President Trump's praise of a controversial ad campaign gave American Eagle a boost, but his tariffs weigh heavier than words. "CBS Evening News" co-anchor John Dickerson explains.

Washington

The American Eagle Apparel Company experienced a surge in its stock price following a high-profile advertising campaign featuring actress Sidney Sweeney, which drew praise from former President Trump and sparked public debate. However, despite the positive narrative and investor enthusiasm, the company's shares later fell after Bank of America downgraded the stock, citing pressure from tariffs imposed during the Trump administration.

This situation illustrates the ongoing tension between the power of market narratives and the realities of economic fundamentals such as tariffs, costs, and consumer behavior. While the advertising campaign generated attention and a temporary boost in stock price, actual store foot traffic declined and the company's CFO had previously warned about the negative impact of tariffs. The report underscores that while narratives can influence markets in the short term, economic data and fundamentals ultimately assert themselves.

When economic data outruns the narrative

Which is more fixed, the effects of good genes or the effects of tariffs? This is the question posed by the story of the American Eagle Apparel Company. In August, you'll remember its ad campaign featuring the actress Sidney Sweeney and the tagline, Sidney Sweeney has great genes. It caused a lot of comment. President Trump praised it. Shares of the company surged. The market treating Trump's approval as a buy signal. Today, shares fell after Bank of America downgraded the company citing pressure from Trump's tariffs. This whipsaw captures a broader Trump-era tension. When do fundamentals, tariffs, costs, consumer behavior, assert themselves and when does narrative power? The Sweeney ad sparked debates about body image, race, sexualization. Trump linked the actress to the Republican Party and said the campaign was proof of cultural momentum. The stock spike showed the power of narratives. But even as shares soared, foot traffic to American Eagle's stores dropped 9% that week. The narrative drove investors. Consumers walked the other way. Fundamentals don't vanish. American Eagle's CFO had warned about tariffs months ago. That reality drove the recent Bank of America analysis. The Sweeney ad's wordplay hinted at biological determinism, good genes as destiny. Economics has its own hard laws. Tariffs function as a tax on U.S. companies and consumers. The Trump administration has promoted tariffs as if they're cost-free revenue from abroad. When the Congressional Budget Office recently projected trillions in tariff revenue, the president cited it as proof that his policies had paid off. But those gains come from import taxes paid by American firms and families. Which will rule the economy in the future, the narrative or the data? An inflation report at the end of the week will give a hint. In the ongoing marketing campaign to reorganize the American economy through tariff policy, the question is whether the genes we're talking about are the kind that determine the unbreakable rules that run the economy or the kind of genes that can stretch to fit.

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Middle East Conflict

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Baltimore

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Kyiv

Ukraine Invasion

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Chicago

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Jerusalem

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Maryland

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Los Angeles

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Las Vegas

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Bethesda

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Nashville

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Breakdown