(Note language in paragraph 13)

*

Acronyms reflect volatility and uncertainty in Trump-era

markets

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Investment strategies capitalize on Trump's policies and

international goals

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Acronyms like TACO and MEGA highlight market reactions to

Trump's actions

By Stephen Culp and Suzanne McGee

NEW YORK, May 30 (Reuters) - Four months into President

Donald Trump's second term, market observers have taken a cue

from his fondness for condensing slogans into catchy acronyms

like MAGA, DOGE and MAHA, and devised a few of their own that

have been spreading across trading desks.

Even those acronyms that do not directly reflect a specific

trading strategy, still capture factors that traders say are

important in Trump-era markets, such as volatility and

uncertainty, that investors need to consider when making

decisions.

Some of the new labels are associated with investment

strategies that aimed to capitalized on Trump's economic and

trade polices, and international relations goals. Others riff

off economic implications or his abrupt U-turns as markets and

trade partners react to his proposals.

The "Trump Trade" that played on the Make America Great

Again theme in the wake of his November election victory and

January inauguration, and contributed to record highs on Wall

Street in February, is hardly discussed now that stocks, the

dollar and Treasury bonds have succumbed to worries about his

tariff polices.

"Post the election, we heard a lot about YOLO (You Only Live

Once), which seemed to promote taking outsize risks in a

concentrated investment theme," Art Hogan, strategist at B.

Riley Wealth, said.

YOLO, is an acronym used to describe the tendency that was

part of that Trump trade to chase high momentum strategies such

as cryptocurrency. "While the term YOLO was popular for a period

of time, it goes against all traditional advice," Hogan said.

Here are of few more acronyms that have gotten play in the

investment world in recent weeks:

** TACO (Trump Always Chickens Out) - This one coined by a

Financial Times columnist, has been used as a way to describe

Trump's to-ing and fro-ing on tariffs in the wake of his April 2

"Liberation Day" speech. When asked about TACO in a recent press

conference, the president lashed out, calling the question

"nasty"

"Where we end up might not be too far from what he promised

on the campaign trail. So, does he always chicken out? I

wouldn't go as far as to say that," said Christian DiClementi,

fixed income portfolio manager at AllianceBernstein.

"I think that he wants to rebalance the economy without

pushing it off a cliff. And we're watching that being executed

in real time. I think some of the ideas are thought out and some

of them change on the fly."

** MEGA (Make Europe Great Again) - Mega first coined last

year to address European competitiveness, resurfaced this Spring

as a way to describe the flurry of investor interest in and

flows into European markets. MEGA hats, spoofing their MAGA

counterparts, are easily purchased online It's been revived by

investors and traders in light of the outperformance European

stocks in the immediate aftermath of Trump's "Liberation Day"

tariffs bombshell.

** MAGA (Make America Go Away) - While the original Trump

Trade was also known as the MAGA trade, this variation cribbed

the president's motto, first appearing in response to Vice

President JD Vance's brief and unfruitful visit to Greenland,

the autonomous territory of Denmark, which Trump has expressed

interest in annexing. At least one Canadian investor says that

quip is making the rounds of trading desks in Toronto and

Montreal and sparking "wishful thinking" about simply boycotting

U.S. investments.

** FAFO (Fuck Around and Find Out) - Although the acronym

also came into being well before Trump's inauguration, it is

being heard with increasing frequency in trading desk

conversations. It is used to capture the financial market's

volatility and chaos that Trump's policymaking process has

created. Mark Spindel, chief investment officer of Potomac River

Capital LLC, described the market as being caught in a "pinball

machine as a result of that policymaking process."

When reached for comment, White House spokesman Kush Desai

said in an email "these asinine acronyms convey how unserious

analysts have consistently beclowned themselves by mocking

President Trump and his agenda that've already delivered

multiple expectation-beating jobs and inflation reports,

trillions in investment commitments, a historic UK trade

agreement, and rising consumer confidence."