Passing a challenge shouldn’t feel impossible. Lark’s 3-step targets are just 5% → 4% → 3%—with no daily loss limit and resets at 75% off.

Use code APRIL90 for 9% off + 90% profit splits.

☕️ GM Munchers! If you were hoping the market would sleep off last week’s chaos over the weekend—bad news. It woke up Monday, skipped breakfast, and dove headfirst into another panic attack. Futures are tanking, and we’re breaking down why.

On today’s menu:

• 📉 Worst Week Since Covid

• 🤔 Is Bitcoin Finally Decoupling?

• 🤒 Why Is Gold Crashing?

• 💥 Oil Crashes Below $60 a Barrel

• 👀 How This Crash Compares To Previous

• 🤑 Warren Buffett Remains The GOAT

BREAKING NEWS

📉 Worst Week Since Covid

If your trading account looks anything like mine after last week, you might wanna pour something stronger into that coffee mug this morning.

After Trump's tariff tsunami slammed the markets throughout last week, traders hoped we'd at least get some relief heading into the weekend.

Spoiler alert: we didn't.

On Friday alone, the Dow crashed 2,231 points (down 5.5%), ending at 38,315.

The S&P wasn't much better—plunging nearly 6%, landing at 5,074, with the Nasdaq dropping another 5.8% to 15,588. Ouch.

But hey, it’s not all bad news, right? At least we finally broke a record.

Yep, last week marked the worst trading performance since the good ol' Covid crash days of 2020.

Here’s how ugly things got over the entire week:

• Dow Jones: down 7.86%

  

• S&P 500: cratered 9.08%

  

• Nasdaq: down 10.02% (officially in "hide your portfolio from your spouse" territory)

  

• Russell 2000: dropped 9.7%

And here I thought my New Year's resolution to stop checking my portfolio every 5 minutes was going to hold.

Thanks a lot, Trump.

So, what exactly happened?

The big bad wolf in last week’s market fairytale: Trump's global tariffs.

After hitting dozens of countries with steep import duties, China fired back late in the week with reciprocal tariffs against the U.S. (the trade-war version of saying "right back at ya").

The biggest losers? 😢 

Export-dependent economies—especially those down under.

The Australian dollar (AUD) tanked by 3%, and New Zealand’s dollar (NZD) dropped by 2% against the greenback.

Ironically, despite all the chaos, Friday’s jobs data actually came in hot—like annoyingly strong hot.

Non-farm payrolls surged by 228K, smashing expectations (only 135K were forecast). Unemployment stayed relatively tame at 4.2%, and wages grew by 0.3% month-over-month.

Normally, traders would celebrate this news harder than a Fed pause, but instead, they panicked that inflation might stick around longer. Go figure.

Bonds, Oil, and Other Disasters

With stocks getting pummeled, traders ran faster than Usain Bolt into bonds for safety. Yields took a nosedive, with the 10-year treasury hitting 4.013% (down 16 basis points for the week).

Oil markets? Even messier.

Crude oil dropped 12.19%, ending Friday at $61.99/barrel, marking its worst weekly slide since March 2023.

OPEC+ throwing extra barrels (411,000 per day starting May 2025) onto a global economy already worried about slowing growth didn’t exactly help.

Bottom Line for Traders:

If you're wondering when this will end, you're not alone.

Traders fear the market is entering a prolonged "risk-off" phase, fueled by tariff-induced inflation, retaliatory trade moves, and central banks caught between recession fears and stubborn price pressures.

My best trading advice?

Maybe take a walk outside today, hug your family, and resist looking at your trading account until things cool down. (No promises I’ll take my own advice.)

BROUGHT TO YOU BY

Tired of Challenges? Try Instant Funding.

Lark Funding just made Instant Funding even better.

✅ Max drawdown: 8%
✅ Daily loss limit: 5%
✅ Leverage: 50:1

No challenges. No waiting. First payout on demand.
Just pure trading freedom from day one.

