Investors started selling off precious metals with gold falling by as much as 10%, dropping from $5,500 an ounce to around $5,136 per ounce.

Meanwhile, silver nosedived by up to 20%, declining from $120 per ounce to around $103 per ounce.

Trump is nominating Warsh (pictured) to succeed the current central bank chief, Jerome Powell. REUTERS

Starting last year, gold and silver surged to one record high after another, fueled by investor demand for hard assets amid concerns over inflation, rising government debt and political pressure on the Fed.

Precious metals have been a safe have for investors concerned that the next Fed chair would cede to Trump’s demands to cut interest rates sharply.

News of the Warsh pick appeared to mollify those concerns.

He has a hawkish track record from his time as a Fed governor from 2006 through 2011 and is considered likely to maintain the Fed’s independence.

“Warsh came up in investment banking at Morgan Stanley, served as one of the youngest Fed governors in history, and was seriously in the room during the great financial crisis,” Dean Lyulkin, founder of The Dean’s List newsletter, told The Post.

“That pedigree is rare. It tends to produce clear signals, few surprises, and a pragmatic approach to the delicate balance between inflation and growth.”

Gold and silver prices plummeted early Friday morning after it was learned that President Trump planned to nominate Kevin Warsh as the next chair of the Federal Reserve. Xinhua/Shutterstock

“Businesses and investors should breathe easier.”

Since gold and silver are non-yielding, hard assets often used as hedges against inflation and currency debasement, higher interest rates tend to favor yield-producing assets such as bonds and cash, reducing the appeal of precious metals.

Federal prosecutors opened a criminal investigation into Powell earlier this month over his June 2025 congressional testimony about a $2.5 billion renovation of the Fed’s headquarters, issuing grand jury subpoenas tied to whether his statements were misleading.

Powell disclosed the probe in an extraordinary public statement, portraying it as retaliation for the central bank’s refusal to bow to White House pressure to cut interest rates. He warned that using law enforcement against the Fed threatened its ability to set policy based on economic data rather than politics.

The investigation sparked immediate backlash across Wall Street and global financial institutions, with central bankers and executives warning it could undermine confidence in the US financial system.

Several Republican lawmakers, including Sen. Thom Tillis of North Carolina, said they would block future Fed nominations until the matter is resolved. Tillis has vowed to vote against any new nominees in the interim.

On Friday, he called Warsh “a qualified nominee with a deep understanding of monetary policy” but reiterated his stance on nominees.

“My position has not changed: I will oppose the confirmation of any Federal Reserve nominee, including for the position of Chairman, until the DOJ’s inquiry into Chairman Powell is fully and transparently resolved,” Tillis wrote on X.

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The electric automaker said Friday it recorded deliveries of 418,227 in the fourth quarter, down 16% from the same period last year.

In a consensus posted on its website on Dec. 29, Tesla said analysts were expecting a 15% drop to 422,850 vehicles. Wall Street had expected roughly 426,000 vehicles, per StreetAccount.

Tesla deliveries plunged in the fourth quarter of 2025 to 418,227 vehicles. Getty Images

Its overall 2025 deliveries plunged 8.6% to 1.64 million – down from 1.79 million in 2024.

Tesla shares were off 0.4% at $447.77 in mid-morning trades on Friday.

Meanwhile, Chinese rival BYD said Thursday that sales of its battery-powered cars jumped nearly 28% to 2.26 million units – a stinging defeat after Musk years earlier dismissed the competitor and laughed at their products during a Bloomberg interview.

Tesla suffered a sales slump this year as it faced heated competition in the EV sector from BYD, South Korea’s Kia and Hyundai and European automaker Volkswagen.

Investors grew concerned about the company’s focus on artificial intelligence and robotics during earnings calls, instead of present-day opportunities. 

Musk’s brand also suffered blowback from his ties to the Trump administration, earlier this year leading the cost-slashing body known as DOGE – leading to massive federal layoffs and cutting billions in foreign aid.

Protesters swarmed Tesla showrooms across the country as Tesla vehicles across the country have been set ablaze with molotov cocktails or vandalized.

