial advisors at Miramontes Capital diligently keep up with anything that can impact our clients' finances and tap into more than 175 years of combined investment experience. We do our all to keep your money protected and growing. If you think you might benefit from our financial experience and oversight, contact us today for a FREE, no-obligation consultation. Just call (800) 460-1595. Until next week...

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