The third anniversary of the bull market took an unexpected turn on Friday as President Donald Trump’s latest comments on China sent shockwaves through financial markets, erasing 2% from the S&P 500 in a single trading session. What was expected to be a modest celebration of America’s longest stretch of market gains in a decade quickly transformed into another episode of geopolitical brinkmanship, this time over the world’s most strategic resources: rare earth metals and a fresh round of Chinese import restrictions .

Investors entered Friday morning with cautious optimism. The S&P 500 had drifted higher for much of the week, setting fresh record highs along the way. But by midday, sentiment had shifted sharply after Trump issued a lengthy Truth Social post stating, among other things,

See Full Page