Hi ,

This week has been quite a rollercoaster for the stock markets.

In my previous email, I mentioned that Trump would likely pull back or pause on his trade policies, especially under the pretext that countries that don’t retaliate might get preferential treatment. As expected, he did ease off, but not because of the crashing stock market.

What really made him act was something else: the sharp rise in U.S. government bond interest rates, also called the 10-year Treasury yield. It went up from around 4% to 4.45%, which is a big jump in a short time.

That’s unusual. When markets get shaky, investors normally buy government bonds for safety, which makes interest rates go down. But this time, the opposite happened—people were selling government bonds, causing rates to go up.

Why does that matter?

Because this interest rate affects things like:

• Home loan rates
• Car loans
• Credit card interest
• The borrowing costs for big companies

And one possible reason for the sell-off is that China (which owns a lot of U.S. government bonds) may have sold some into the market. There’s no proof yet, but if true, it could add pressure to the U.S. financial system.

So what can we do now?

Let’s remember: markets have been through many crises before, like:

• The dot-com crash in the early 2000s
• The global financial crisis in 2008
• The COVID market crash in 2020

Each time, markets:

• Swung wildly up and down
• Made people panic
• Got a lot of scary news headlines

Here are 2 key lessons from past market crashes:

Stay Rational & Stay The Course

• Don’t get distracted by noise (like tariff debates).

Never Underestimate Wall Street or Policymakers

• The Fed and policymakers usually step in to stabilize markets, often influenced by pressure from major financial players.

Final thought:

History shows that markets do recover, though the path is rarely smooth. This might be a good time to review your portfolio, stay diversified, and keep a long-term view.

If you want to chat more or have any questions, feel free to reach out.

Best Regards,

Zest Chia

Executive Wealth Consultant | Associate Estate Planning Practitioner |

Licensed General Insurance Advisory

DISCLAIMER;

This message contains privileged and confidential information from Infinity Financial Advisory Pte Ltd. If you are not the intended recipient of this electronic message, please do not disseminate, copy or take any action in reliance on it. We request you notify us immediately before deleting this message. Any views expressed in this message or attachment/s are those of the individual sender and are not necessarily the views of the company. Infinity Financial Advisory Pte Ltd uses virus scanning software and while due care and attention is taken; the company excludes all liability for any loss or damage caused whether directly or indirectly by any computer virus or other defects transmitted with any email and any attachment(s), to the extent permitted by law. It is sent on the strict condition that the user carries out and relies on its own procedures for ensuring that its use will not interfere with the recipient's systems including but not limited to scanning this email and any attachment(s) for viruses and defects before opening or sending them on. The recipient assumes all risk of use and releases the sender from all responsibility and liability for any direct or indirect consequence of use.