Even if you don't follow the stock market closely, you probably saw headlines about how the major indexes (Dow Jones, S&P 500, and Nasdaq) suffered significant declines on April 3 and 4, 2025, the two trading days after Trump's tariff announcement. In this post, I argue that far from being a "healthy correction", the declines we saw in major US stock indexes from the afternoon of April 2 through the close on April 4 are actually very unusual and possibly a troubling sign of what's to come. Therefore, in my unprofessional opinion, investors should exercise extreme caution before buying significantly into US stocks in the near future. Although I have my own political biases (anti-Trump) that certainly color my analysis (as does everyone), I will try to keep this post as focused on objective data as possible. The Lead-Up As near as I can tell, the actual "announcement" of Liberation Day tariffs took place the morning of March 21, a couple hours a...