MarketWatch rounded up 10 of its most interesting topics over the past week.
1. Trump says he’ll win this trade war
Stocks of large U.S. companies took a sharp dive on Thursday after President Trump announced new tariffs on aluminum and steel imports. Trump expressed confidence early on Friday that “trade wars are good, and easy to win.”
More on tariffs, trade wars and the reaction in the market:
• Trump steel tariffs to hit these 8 countries the hardest (China isn’t one of them)
• What history teaches us about who wins in trade wars
• Why Trump’s tariffs will hurt more American jobs than they help
• Steel stock investors taken on a wild ride to gains by Trump’s tariff saga
• Five ETFs for nervous investors
2. Maybe it is time for the Federal Reserve to rethink its anti-inflation policy
Rex Nutting questions the Fed’s conventional wisdom.
3. What could trigger an IRS audit this tax season
Here are red flags the Internal Revenue Services is looking for when it decides whether or not your tax return should be audited.
4. Are you an early tax filer? Read this
Here are three 2017 tax breaks added only last month that you may have missed.
5. Rethinking big tech
Jeff Reeves explains why even passive investors cannot ignore the largest tech companies. He makes a case for buying three stocks of major tech players and selling three others.
6. This new index sector will affect most FAANG stocks and quite possibly distort your ETFs
The last time we saw a major change to stock index sectors was when the real-estate sector of the S&P 500 index SPX, +0.51% was carved out of the financial sector in 2016. But this September, two operators of major indexes will create a new communications sector, which will heavily concentrate major players currently included in the telecommunications, technology and consumer discretionary sectors. Ryan Vlastelica explains how this major change will affect ETF investors and concentrate risk.
7. Difficulty in deciding when to sell an elderly parent’s home
Quentin Fottrell — MarketWatch’s Moneyist — digs into the decision points and tax implications faced by siblings with an elderly parent who owns a house but is moving into a retirement community.
8. A contrary opinion of GE
General Electric Co. GE, +0.71% has been a pincushion for criticism as the scope of its weak performance and the wishful thinking of former CEO Jeff Immelt has been made clear. But William Blair analyst Nick Heymann believes GE’s shares can up 50% by the end of the year, as investors become believers in new GE CEO John Flannery’s turnaround efforts.
9. The 2018 Oscars
The 90th annual Academy Awards will be handed out on Sunday. Here’s a sampling of MarketWatch’s coverage:
• How much economic value do you get from winning an Oscar?
• ‘Get Out’ is spending big to try to win the Best Picture Oscar
• Oscar nominee Richard Jenkins on his love of acting: ‘I couldn’t do anything else’
• ‘Shape of Water’ leads Oscar nominations with 13
• The complete list of Oscar nominations
10. The most popular books of all time about money and investing
Silvia Ascarelli shares a short list of very important books for anyone who wishes to gain financial independence.
Want more from MarketWatch? Check out our Personal Finance Daily or other newsletters, and get the latest news, personal finance and investing advice.