Tesla (NASDAQ: TSLA) stock has climbed 8% after reporting what can only be described as a terrible first quarter of 2025. The company's sales dropped, and it was profitable only because of regulatory credit sales. Travis Hoium digs into the results in this video.

*Stock prices used were end-of-day prices of April 22, 2025. The video was published on April 23, 2025.

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Suzanne Frey, an executive at Alphabet, is a member of The Motley Fool's board of directors. Travis Hoium has positions in Alphabet and Mobileye Global. The Motley Fool has positions in and recommends Alphabet and Tesla. The Motley Fool recommends General Motors and Mobileye Global. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. Travis Hoium is an affiliate of The Motley Fool and may be compensated for promoting its services. If you choose to subscribe through their link they will earn some extra money that supports their channel. Their opinions remain their own and are unaffected by The Motley Fool.

The stock market is ultimately downstream of bigger market forces like currencies and bonds. And these are what's driving the market's turbulence, as Travis Hoium highlights in this video.

*Stock prices used were end-of-day prices of April 21, 2025. The video was published on April 22, 2025.

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When our analyst team has a stock tip, it can pay to listen. After all, Stock Advisor’s total average return is 811%* — a market-crushing outperformance compared to 153% for the S&P 500.

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*Stock Advisor returns as of April 21, 2025

The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. Travis Hoium is an affiliate of The Motley Fool and may be compensated for promoting its services. If you choose to subscribe through their link they will earn some extra money that supports their channel. Their opinions remain their own and are unaffected by The Motley Fool.

In a week of market volatility, the adtech sector was on fire this week after a down week to start April. The recovery is no surprise, as investors got a bit of good news from the Trump administration -- at least relative to what we knew a week ago.

According to data provided by S&P Global Market Intelligence, shares of AppLovin (NASDAQ: APP) were up as much as 19.9%, Reddit (NYSE: RDDT) jumped 17%, and Spotify (NYSE: SPOT) was up 12.7%. The stocks were up 13.9%, 15.1%, and 8.4%, respectively, for the week on Friday at 3:10 p.m. ET.

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Tariffs delayed

The announcement on Wednesday that tariffs on most countries around the world would be delayed by 90 days was met with wild enthusiasm by the market. Stocks shot up across the board, and that included a lot of tech companies and those who benefit from consumer spending and advertising, like AppLovin, Reddit, and Spotify.

To be clear, the news isn't all good. The 10% tariff across the board is still in place, and the tariff on goods from China is 125% or more, depending on the time of day. Compared to the start of the month, tariffs are up, but the market is happier today than it was a week ago.

Advertising wins?

If a recession, which seemed extremely likely on a week ago, is avoided, it would be a boost to advertising companies, because consumers will be spending on more goods, and so will advertisers. That's part of the reason these companies rose so much this week.

But there may still be headwinds. The companies advertising on these platforms have costs, and if their costs are going up because of tariffs, it may leave less money for customer acquisition on advertising platforms. On top of that, there's still a very real possibility of a recession this year.

Higher costs across the board

The other two factors to layer in are rising interest rates and a falling dollar. A lower dollar makes it more costly to import goods from other countries -- and that's on top of the tariff impact.

Higher interest rates make it more costly to do everything from borrowing to start a business to buying a home. Higher rates are generally an indicator of slower growth, so that could be a headwind for the market.

More uncertainty ahead

While this week was generally positive compared to last week, investors aren't out of the woods yet. It's not yet clear if the 90-day pause on wider tariffs will lead to deals, or if higher costs are only put off for a few months. Then there's the China tariffs, which are currently at 145%, but seem to change by the minute.

The market doesn't know what to expect, and that's part of the problem. What we do know is that consumer sentiment is falling, and it's likely we will see inflation pick up later this year. That alone could be a reason for caution for companies counting on higher advertising spending to grow their revenue in 2025.

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*Stock Advisor returns as of April 10, 2025

Travis Hoium has positions in Spotify Technology. The Motley Fool has positions in and recommends AppLovin and Spotify Technology. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.

