Tom Lee Urges Bessent And Lutnick To 'Put Points On The Board' For A 'Positive Policy Shock' To The Stock Market

Fundstart’s Tom Lee has urged Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick to expedite trade deals for a positive “policy shock” to the stock markets.

What Happened: Lee reshared an X post by Charles Gasparino and said, “White House needs to put points on the board.”

As explained by Gasparino, “putting points on the board” refers to a saying by salesmen when they “hit a rough spot” and need to do something about it quickly.

According to Lee and Gasparino, the market has been telling the same to Bessent, Lutnick, and the entire Trump trade negotiation team.

“They got to cut some deals and let the world know, and they have to do so soon because this could get even uglier,” Gasparino’s post added.

This is true
👇

White House needs to put "points on the board"

– this would be a positive "policy shock" https://t.co/XE4B6oVUi1
— Thomas (Tom) Lee (not drummer) FSInsight.com (@fundstrat) April 21, 2025

This comes after the Donald Trump-led administration paused the reciprocal tariffs for 90 days on April 9th, but no negotiated deal with any country has been announced yet.

While the push and pull with China continues, Lee in another X post underscores how the markets erased $1.4 trillion on Monday, highlighting the “White House need for expediency to close these trade deals.”

The US 2024 trade deficit for goods was $1.2 trillion.

– the loss in equity market cap today equals 1 "trade deficit"

This highlights the White House need for expediency to close these trade deals@FundstratCap @fs_insight #MondayVibes https://t.co/FYNX8fhF7v
— Thomas (Tom) Lee (not drummer) FSInsight.com (@fundstrat) April 21, 2025

Why It Matters: On Monday, Trump criticized the Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell and called him "Mr. Too Late,” igniting concerns about the Fed’s independence.

Last week on Friday, economic adviser Kevin Hassett told the reporters at the White House that Trump and his team would "continue to study" whether Powell could be fired. –

Trump’s comments led to a heavy selloff on Wall Street as the S&P 500 index tracked by SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust SPY fell 2.36% and the Nasdaq 100 tracked by Invesco QQQ Trust, Series 1 QQQ slipped 2.46%.

The U.S. Dollar Index Spot fell the most in three years since 2022, whereas the 10-year Treasury yields jumped to 4.42% and the two-year yields were at 3.77%.

Gold prices hit a fresh record of $3,499.92 per ounce amid all the uncertainty.

After Monday’s close, the Nasdaq 100 was down 19.86% from its all-time high of 22,222.61 points. The S&P 500 index was 16.09% lower than its previous record of 6,147.43 points, and the Dow Jones was 18.09% below its 52-week high of 45,073.63 points.

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