Tesla also experienced some brand damage in European markets after Musk endorsed Germany’s far-right party, AfD; signaled support for British anti-Muslim activist Tommy Robinson; and called for the European Union to be abolished.

Workers clean vehicles at a BYD factory in Brazil. AMERICO ROBERTO/EPA/Shutterstock

Wedbush Securities analyst Dan Ives said in a note Friday while Europe has been a “continuous headwind” for Tesla, he expects sales in the region to bounce back once the automaker’s Full Self-Driving technology is approved by European regulators.

In the first 11 months of 2025, Tesla’s European registrations plummeted 39% – while BYD saw registrations in Europe skyrocket 240% over the same period.

But Tesla’s deliveries rebounded to a record in the third quarter as American shoppers rushed to take advantage of a $7,500 federal tax incentive for EVs before it expired on Sept. 30.

The automaker also rolled out pared-back versions of its Model Y SUV and Model 3 sedan, each less than $40,000, which helped dull the effect of the tax incentive disappearing.

Tesla has officially lost its spot as the world’s top EV seller to Chinese rival BYD. AP

Despite poor results and mixed investor sentiment, Tesla shares ended 2025 roughly 16% higher. Musk bought $1 billion worth of shares in September.

Also on Friday, Tesla said it deployed 14.2 gigawatt hours of battery energy storage products in the fourth quarter, following a record of 12.5 gigawatt hours in the previous period.

Its battery energy systems include backup batteries for homes and larger systems for power-hungry data centers.

The automaker is slated to report its full fourth-quarter earnings on Jan. 28.

In November, shareholders approved a jaw-dropping $1 trillion pay plan for Musk dependent on a series of lofty performance targets over the next decade – like delivering 20 million vehicles and 1 million “Optimus” humanoid robots. 

Musk threatened to leave the company if the historic pay package was shot down.

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Fears that artificial intelligence investments have been overhyped sent the tech-heavy Nasdaq down 1.3% as of about 3:30 p.m. ET Thursday.

Meta’s stock cratered about 11.5% over mounting concerns around the social media giant’s plans to hike spending – overshadowing a strong earnings report from the day before.

Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg announced the company plans to ramp up AI spending. AP

“It’s pretty early, but I think we’re seeing the returns in the core business,” CEO Mark Zuckerberg said during Wednesday’s earnings call. 

“That’s giving us a lot of confidence that we should be investing a lot more, and we want to make sure that we’re not underinvesting.”

The company announced plans to lift its 2025 capital expenditures to between $70 billion and $72 billion – even higher than its previous range of $66 billion to $72 billion.  

Zuckerberg’s firm – which owns Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp – has already spent big on the futuristic tech. 

Earlier this year, it made headlines by taking a nearly $15 billion stake in Silicon Valley startup Scale AI – which brought over its 28-year-old CEO, Alexandr Wang, to run Meta’s Superintelligence Labs.

Meta isn’t the only top tech company to invest heavily in artificial intelligence and related infrastructure – including costly, power-hungry data centers that require lots of upfront capital. 

Meta owns Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp. AP

Google owner Alphabet also hiked its spending forecast to $91 billion to $93 billion on Wednesday. 

Shares in Microsoft fell about 3.4% Thursday after the company said it plans to continue its heightened AI spending – even after taking a massive hit to earnings.

In its earnings report Wednesday, Microsoft said it had a $3.1 billion decrease in net income in the first quarter due to its huge investment in OpenAI, the firm behind ChatGPT.

Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella insisted his company’s ties with OpenAI mark “one of the most successful partnerships and investments our industry has ever seen.”

Shares in Microsoft fell after the company said it plans to continue its heightened AI spending. REUTERS

“We continued to benefit mutually from each other’s growth across multiple dimensions,” he said during Wednesday’s earnings call.

Microsoft first invested in OpenAI in 2019, pledging to invest $13 billion in the company since then. It has already funded $11.6 billion as of the end of September, according to an SEC filing.

Microsoft holds an investment in OpenAI’s public benefit corporation that’s worth about $135 billion, or about 27% of the company.

Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella called OpenAI “one of the most successful partnerships and investments our industry has ever seen.” REUTERS

Meanwhile, Meta has received about $125 billion worth of orders for a potential bond sale – breaking the record for the most ever offered, a source familiar with the matter told The Post.

The social media giant is looking to raise at least $25 billion from the sale, Bloomberg earlier reported.

Citigroup and Morgan Stanley are reportedly involved in the deal.

Morgan Stanley declined to comment. Citigroup and Meta did not immediately respond to The Post’s requests for comment.

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Trump health officials plan to include the claim in a presentation next week to a panel of advisors to the CDC that is considering new COVID vaccine recommendations, which can impact access to the shots and whether they’re free, according to the Washington Post.

Those deaths were seemingly gathered from information submitted to the government’s Vaccine Adverse Event Reporting System, according to the report.

The Trump administration plans to link the deaths of 25 children to COVID vaccines, according to a report. REUTERS

VAERS contains unverified reports of side effects from vaccines, which can be submitted from anyone like patients and doctors to pharmacists or even someone who sees a story on social media.

The system is not meant to actually verify whether an immunization caused a death.

The presentation is not yet final, a person familiar with the matter told the Washington Post.

“FDA and CDC staff routinely analyze VAERS and other safety monitoring data, and those reviews are being shared publicly through the established ACIP process,” Andrew Nixon, communications director of the Health and Human Services Department, told The Post.

“Until that is shared publicly, any of this should be considered pure speculation.”

Moderna and Pfizer did not immediately respond to The Post’s requests for comment.

Trump health officials plan to include the claim in a presentation next week, according to the Washington Post. AFP via Getty Images

The vaccine advisory panel’s meeting next week is crucial, as it will help determine whether insurers must pay for the vaccines, as well as whether pharmacies can administer them and doctors are willing to offer them at their practices.

Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. – who was recently grilled by senators from both parties at a tense hearing on vaccines – ousted every member of the vaccine panel earlier this year and replaced them with his own picks. 

Health officials’ planned presentation for next week included attempts to interview some families, though it’s unclear what other information was used in preparation, according to the report.

In May, Kennedy ordered health officials to stop recommending the shots for healthy children, saying only people at high risk of complications from COVID or over age 65 need them.

In May, Kennedy ordered health officials to stop recommending the shots for healthy children. REUTERS

The health agency also cancelled nearly $500 million in research funding on mRNA vaccines.

The CDC later advised parents to consult a doctor before getting their children vaccinated. 

Several top officials at the CDC resigned in late August, claiming that Kennedy has ignored established research and politicized vaccine safety.

The American Academy of Pediatrics recommends annual COVID vaccines for children ages 6 to 23 months, and for older children, adding that the shots are safe and effective in protecting against serious outcomes.

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Trump said the probe would be wrapped up within 50 days, after which furniture imports would face duties at rates “yet to be determined.”

“This will bring the Furniture Business back to North Carolina, South Carolina, Michigan, and States all across the Union,” Trump posted on his Truth Social platform.

The tariff threat hammered stocks of companies heavily reliant on foreign manufacturing. Wayfair, RH and Williams-Sonoma all saw their shares plunge following Trump’s announcement.

President Trump announced Friday that his administration is investigating imported furniture for potential tariffs. Hi Alfan – stock.adobe.com

Wayfair, whose stock fell by more than 6% after the closing bell on Friday, imports much of its furniture inventory from overseas suppliers.

Shares of RH were also down more than 6% while Williams-Sonoma stock dropped more than 4% Friday evening.

However, not all furniture companies suffered. La-Z-Boy shares actually rose nearly 2.5% on the news since the company conducts most of its manufacturing operations within the United States.

The furniture industry investigation adds to Trump’s growing list of sectoral tariff targets.

Trump said the probe into imported furniture would wrap up within 50 days. Getty Images

He has already imposed steep duties on automobiles, steel and aluminum while floating similar measures for copper, pharmaceuticals and semiconductors.

Friday’s announcement left unclear whether furniture tariffs would stack on top of existing country-specific duty rates that Trump has negotiated through bilateral trade deals.

