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The U.S. has lived with an enormous trade deficit for many years. But beneath President Donald Trump’s sweeping tariffs, that hole is instantly narrowing — and far sooner than many anticipated.
That grew to become clear on CNBC when anchor Rick Santelli reacted in actual time to the newest numbers.
“On the trade balance, which we know is going to be a deficit, we’re expecting a number around $58 billion,” Santelli stated on Thursday morning (1). As he learn by the Commerce Department’s replace, his tone shifted. “Buckle up, this is unreal! The movement in this number: -$29.4 billion — we cut it basically in half! We cut it in half!”
October’s $29.4 billion trade deficit didn’t simply come in properly under economists’ forecasts — it marked a 39% drop from September’s $48.1 billion hole (2).
Santelli additionally underscored how dramatic the swing has been in contrast to earlier this 12 months, earlier than Trump’s tariffs took impact.
“Just consider this: In March it was $136 billion. Right now, it’s a whisker under $30 billion. We haven’t been that small in a long time — I don’t have enough records here to go back that far!” he stated.
As it seems, it’s the smallest trade deficit since June 2009.
Tariffs are designed to discourage imports and reshape trade flows, so the pattern isn’t totally sudden. As Santelli famous, “Here’s the news on why it moved lower: Imports were down and exports were up.”
To be certain, Trump’s sweeping tariffs have drawn criticism, together with fears of retaliation from main buying and selling companions. But with the newest figures, some economists are sounding extra upbeat.
“The U.S. appears to be winning the trade war with tariffs curbing the imports of foreign goods, but America’s trading partners are not holding any grudge as they continue to buy more American goods and services,” stated Chris Rupkey, chief economist at Fwdbonds (3).
“So far, the forecasts for a U.S. recession are coming up dry as productivity continues to backstop growth.”
Recent information backs up that evaluation. U.S. GDP grew at an annual fee of 4.3% in the third quarter of 2025 — the strongest tempo since late 2023 and properly above economists’ expectations for a 3.2% enhance (4).
Some analysts see extra tailwinds forward. Michael Pearce, chief U.S. economist at Oxford Economics, pointed to easing uncertainty, fiscal help and extra accommodating financial coverage (5).
“We expect fading policy uncertainty, the boost from tax cuts and the recent loosening of monetary policy to mean the economy strengthens in 2026,” Pearce stated.
If you share this optimism, right here’s a have a look at just a few easy methods to place your self for America’s progress in 2026 — and past.
The U.S. inventory market has been a strong engine of wealth creation. Trump has pointed to that energy, just lately saying, “the only thing that’s really going up big? It’s the stock market and your 401(k)s (6).”
The benchmark S&P 500 returned 16% in 2025 and has gained roughly 82% over the previous 5 years.
Of course, constantly choosing successful shares isn’t simple. That’s why legendary investor Warren Buffett argues that most individuals don’t want to decide particular person firms in any respect to profit from the inventory market’s long-term progress.
“In my view, for most people, the best thing to do is own the S&P 500 index fund,” Buffett has famously said (7). This strategy offers buyers publicity to 500 of America’s largest firms throughout a variety of industries, offering instantaneous diversification with out the necessity for fixed monitoring or lively buying and selling.
The great thing about this strategy is its accessibility — anybody, no matter wealth, can take advantage of it. Even small quantities can develop over time with instruments like Acorns, a well-liked app that routinely invests your spare change.
Signing up for Acorns takes simply minutes: Link your playing cards and Acorns will spherical up every buy to the closest greenback, investing the distinction — your spare change — right into a diversified portfolio.
With Acorns, you may make investments in an S&P 500 ETF with as little as $5 — and, should you enroll at the moment with a recurring funding, Acorns will add a $20 bonus to make it easier to start your funding journey.
Beyond shares, actual property has lengthy been one other cornerstone of wealth-building in America.
In reality, Buffett usually factors to actual property when explaining what a productive, income-generating asset seems to be like. In 2022, Buffett said that should you supplied him “1% of all the apartment houses in the country” for $25 billion, he would “write you a check (8).”
Why? Because no matter what’s occurring in the broader financial system, folks nonetheless want a spot to reside and flats can constantly produce hire cash.
Real property additionally provides a built-in hedge towards inflation. When inflation rises, property values usually enhance as properly, reflecting the upper prices of supplies, labor and land. At the identical time, rental revenue tends to go up, offering landlords with a income stream that adjusts with inflation.
Of course, you don’t want $25 billion — and even to purchase a single property outright — to make investments in actual property. Crowdfunding platforms like Arrived supply a neater manner to get publicity to this income-generating asset class.
The course of is straightforward: Browse a curated collection of properties which were vetted for his or her appreciation and revenue potential. Once you discover a property you want, choose the variety of shares you’d like to buy after which sit again as you start receiving any positive rental income distributions out of your funding.
Another possibility is First National Realty Partners (FNRP), which permits accredited buyers to diversify their portfolio by grocery-anchored industrial properties with out taking up the tasks of being a landlord.
With a minimal funding of $50,000, buyers can own a share of properties leased by national brands like Whole Foods, Kroger and Walmart, which offer important items to their communities. Thanks to triple web leases, accredited buyers are ready to make investments in these properties with out worrying about tenant prices reducing into their potential returns.
Simply reply just a few questions — together with how a lot you desire to to make investments — to begin shopping their full list of available properties.
The trade report additionally drew consideration to one standout commodity — gold.
In October, exports of nonmonetary gold surged by $6.8 billion, whereas imports of the dear metallic fell by $1.4 billion.
Gold has been on a tear, hovering about 70% over the previous 12 months as of early January. Investors have lengthy turned to the yellow metallic as a safe-haven asset — a hedge towards uncertainty, inflation and geopolitical stress.
Unlike fiat currencies, gold isn’t tied to any single authorities and may’t be printed out of skinny air by central banks. When markets get turbulent, cash tends to transfer towards property perceived as steady — and gold usually tops that listing.
Ray Dalio, founding father of the world’s largest hedge fund, Bridgewater Associates, has repeatedly highlighted gold’s function in a resilient portfolio.
“People don’t have, typically, an adequate amount of gold in their portfolio,” Dalio told CNBC earlier final 12 months. “When bad times come, gold is a very effective diversifier.”
He’s not the one one sounding bullish. JPMorgan CEO Jamie Dimon just lately said that in this atmosphere, gold can “easily” rise to $10,000 an oz..
Gold IRAs permit buyers to maintain bodily gold or gold-related property inside a retirement account, thereby combining the tax benefits of an IRA with the protecting advantages of investing in gold, making it an possibility for these wanting to assist defend their retirement funds towards financial uncertainties.
Public markets present only one facet of how wealth is created. Many of the largest and most profitable tech firms stay privately held for years, rising behind the scenes and constructing unimaginable worth lengthy earlier than the IPO bell is rung.
Venture capital is the place the early bets are positioned on future giants. But, for many years, enterprise capital has been one of many few remaining tables in finance the place retail buyers can’t get a seat.
Fundrise lastly disrupted that dynamic just a few years in the past by launching a enterprise capital product with two targets. One: Build a portfolio of probably the most beneficial non-public tech firms in the world. Two: Make it out there to as many individuals as attainable, with investments beginning at simply $10.
Today, Fundrise manages billions of {dollars} in non-public market property and their enterprise capital product is designed particularly for buyers such as you who need to get in early on transformative applied sciences like AI.
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