{"id":44,"date":"2025-05-05T01:03:23","date_gmt":"2025-05-05T01:03:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/studentinvestors.org\/?p=44"},"modified":"2025-09-25T05:50:01","modified_gmt":"2025-09-25T05:50:01","slug":"when-tariffs-hit-my-portfolio","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/studentinvestors.org\/?p=44","title":{"rendered":"When Tariffs Hit My Portfolio"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

After February\u2019s first tariffs, I thought maybe the market had already adjusted. But on April 2, 2025, President Trump called it \u201cLiberation Day.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

After February\u2019s first tariffs, I thought maybe the market had already adjusted. But on April 2, 2025, something much bigger hit – President Trump called it \u201cLiberation Day.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

On that day, he announced a 10% tariff on nearly all imports into the U.S. That\u2019s not just steel or cars – basically everything. And on top of that, countries with big trade deficits (like China) got slammed with even higher tariffs, up to 54%.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n\n\n\n

The reaction was instant. The S&P 500 dropped almost 10% in just two days, and the Dow Jones fell more than 2,000 points. Headlines called it one of the biggest market drops in history. For the first time, I saw how quickly fear can spread. Companies that depend on global supply chains tech, retail, even food suddenly looked riskier.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But what I found most interesting was what happened next. Just a week later, when the White House started talking about possible exemptions and pauses, the market bounced back. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n

It reminded me that stocks don\u2019t just react to facts they react to expectations, rumors, and emotions.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

\n\n\n\n

I believed in compounding and was excited to start investing. My mom opened my custodial account at Schwab on my 15th birthday with $1,000, and I added more later. Altogether, I had around $1,700 invested. My very first trade was 3 shares of TSM at $200 each, which I wrote about before in my \u201cHow Can a Student Open a Brokerage Account?<\/a>\u201d post.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
Screenshot of my account – 3\/12\/2025<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\n\n\n\n

At first, it felt amazing to finally own real shares. But then Trump\u2019s tariff policies came out, and the market started dropping. Suddenly my portfolio was full of red numbers. I took a screenshot of my account to remember how it looked. Seeing the value go down so fast made me feel like I had the worst timing ever.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I kept refreshing the app, hoping it would bounce back, but it didn\u2019t right away. I felt like compounding was just a lie, because my account was shrinking instead of growing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n\n\n\n

Now, after reading and thinking more, I realize this is normal. Tariffs and politics can hurt the stock market in the short term. Even small student accounts like mine get hit. But compounding works over years, not weeks. One bad start doesn\u2019t mean the end of the story.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What I Learned<\/h6>\n\n\n\n
    \n
  • Trump\u2019s tariff policies caused my first real losses.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  • My portfolio screenshot showed mostly red numbers, and it felt discouraging.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  • Compounding is still real, but it takes patience and time.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  • Markets can flip quickly from fear to relief based on expectations, not just reality.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  • The stock market panicked, with one of the fastest drops in years.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n