The Trump administration has spent months conducting trade negotiations with partners worldwide, seeking to rebalance what it views as unfair global commerce arrangements.

Recent framework agreements with the European Union and China have provided some market stability, though many longer-term trade disputes remain unresolved.

The timing of potential furniture tariffs comes as the industry faces significant headwinds.

Companies like Wayfair have endured more than a year of declining demand for big-ticket items, including couches and dining room sets.

The furniture sales slump stems partly from a sluggish housing market as prospective buyers wait for interest rates to decline before making major purchases.

Friday’s announcement left unclear whether furniture tariffs would stack on top of existing country-specific duty rates that Trump has negotiated through bilateral trade deals. Hassan – stock.adobe.com

Fewer new home sales translate directly into reduced furniture demand, since consumers typically buy new furnishings when they move into different residences.

Persistent inflation has also made consumers more selective about discretionary spending. Restaurants, clothing, travel and home decor have all experienced reduced sales as shoppers tighten their budgets.

Trump’s tariff strategy aims to encourage companies to relocate manufacturing operations back to the United States, particularly in states with strong furniture-making traditions.

North Carolina and other southeastern states historically served as major furniture production hubs before much of the industry migrated overseas in search of lower labor costs.

The investigation represents another step in Trump’s broader trade agenda focused on reducing America’s reliance on foreign manufacturing across multiple industries.

Previous tariff announcements have produced mixed results, with some companies announcing plans to reshore production while others have absorbed higher costs or passed them on to consumers.

The Post has sought comment from the American Home Furnishings Alliance.

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The pioneering electric vehicle company made 336,681 deliveries — which are viewed as an accurate proxy for sales — over the three-month period, far below Wall Street’s estimates and down from 386,810 during the same period one year ago.

Analysts had projected sales of more than 390,000, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.

Tesla shares initially fell as much as 6% in Wednesday trading and were hovering in negative territory after the announcement.

Elon Musk has faced criticism over his work with DOGE. REUTERS

The stock is down about 30% since the start of the year.

The disappointing delivery report was a “disaster on every metric,” according to Wedbush analyst Dan Ives, a longtime Tesla bull.

“Musk needs to stop this political firestorm and balance being CEO of Tesla with DOGE,” Ives said in a note to clients. “The future is so bright but this is a full-blown crisis Tesla is navigating now and its primarily self-inflected.”

“We remain firmly bullish on the long-term Tesla story but Musk needs to get his act together or else unfortunately darker times are ahead for Tesla,” Ives added.

The vast majority of deliveries were for Tesla’s flagship Model 3 sedan and Model Y crossover SUV, which amounted to 323,800. Other models, including the Cybertruck, accounted for just 12,881 deliveries.

“While the changeover of Model Y lines across all four of our factories led to the loss of several weeks of production in Q1, the ramp of the New Model Y continues to go well,” Tesla said in a release.

Tesla dealerships in the US and abroad have faced a string of vandalism and arson attacks in recent weeks in response to Musk’s ties to the Trump administration.

Musk unofficially leads DOGE, which has gutted several federal agencies while pursuing its mandate to eliminate government waste.

Attorney General Pam Bondi and others have asserted that the attacks are acts of domestic terrorism.

In addition, Tesla is battling fierce competition in the key growth market of China, where local rivals like BYD have rapidly gained ground.

Tesla dealerships have experienced a wave of vandalism. AP

Wedbush analyst Dan Ives said Musk’s work with DOGE has contributed to a brand crisis at Tesla. Jimin Kim/SOPA Images/Shutterstock

Elsewhere, the number of Tesla trade-ins for other new or used vehicles at dealerships hit its “highest ever share” in March, according to a report from Edmunds.

Musk tried to reassure Tesla employees at an all-hands meeting last month, telling them to “hang on to your stock.”

During the meeting, Musk gave a presentation on Tesla’s long-term product roadmap, including long-promised fully autonomous driving software that he said would transform the value proposition of the company’s vehicles.

He also bashed vandals for targeting Tesla locations in response to his political maneuvers.

“I understand if you don’t want to buy our product, but you don’t have to burn it down,” Musk said. “That’s a bit unreasonable.”

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