Retail investors are raising concerns over U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent's recent remarks on tariffs and the ongoing trade tensions with China, delivered at a closed-door investor summit hosted by JPMorgan Chase & Co. JPM.
Bessent’s comments, which sparked a $2.2 trillion surge in the markets, have been criticized by retail traders who say they were shut out of potentially market-moving information.
What Happened: On Wednesday, popular financial newsletter The Kobeissi Letter voiced concerns about fairness in a post on X, referring to Bessent's recent appearance at a private, closed-door investor summit.
The post highlights that the event wasn’t “open to the public or media,” and it was where Bessent first said that he expects a “de-escalation with China,” before describing the current trade environment as “unsustainable for both sides.”
These remarks were made at 12:00 PM EST, according to the post, following which the markets witnessed a surge in volumes, with the S&P 500 Futures rallying +5%, resulting in a total gain of $2.2 trillion in market cap, while retail traders and investors were still kept in the dark.
It was only at 5:18 PM EST that President Donald Trump said tariffs on China “will not be as high as 145%,” which finally brought retail into the loop.
“Investors at the JP Morgan event were able to front-run these headlines,” it says, before asking, “How is this fair for retail investors?”
Other X users have raised similar concerns, with Cheddar Pool, a service that tracks options order flows, sharing insights on an S&P 500 “Whale” who added $2.2 million in 1DTE (one day to expiry options) at 3:21 PM EST on Tuesday, while asking “Bessent, was that you?”
According to the post, that whale is now up 460%, with gains of over $10 million, within just a day.
Scott Bessent and the Treasury did not immediately respond to Benzinga’s request for comments.
Why It Matters: There have been growing concerns regarding leaks and insider trading within the current administration, with Scott Galloway calling the April 9th tariff pause the “greatest day of insider trading in history,” citing the suspicious timing of large options trades.
Others, such as Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.), part of Trump’s inner circle, have come under scrutiny for making large stock purchases ahead of the 90-day pause on tariffs.
Rep. Adam Schiff (D-Calif.) and Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) have outright accused Trump of manipulating the markets to “benefit his Wall Street donors.”
Price Action: The Vanguard S&P 500 ETF VOO is up 1.6% on Wednesday, followed by the Invesco QQQ Trust QQQ, which tracks the Nasdaq, up by 2.27%. The SPDR Dow Jones Industrial Average ETF Trust DIA is up 1.03%.
Photo courtesy: Maxim Elramsisy / Shutterstock.com
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