By Medha Singh and Ananya Mariam Rajesh
(Reuters) – Tesla (NASDAQ: ), prison operators and other notable “Trump businesses” were volatile on Tuesday as investors weighed a blitz of executive orders from President Donald Trump hours after his inauguration.
Trump outlined sweeping plans to increase oil production, crack down on immigration and impose tariffs at the start of his second term as US president on Monday.
Some “Trump trades,” or bets on what the president will do, rose on Tuesday, while others fell as investors braced for more volatility under Trump 2.0.
TRUMP MEDIA & TECHNOLOGY GROUP
Shares of Trump Media & Technology Group, the parent of the president’s social media and streaming company Truth Social, fell 11.7% after a strong build-up to Inauguration Day. Trump Media shares, largely favored by retail investors when betting on a Trump presidency, now face competition from the newly launched eponymous “memecoin,” which has jumped to more than $15 billion in value just a day after its launch. “When DJT originally went public, it was one of the only ways to directly show Trump’s enthusiasm in the markets, but now, especially with the issuance of $TRUMP and $MELANIA crypto, there are multiple assets that investors can put capital into,” he said. is Michael Schulman, Chief Investment Officer at Running Point Capital.
ELON MUSK-LED TESLA
Tesla shares fell 2.8%, erasing its pre-market gains. The stock has surged 70% since the Nov. 5 presidential election as investors pinned their hopes on CEO Elon Musk’s growing ties to Trump and his role in the new administration to help the automaker.
Musk, who cheered Trump’s return to the White House in a speech during the president’s inauguration on Monday, will lead the Department of Government Efficiency, a commission tasked with finding ways to cut government spending.
ENERGY COMPANY
“We’re going to drill, baby, we’re going to drill,” Trump said Monday as he laid out a plan to maximize US oil and gas production by declaring a national energy emergency, scrapping redundant regulations and withdrawing the US from an international pact to combat climate change. Shares of some major oil companies and top oilfield services companies rose, with Schlumberger (NYSE: ) up 1.7% and Kinder Morgan (NYSE: ) 2.2%.
NUCLEAR STOCKS
Nuclear shares rose as investors cheered Trump’s pick of Chris Wright to be Energy Secretary. Wright has promised to prioritize nuclear and liquefied petroleum gas production as part of his plan to increase US energy production.
Vistra rose 4%, NuScale Power rose 10%, while Sam Altman-backed nuclear startup Oklo Inc added 12.4%.
PRISON OPERATORS
Shares of immigration detention center operators GEO Group and CoreCivic (NYSE: ) fell less than 1%, reversing their pre-market gains. The stock posted double-digit gains last year on expectations that Trump’s crackdown on illegal immigration would bring more business.
Trump declared a state of emergency on the US-Mexico border and targeted automatic citizenship for US-born children of illegal immigrants.
CHINESE STOCKS LISTED IN THE US
U.S. depository shares of Chinese companies got a boost as Trump backed away from imposing steep tariffs on the world’s second-largest economy in an unexpected move after threatening 60% tariffs on Chinese goods during his campaign. Shares of Alibaba (NYSE: ) Group Holding gained 0.6%, while the broader iShares ETF added 0.4%.
CRYPTO SHARES
Shares of cryptocurrency and blockchain-related companies slipped as bitcoin’s rally cooled after hitting a record high of $109,071. Trump’s first set of policies did not mention the asset class.
Crypto exchange Coinbase Global (NASDAQ: ) fell 3.6%, while Marathon Digital (NASDAQ: ) and MicroStrategy fell 1.7% and 3.9%, respectively.