    Next time:<\/strong> After seeing how fast markets can swing, I want to explore how long term investors deal with short term chaos. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    After February\u2019s first tariffs, I thought maybe the market had already adjusted. But on April 2, 2025, President Trump called it \u201cLiberation Day.\u201d After February\u2019s first tariffs, I thought maybe the market had already adjusted. But on April 2, 2025, something much bigger hit – President Trump called it \u201cLiberation Day.\u201d On that day, he announced a 10% […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":100,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[17,15,16,13,14,8],"class_list":["post-44","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-beginnerinvestor","tag-investmentdiary","tag-learningmarket","tag-stocktrading","tag-studentinvestor","tag-teeninvestor"],"yoast_head":"\nWhen Tariffs Hit My Portfolio - Student Investors<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"http:\/\/studentinvestors.org\/?p=44\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"When Tariffs Hit My Portfolio - Student Investors\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"After February\u2019s first tariffs, I thought maybe the market had already adjusted. But on April 2, 2025, President Trump called it \u201cLiberation Day.\u201d After February\u2019s first tariffs, I thought maybe the market had already adjusted. But on April 2, 2025, something much bigger hit – President Trump called it \u201cLiberation Day.\u201d On that day, he announced a 10% […]\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"http:\/\/studentinvestors.org\/?p=44\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Student Investors\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2025-05-05T01:03:23+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2025-09-25T05:50:01+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"http:\/\/studentinvestors.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/IMG_2245.jpeg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1200\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"669\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"HaydnRoh\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"HaydnRoh\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"http:\/\/studentinvestors.org\/?p=44\",\"url\":\"http:\/\/studentinvestors.org\/?p=44\",\"name\":\"When Tariffs Hit My Portfolio - Student Investors\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"http:\/\/studentinvestors.org\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"http:\/\/studentinvestors.org\/?p=44#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"http:\/\/studentinvestors.org\/?p=44#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/studentinvestors.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/IMG_2245.jpeg\",\"datePublished\":\"2025-05-05T01:03:23+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2025-09-25T05:50:01+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"http:\/\/studentinvestors.org\/#\/schema\/person\/76040d4621c23b64f1e27ec55c6bbdae\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"http:\/\/studentinvestors.org\/?p=44#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"http:\/\/studentinvestors.org\/?p=44\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"http:\/\/studentinvestors.org\/?p=44#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/studentinvestors.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/IMG_2245.jpeg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/studentinvestors.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/IMG_2245.jpeg\",\"width\":1200,\"height\":669},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"http:\/\/studentinvestors.org\/?p=44#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"http:\/\/studentinvestors.org\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"When Tariffs Hit My Portfolio\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"http:\/\/studentinvestors.org\/#website\",\"url\":\"http:\/\/studentinvestors.org\/\",\"name\":\"Student Investors\",\"description\":\"\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"http:\/\/studentinvestors.org\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"http:\/\/studentinvestors.org\/#\/schema\/person\/76040d4621c23b64f1e27ec55c6bbdae\",\"name\":\"HaydnRoh\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"http:\/\/studentinvestors.org\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/3f649b25e0f61ddaa93718ce883bf6a1db704c7fa56ba3b242ce630a65e4cfad?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/3f649b25e0f61ddaa93718ce883bf6a1db704c7fa56ba3b242ce630a65e4cfad?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"HaydnRoh\"},\"sameAs\":[\"https:\/\/studentinvestors.org\"],\"url\":\"https:\/\/studentinvestors.org\/?author=1\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"When Tariffs Hit My Portfolio - Student Investors","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"http:\/\/studentinvestors.org\/?p=44","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"When Tariffs Hit My Portfolio - Student Investors","og_description":"After February\u2019s first tariffs, I thought maybe the market had already adjusted. But on April 2, 2025, President Trump called it \u201cLiberation Day.\u201d After February\u2019s first tariffs, I thought maybe the market had already adjusted. But on April 2, 2025, something much bigger hit – President Trump called it \u201cLiberation Day.\u201d On that day, he announced a 10% […]","og_url":"http:\/\/studentinvestors.org\/?p=44","og_site_name":"Student Investors","article_published_time":"2025-05-05T01:03:23+00:00","article_modified_time":"2025-09-25T05:50:01+00:00","og_image":[{"width":1200,"height":669,"url":"http:\/\/studentinvestors.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/IMG_2245.jpeg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"HaydnRoh","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"HaydnRoh","Est. reading time":"3 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"http:\/\/studentinvestors.org\/?p=44","url":"http:\/\/studentinvestors.org\/?p=44","name":"When Tariffs Hit My Portfolio - Student Investors","isPartOf":{"@id":"http:\/\/studentinvestors.org\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"http:\/\/studentinvestors.org\/?p=44#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"http:\/\/studentinvestors.org\/?p=44#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/studentinvestors.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/IMG_2245.jpeg","datePublished":"2025-05-05T01:03:23+00:00","dateModified":"2025-09-25T05:50:01+00:00","author":{"@id":"http:\/\/studentinvestors.org\/#\/schema\/person\/76040d4621c23b64f1e27ec55c6bbdae"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"http:\/\/studentinvestors.org\/?p=44#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["http:\/\/studentinvestors.org\/?p=44"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"http:\/\/studentinvestors.org\/?p=44#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/studentinvestors.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/IMG_2245.jpeg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/studentinvestors.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/IMG_2245.jpeg","width":1200,"height":669},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"http:\/\/studentinvestors.org\/?p=44#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"http:\/\/studentinvestors.org\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"When Tariffs Hit My Portfolio"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"http:\/\/studentinvestors.org\/#website","url":"http:\/\/studentinvestors.org\/","name":"Student Investors","description":"","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"http:\/\/studentinvestors.org\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"http:\/\/studentinvestors.org\/#\/schema\/person\/76040d4621c23b64f1e27ec55c6bbdae","name":"HaydnRoh","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"http:\/\/studentinvestors.org\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/3f649b25e0f61ddaa93718ce883bf6a1db704c7fa56ba3b242ce630a65e4cfad?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/3f649b25e0f61ddaa93718ce883bf6a1db704c7fa56ba3b242ce630a65e4cfad?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"HaydnRoh"},"sameAs":["https:\/\/studentinvestors.org"],"url":"https:\/\/studentinvestors.org\/?author=1"}]}},"brizy_media":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/studentinvestors.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/44","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/studentinvestors.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/studentinvestors.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/studentinvestors.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/studentinvestors.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=44"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/studentinvestors.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/44\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":71,"href":"https:\/\/studentinvestors.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/44\/revisions\/71"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/studentinvestors.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/100"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/studentinvestors.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=44"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/studentinvestors.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=44"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/studentinvestors.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=44"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}