🎁 Use code APRIL90 for 9% off, 90% profit split, and a free bonus account after payout.

👉 Get Funded Instantly

CRYPTO

🤔 Is Bitcoin Finally Decoupling?

Bitcoin maxis have long said one thing:
“It’s digital gold, bro.”

Only 21 million coins will ever exist, and unlike Uncle Sam’s money printer, Bitcoin doesn’t come with a QE button. That’s why, in theory, when the Fed floods the market with dollars, Bitcoin is supposed to moon.

And for a while, it did.
2020-2021? Absolute rocket fuel.

But there’s been one pesky problem...

Whenever markets panic, Bitcoin usually doesn’t play the “safe haven” role. It panics too.

Case in point: March 2020.
Stocks crashed.
Bitcoin crashed harder.
Down 60% in two weeks.

So much for “uncorrelated.”

But something weird happened last week…

While the S&P 500 got body-slammed—two straight days of -5% drops for only the second time in history—Bitcoin… didn’t flinch.

All week it bounced between $89K and $81K, like that one chill dude at the party who’s totally unbothered by the chaos.

People started whispering the word.
Decoupling.

“Is this it?”
“Is Bitcoin finally breaking free from stocks?”
“Is this the moment it becomes a real store of value?”

And it was looking good… until Sunday night.

That’s when Bitcoin pulled a “just kidding” and dropped over 6%, falling to $78K.

So… has Bitcoin decoupled?

Not quite. Maybe it’s just fashionably late to the panic party.

But one thing’s for sure:
In a world full of inflation, interest rate whiplash, and trade war drama, the pressure to find assets that hold value is higher than ever.

And if Bitcoin keeps shrugging off market volatility?
It might just earn that “digital gold” title after all.

Stay tuned.

COMMODITIES

🤒 Why Is Gold Crashing?

Wait… isn’t gold supposed to protect us in times like this?

Markets are in free fall, fear is everywhere, and yet gold is… down 6% in just 4 days?

What happened to the good ol’ “safe haven” narrative?

Let’s break it down.

First: Stocks are getting smoked.

And when traders sell stocks, they’re not trading them for goats or crypto—they’re trading them for dollars.
That surge in dollar demand pushes the USD higher.

And what’s gold priced in?

You guessed it—USD.

So as the dollar strengthens, gold (which is priced in dollars) becomes more expensive for global buyers. That weaker demand pulls the price down.

This is why your grandpa always says, “Cash is king, especially when the kingdom’s on fire.”

It’s the same reason we saw gold drop during the Covid crash in March 2020. People weren’t piling into precious metals—they were hoarding dollars like toilet paper.

Second: It’s a reminder that risk sentiment rules all.

Traders love narratives like “digital gold” and “inflation hedge,” but in true risk-off environments, most people just want one thing: liquidity.

And cash? Well, it doesn’t get more liquid than that.

So while gold can be a hedge over the long run, it’s not immune to the gravitational pull of panic.

TLDR:

• Stocks down? People want cash.

• USD up? Gold down.

• Risk off? Liquidity wins.

As a trader, understanding this inverse relationship is key. Because whether it's Bitcoin, gold, or soybeans—you’re not trading assets, you're trading sentiment.

PROP FIRMS

🤑 Monday Motivation

🚀 Pre-Market Fuel

1. Oil crashes below $60 a barrel for the first time since 2021.

2. How does this crash compare to previous, historic crashes?

3. Warren Buffett compared to other billionaires.

4. US versus Canada. The labour market comparison is incredible.

5. Trump’s comments last night on Air Force One regarding the stock market crash.

6. Need a laugh? Check the comments to this post.

🍪 Munchy Memes

Share Pip Munch

Chances are you have some trading friends. Why don’t you be a pal, share Pip Munch and earn some goodies for it?

You currently have 0 referrals, only 1 away from receiving The Trading Plan That Helped Me Pass 4 $100,000 FTMO Challenges.

Or copy and paste this link to others: https://pipmunch.com/subscribe?ref=PLACEHOLDER