Trump Issues Nuclear Threat To Russia–And Wall Street's Fear Gauge Goes Vertical

If August is historically volatile due to light volumes and summer complacency, the first day of the month in 2025 has already set the stage for a nerve-wracking ride on Wall Street.

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In less than 24 hours, investors were hit with three destabilizing headlines: new sweeping tariffs from President Donald Trump to countries not agreeing on a deal, a surprisingly weak U.S. jobs report, and escalating nuclear rhetoric with Russia.

Trump Moves Two Nuclear Submarines Over Medvedev Comments

“Based on the highly provocative statements of the Former President of Russia, Dmitry Medvedev… I have ordered two Nuclear Submarines to be positioned in the appropriate regions, just in case these foolish and inflammatory statements are more than just that,” Trump wrote Friday on Truth social.

Trump added, "Words are very important, and can often lead to unintended consequences."

This threat follows Trump's tightening ultimatum to Moscow. After initially giving the Kremlin 50 days in July to negotiate peace in Ukraine or face sweeping U.S. sanctions, Trump shortened the deadline last week to just 10–12 days earlier this week.

By Aug. 9, if Russia does not implement a ceasefire, the White House plans to activate harsh secondary sanctions—including a 100% tariff on Russian exports and penalties on nations still purchasing Russian oil.

This move prompted Medvedev to respond on social media X, saying, "Each new ultimatum is a threat and a step towards war — not with Ukraine, but with Trump's own country."

Markets Break Down: VIX Spikes, Stocks Drop Across the Board

Wall Street didn't take the headlines lightly.

By early afternoon in New York, the S&P 500—as tracked by the Vanguard S&P 500 ETF (NYSE:VOO)—was down 1.8%, marking its worst day since April 21.

The Nasdaq 100 fell 2%, with the Invesco QQQ Trust (NASDAQ:QQQ) sliding nearly 3% in two sessions.

The CBOE Volatility Index (VIX), widely known as Wall Street's “fear gauge,” surged 27%—the largest single-day spike since April 7.

Gold rebounded as investors sought haven assets, rising 1.8% to $3,350 per ounce.

Based on Benzinga Pro data, these were the 10 stocks dropping the most in the hour following Trump's threat to Russia:

• Figma Inc. (NASDAQ:FIGM) fell 4.22% to $113.39
• CoreWeave Inc. (NASDAQ:CRWV) declined 2.72% to $103.56
• W.W. Grainger Inc. (NYSE:GWW) dropped 2.11% to $923.52
• Robinhood Markets Inc. (NASDAQ:HOOD) lost 2.00% to $101.13
• Philip Morris International Inc. (NYSE:PM) slid 1.70% to $164.53
• Strategy Global Ltd. (NASDAQ:STGY) fell 1.55% to $373.33
• Marvell Technology Inc. (NASDAQ:MRVL) declined 1.48% to $74.16
• Cloudflare Inc. (NYSE:NET) dropped 1.46% to $203.83
• Deere & Co. (NYSE:DE) slipped 1.17% to $501.48
• Nvidia Corp. (NASDAQ:NVDA) fell 1.13% to $173.13

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