21 May 2025 Market Close & Major Financial Headlines: Wall Street’s Wild Ride With Political Uncertainty and Soaring Yields Trigger Massive Sell-Off
Summary Of the Markets Today:
The Dow closed down 817 points or 1.91%,
NASDAQ closed down 270 points or 1.41%,
S&P 500 closed down 96 points or 1.61%,
Gold $3,322 up $37.00 or 1.13%,
WTI crude oil settled at $61 down $0.67 or 1.08%,
10-year U.S. Treasury 4.595 up 0.114 points or 2.544%,
USD index 99.64 down 0.47 points or 0.47%,
Bitcoin $108,668 up $1,945 or 1.79%, (24 Hours), (New Bitcoin Historic high 109,709)
*Stock data, cryptocurrency, and commodity prices at the market closing
Today’s Highlights – Market Summary
On May 21, 2025, U.S. stock markets experienced a sharp decline as mounting concerns over fiscal stability, surging Treasury yields, and political uncertainty weighed on investor sentiment. The sell-off was triggered by several factors: persistent infighting among Congressional Republicans over President Donald Trump’s proposed tax-cut bill, which raised doubts about fiscal discipline; the recent Moody’s downgrade of U.S. sovereign debt, stripping the nation of its last perfect credit rating and intensifying worries about the federal deficit and debt servicing costs, and a weak 20-year Treasury auction that sent yields on the 10-year and 30-year notes to multi-year highs, further pressuring equities. Technology stocks, particularly NVIDIA, led the losses as higher yields reduced the appeal of future profits. Additional market volatility stemmed from disappointing earnings at Target, renewed U.S.-China semiconductor tensions, and a major Bloomberg terminal outage affecting traders early in the day. In contrast, Bitcoin hit a new all-time high above $109,000 before retreating, and Alphabet shares surged nearly 5% on optimism following AI announcements at Google I/O.
Read the May 2025 Economic Forecast: The Supply Chain Shock And A Recession This Year
Today’s Economic Releases Compiled by Steven Hansen, Publisher:
no releases today
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EURUSD: What the News Reported After the Fact -- and What Our Subscribers Knew in Advance
Over the past six months, major currency markets have seen some dramatic moves.
Mainstream financial media has largely pointed to two key drivers:
The 2024 U.S. presidential election
The Federal Reserv
These explanations may seem logical in hindsight. But markets rarely move in neat correlation with headlines. A more useful question might be: Who was tracking these moves before they happened?
Take EURUSD -- the world's most actively traded currency pair. From October 2024 to mid-January 2025, the pair declined sharply, reaching a 14-month low.
Elliott Wave International's September 2024 Global Market Perspective (GMP) noted that a B wave peak was likely in place, and it projected a downward C wave to follow. That analysis came well before the U.S. election on November 5.
Then on November 1, just days before the vote, GMP called for "significant weakness" in EURUSD. That same day, EWI's Short Term Update (STU) identified that "the trend is down." This wasn't based on political speculation -- it was based on market patterns we've studied for decades.
Fast-forward to January: on the 3rd, GMP anticipated a major reversal in EURUSD. Ten days later, on January 13, STU called for "a multi-month rally" -- which began the very same day.
As prices climbed into February and March, STU kept subscribers informed of short-term pullbacks and the larger upward trend. And ahead of another sharp move on April 21, financial headlines once again turned to political themes.
Yet on April 16, STU had already flagged a notable sentiment shift and the potential for a downturn.
The takeaway? While news tends to explain moves after they happen, EWI's analysis focuses on anticipating them -- using Elliott wave patterns and market behavior.
See What’s Next for Key Currency Pairs
Join EWI Senior Currency Strategist Michael Madden on Thursday, May 22 at 1PM Eastern for a real-time look at the Elliott wave patterns in the U.S. dollar -- and what they might mean for major currency pairs in the days ahead. There are two ways to attend the live session.
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Weather Outlook for the United States and the World – Continuously Updated
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Dow slides more than 800 points as spiking Treasury yields and deficit fears spur a sell-off: Live updates
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The Republican spending bill is sending yields soaring and creating a major market headache
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Trump administration formally accepts gift jet from Qatar
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Schiff: Strong Dollar Or Exports? Pick One...
Via SchiffGold.com,
Last week, Peter joined Glenn Diesen for an interview on the post-trade deal economy. Peter takes on the myths surrounding Trump’s trade war with China, the real impact of tariffs on Americans, and where he sees the dollar heading as the world’s reserve currency. He explains why the perceived victories of protectionist trade policy are little more than marketing stunts, and warns about the risks of continued US borrowing and a potential dollar crisis.
Peter opens with his signature candor, cutting through the narratives around Trump’s approach to China and the broader trade war. He stresses that Americans have been misled about the true causes of trade deficits and the effectiveness of tariffs:
Well, first of all, Trump declared war and then surrendered and called it a victory. You know, the victory is that he saved us from ourselves, although it� ...
SBA Overhauling Biden-Era Loan Program Following High Default Rates
Authored by Naveen Athrappully via The Epoch Times (emphasis ours),
The Small Business Administration (SBA) is overhauling a Biden-era lending initiative, citing its “alarmingly high rates” of loan default, the agency said in a May 19 statement.
Signage thanking customers for shopping at a small business. Tim Mossholder/Unsplash.com
The Community Advantage Small Business Lending Company program was designed to issue 7(a) loans to “underserved communities,” the SBA said. In the 7(a) loan program, the government offers loan guarantees to lenders, which allows the loan providers to advance credit to small businesses with spec ...
China Demands US Scrap Golden Dome Missile Defense System As It Will 'Turn Space Into A Battlefield'
China has reacted fiercely to President Trump's newly unveiled plans to develop a cutting edge massive missile defense system to cover the entire territory of the United States, dubbed the "Golden Dome" - and which would utilize space.
The plan is for space-based interceptors to be able to shoot down the most advanced missiles in the world. Trump touted that the hugely ambitious project would cost $175 billion and would be completed within three years; however, the Congressional Budget Office anticipates a price tag of $500 billion over 20 years. An allotted $25 billion for next year's budget will kick off the construction.
Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson Mao Ning reacted Wednesday saying China is "gravely concerned" as the Golden Dome will "exacerbate the risk of turning outer space into a battlefield" and likely start arms race which will redefine the global order and international security system.
FDA No Longer Recommends COVID Vaccine For Healthy Babies
Via Headline USA,
The U.S. government no longer recommends the COVID-19 vaccine for healthy babies thanks to new guidelines from the Trump administration, which said Tuesday it will limit approval for seasonal COVID-19 shots to seniors and others at high risk pending more data on everyone else.
Top officials for the Food and Drug Administration laid out new standards for updated COVID shots, saying they’d continue to use a streamlined approach to make them available to adults 65 and older as well as children and younger adults with at least one high-risk health problem.
But the FDA framework, published Tuesday in the New England Journal of Medicine, urges companies to conduct large, lengthy studies before tweaked vaccines can be approved for healthier people.
Previously, federal policy recommended an annual COVID shot for all Ame ...
Do EU Sanctions Still Have Enough Weight To Hurt Russia?
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Is Freight Decarbonisation Viable?
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Tariff Uncertainty Fuels Copper Price Volatility
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EIA Reports Crude, Product Builds All Around
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Solar Power Set to Surpass Nuclear Generation This Summer
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CATL Predicts Major Shift to Electric Trucks in China
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