Happy Sunday, and welcome to Benzinga’s financial advisor newsletter!

Today, we’re looking at the tax planning and investment implications of Trump returning to the White House. In terms of taxes it appears we’ll get more of the same, for longer — but for investments, advisors have to consider adapting to a new landscape.

So, let’s get to it!

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INDUSTRY CHATTER

What Tax And Investment Planning Will Look Like Under Trump 2.0

In a recent interview with ThinkAdvisor, senior financial planner with Kitces.com, Ben Henry-Moreland, laid out what the tax planning implications of Trump's return to the White House are. In short, it's now almost guaranteed that the 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (also known as the Trump Tax Cuts) will be extended past its 2025 sunset.

In fact, in his recent confirmation hearing in front of the Senate, President Trump’s nominee for Treasury Secretary, Scott Bessent, said extending the 2017 tax cuts is “the single most important economic issue of the day… If we do not fix these tax cuts, if we do not renew and extend, then we will be facing an economic calamity.”

The tax bill included the increase in the exclusion for estate, gift, and generation-skipping transfer tax purposes from $5 million to $10 million (indexed to inflation), the increase in the standard deduction, the reworking of the Alternative Minimum Tax, and more.

Total Estate Tax Repeal Possible

In fact, Henry-Moreland even suggests there's a chance that the Republican majority in Congress could repeal the estate tax completely, a provision that existed in the original version of the 2017 bill. The one big change that might be in the works is a removal of the state and local tax deduction cap, which is now the one unpopular part of the 2017 tax bill among Republicans.

This suggests clients can be reassured that their estate and tax plans from the last few years don't require major overhauls. The federal picture is likely to remain similar, while few states have flipped enough to create a need to move estates and inheritances to other jurisdictions.

Crypto Is In With Regulators Now

But while a second Trump administration means more of the same for taxes, it is heralding some big changes for investments. For one, President Trump's nominee for the Securities and Exchange Commission chairmanship, Paul Atkins, looks to be much more crypto-friendly than his famously combative predecessor. Meanwhile, the President's media company, Trump Media and Technology Group (TMTG), recently announced a new crypto venture, Truth.Fi.

And just this week, Fed Chairman Powell said that banks are "perfectly able to serve crypto customers as long as they understand and can manage the risks," adding that "a greater regulatory apparatus around crypto [from Congress would be] very constructive." That's a much more crypto-friendly message than the Fed has historically put out.

The winds in DC are clearly blowing in the favor of cryptocurrencies. Advisors should take note and consider expanding their knowledge about the asset class and offer advice and services for clients interested in the space. To see how one advisor is handling crypto, check out our recent interviews with Tyrone Ross Jr. here and here.

MARKET RECAP

Stocks Trim DeepSeek Losses, Fed Holds Steady, Trump Slaps 25% Tariffs On Canada, Mexico: This Week In The Markets

It took only four sessions for the U.S. stock market to recover most of the losses triggered earlier in the week after the Chinese startup DeepSeek launched a more efficient and cost-effective AI platform than OpenAI‘s ChatGPT, sparking a sharp selloff on Wall Street.

Investors began questioning the need to allocate capital to higher-cost AI-related companies, sending shares of top chipmakers and data centers into a tailspin.

Yet resilient quarterly earnings reports and a significantly less hawkish Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell compared to his stance in December gave bulls the confidence to buy the dip.

As widely expected, the Federal Reserve left interest rates unchanged at 4.25%–4.5%. Surprisingly, Powell instilled greater hopes for potential rate cuts in the future, stating that monetary policy remains "meaningfully restrictive."

The scars remained visible for Nvidia Corp. (NVDA), which lost about 15% in a week, with the chipmaker falling again on Friday following reports that U.S. plans to levy a 10% tariff on China.

Risk sentiment deteriorated during Friday afternoon trading in New York amid escalating tariff concerns.

President Donald Trump said again he plans to introduce 25% tariffs on imports from Mexico and Canada, though reports differed on when it would go into effect.

On Friday, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said tariffs are coming Saturday.

“The President will implement 25% [tariffs] on Mexico, Canada and 10% on China,” Leavitt stated.

Analysts warn that such a measure could cause significant economic disruptions in North America, with the U.S. automotive industry among the most affected.

Cruise liners were among the best performers in the S&P 500 for the week, with Royal Caribbean Cruise Ltd. (RCL), Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings Ltd. (NCLH) and Carnival Corp. (CCL) all posting double-digit percentage gains following strong earnings from Royal Caribbean.

United Parcel Service Inc. (UPS) was one of the worst laggards, plunging about 15% — its worst week since September 2008 — after the parcel service agreed with Amazon.com Inc. (AMZN) to phase out more than 50% of the e-commerce giant’s volume by the second half of 2026.

You might have missed…

Microsoft AI Strength

Wall Street analysts assessed Microsoft Corp. (MSFT)'s quarterly results, weighing Azure's slowing growth against its AI-driven potential. Despite cloud challenges, analysts said Microsoft remains a compelling investment due to its strategic advancements in artificial intelligence.

Musk Wins Back Advertisers

Amazon.com is increasing its ad spending on X, reversing previous cuts. Apple Inc. (AAPL) is also considering resuming ads on the platform, signaling a potential recovery in advertiser confidence under Elon Musk's leadership.

GM Earnings Beat

General Motors Co. (GM) exceeded earnings expectations last quarter, posting strong revenue growth. Yet the company incurred over $5 billion in charges after halting funding for its Cruise robotaxi business and restructuring operations in China. Analysts remain optimistic about GM’s long-term growth and turnaround potential.

THE WEEK AHEAD

Employment numbers, Big Tech and energy earnings

Economic Data

• Monday: US and global manufacturing prices

• Tuesday: US job openings for December

• Wednesday: US crude oil inventories, service prices, and employment change

• Thursday: US initial jobless claims

• Friday: US monthly payrolls and average hourly earnings numbers for January

Earnings

• Monday: Tyson Foods (TSN), Palantir Technologies (PLTR), Equity Residential (EQR)

• Tuesday: Alphabet (GOOG), Marathon Petroleum (MPC), Pfizer (PFE)

• Wednesday: Ford Motor (F), Walt Disney (DIS), Qualcomm (QCOM)

• Thursday: Amazon.com (AMZN), ArcelorMittal (MT), Honeywell (HON)

• Friday: Plains All American (PAA), Kimco Realty (KIM), Canopy Growth (CGC)

Click here for the full calendar of economic data and earnings reports.

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