The financial market made a quick recovery this week with some of the more volatile names in the industry leading the way. Wenesday's news that tariffs (outside of China) would be delayed by 90 days led to some optimism and even weak economic data late in the week didn't put a damper on the market.

According to data provided by S&P Global Market Intelligence, shares of SoFi Technologies (NASDAQ: SOFI) jumped as much as 11.3% this week, KKR (NYSE: KKR) was up 9.2% at its peak, and Capital One Financial (NYSE: COF) rose 7.4%. The stocks are up 10.6%, 7.5%, and 6%, respectively, as of 2:30 p.m. ET.

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Bouncing off a low

To be fair, the moves this week are compared to last week's market collapse. Shares are still down from the beginning of April, only 11 days ago, and have all fallen so far in 2025.

SOFI data by YCharts

With that perspective, it's hard to call this a durable rally. But investors were betting this week that a delay in some tariffs and potential deals on others would reduce the risk of a recession and therefore defaults on the debt companies like SoFi and Capital One have on their balance sheets. KKR's rise was clearly because asset values are up, and that's a big part of their fee structure.

While the short-term risk may be seen as lower than a few days ago, there are still more risks today than early this year as economists ramp up their expectations for a recession. And making matters worse is the rise in interest rates this week that could make it more costly for companies, consumers, and even the government to refinance debt. Oh, and the dollar is dropping, too.

Taking a step back

Long-term investors will want to take this opportunity to look at the long-term trends in the market and economy. So far in 2025 consumer confidence is down, tariffs and expectations for inflation are up, and interest rates are rising.

Those factors don't bode well for the economy or financial firms, so it'll be a matter of who will survive and thrive through upcoming market turbulence. I don't think we're in for major losses on loans at this point, but the risks for financial companies are leveraged compared to most stocks based on their business models, so earnings and guidance will be worth watching closely.

Ignore the volatility

As these stocks rise and fall rapidly, it's important for investors to keep in mind the long-term goal, which is to buy opportunistically when the market is thinking short-term. I think these companies will be able to manage risks better than what the market saw during the financial crisis and while the recovery may not be smooth I'm starting to dollar-cost average at lower prices. Long-term, any big dips are opportunities for investors.

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Consider when Netflix made this list on December 17, 2004... if you invested $1,000 at the time of our recommendation, you’d have $496,779!* Or when Nvidia made this list on April 15, 2005... if you invested $1,000 at the time of our recommendation, you’d have $659,306!*

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*Stock Advisor returns as of April 10, 2025

Travis Hoium has positions in SoFi Technologies. The Motley Fool has positions in and recommends KKR. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.

Are we finally reaching a point of stability in the market after an insanely volatile 10-day stretch? The crypto market seems to think so, with Bitcoin (CRYPTO: BTC) up 5.2% over the past 24 hours as of 1 p.m. ET, Ethereum (CRYPTO: ETH) up 4.6%, and Dogecoin (CRYPTO: DOGE) rising 5.3%.

The stock market has gained as well on what seems to be hope that rising bond yields and a falling dollar will lead to the Trump administration finding a path away from the trade war that's currently unfolding.

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Investors are taking a "risk on" mentality going into the weekend, which often happens when news of trade talks or deals takes place while the market is closed.

It's not clear if there will be any deals, and last weekend was unusually quiet, but that's part of the reason stocks are moving higher today. Cryptocurrencies have followed, as they often do, but the pop in values may be short-lived.

Data tells a different story

We're starting to get early signs of how consumers and businesses are viewing the tariff plans, and the early data isn't good. A University of Michigan survey of consumer sentiment fell from 57.0 a month ago to 50.8, which is nearly as low as the index got during 2020.

Expectations for inflation jumped to 6.7%, up from 5% a month earlier and the highest in more than four decades.

Normally, weak consumer sentiment and higher inflation expectations would cause investors to flee to safety, but the opposite is what's happening today.

