Wall Street has come up with a brutal new way to mock President Donald Trump — and it’s called “TACO.” It stands for “Trump Always Chickens Out.”
Here’s what’s going on: Trump announces huge tariffs that send the markets plunging. But almost every time, he backs down before they actually kick in, and the markets bounce back hard. Traders have caught on and now make bets based on this pattern.
The term was coined by Financial Times commentator Robert Armstrong. Recently, Trump announced 50% tariffs on Europe, causing stocks to drop sharply. Then, just days later, he delayed those tariffs after fresh trade talks, and stocks soared once markets reopened.
Ted Jenkin, president of Exit Stage Left Advisors, explained the simple but risky strategy to the New York Post:
“Once he delivers bad news, investors are buying those stocks when they are beaten down waiting for him to chicken out and watching those stocks rebound in value.”
This kind of market behavior is new. University of Michigan economist Justin Wolfers told Barron’s:
“Under no previous presidency did we have active markets betting on the president’s resolve. There was no BACO trade, no CACO trade, nothing. It was always taken as a given that when the president spoke on Monday, he would likely still mean it on Tuesday. That’s no longer true. But what’s really hard is that it’s not even obvious when it’ll be true, and when it won’t be. Madness.”
Armstrong, the man behind the name, added a bit of humor about why the acronym works:
“Acronyms are very powerful, especially when they remind people of foodstuffs. That is what I’ve learned from this experience.”
In short, Wall Street isn’t just watching Trump’s tariff moves — it’s mocking his flip-flops with a savage new code word. And investors are cashing in on it.