Crypto is stuck in the middle

What's interesting about where crypto sits is that it's the one asset class that's traded 24/7. So, equity investors may be preparing for Monday, but crypto traders will see the impact of any deal or any lack of deals over the weekend. That could make for extremely volatile trading.

Whether you're looking at the stock market or the crypto market, it's nearly impossible to predict what's going to happen next.

History says the next leg may be down for crypto

The worries I would have for the crypto market is the economy slowing in the U.S., and that extending to risky assets like cryptocurrencies. Economists have increased their odds of a recession in 2025, and it's very possible we're already in one.

We also have a rush of earnings data coming over the next few weeks as companies both reveal what happened in the first quarter and give their outlook for the rest of 2025. If that outlook is weak, we may see equities and crypto fall.

Consumer sentiment is the most worrying when combined with the rise in interest rates over the past week. If both those trends continue, a recession could be a self-fulfilling prophecy.

History says that will negatively impact cryptocurrencies, which trade more with growth stocks than as a hedge to inflation or the dollar. So, this could be a short-term reprieve from a long-term downward trend for the market.

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Consider when Netflix made this list on December 17, 2004... if you invested $1,000 at the time of our recommendation, you’d have $496,779!* Or when Nvidia made this list on April 15, 2005... if you invested $1,000 at the time of our recommendation, you’d have $659,306!*

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*Stock Advisor returns as of April 10, 2025

Travis Hoium has positions in Ethereum. The Motley Fool has positions in and recommends Bitcoin and Ethereum. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.

The market has been focused on Alphabet's (NASDAQ: GOOG) (NASDAQ: GOOGL) ability to build artificial intelligence (AI) language models and disruption in search, but a huge growth driver for the company's future could be its AI in hardware. In this video, Travis Hoium digs into the latest new product.

*Stock prices used were end-of-day prices of April 9, 2025. The video was published on April 11, 2025.

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Should you invest $1,000 in Alphabet right now?

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Consider when Netflix made this list on December 17, 2004... if you invested $1,000 at the time of our recommendation, you’d have $496,779!* Or when Nvidia made this list on April 15, 2005... if you invested $1,000 at the time of our recommendation, you’d have $659,306!*

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*Stock Advisor returns as of April 10, 2025

Suzanne Frey, an executive at Alphabet, is a member of The Motley Fool's board of directors. Travis Hoium has positions in Alphabet. The Motley Fool has positions in and recommends Alphabet. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. Travis Hoium is an affiliate of The Motley Fool and may be compensated for promoting its services. If you choose to subscribe through their link, they will earn some extra money that supports their channel. Their opinions remain their own and are unaffected by The Motley Fool.

The market has been extremely volatile over the past week, but long-term investors should see this as an opportunity. For those who can look past short-term moves, the market has opportunities ahead.

*Stock prices used were end-of-day prices of April 9, 2025. The video was published on April 11, 2025.

Where to invest $1,000 right now? Our analyst team just revealed what they believe are the 10 best stocks to buy right now. Learn More »

Should you invest $1,000 in Apple right now?

Before you buy stock in Apple, consider this:

The Motley Fool Stock Advisor analyst team just identified what they believe are the 10 best stocks for investors to buy now… and Apple wasn’t one of them. The 10 stocks that made the cut could produce monster returns in the coming years.

Consider when Netflix made this list on December 17, 2004... if you invested $1,000 at the time of our recommendation, you’d have $496,779!* Or when Nvidia made this list on April 15, 2005... if you invested $1,000 at the time of our recommendation, you’d have $659,306!*

Now, it’s worth noting Stock Advisor’s total average return is 787% — a market-crushing outperformance compared to 152% for the S&P 500. Don’t miss out on the latest top 10 list, available when you join Stock Advisor.

See the 10 stocks »

*Stock Advisor returns as of April 10, 2025

Travis Hoium has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has positions in and recommends Apple. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. Travis Hoium is an affiliate of The Motley Fool and may be compensated for promoting its services. If you choose to subscribe through their link, they will earn some extra money that supports their channel. Their opinions remain their own and are unaffected by The Motley Fool.