It's good news that the S&P 500 has staged a mini comeback over the past two days. But it's not great -- the index is still well below the peak and down 3.5% this year. The uncertainty around President Donald Trump's tariffs isn't going away soon.

As the broader market weakened, two assets have kept going up. One is the stock of Berkshire Hathaway, the conglomerate run by billionaire Warren Buffett, which finished at a new record Tuesday. The other is gold, which closed above $3,000 an ounce for the first time.

At first glance, the main thing the two have in common is that they're safe havens. Gold has been used for thousands of years as a store of value.

Buffett doesn't have quite as long a record, but Berkshire's performance is storied impressive. It built up a huge cash pile as the market was rising at the end of last year, and Buffett didn't see any great opportunities. But now that looks prescient -- the stock is up 15% this year, quite a contrast with the S&P. In fact, Berkshire shares have beaten the index over the past three, five, 10, and 20 years.

Of course, Berkshire and gold were also rising along with the rest of the market before the recent slump. Maybe they can be speculative assets, too. It's an illustration of the fact that the reasons for buying can change, and people can buy for different reasons that are contradictory.

The question now is whether the two can keep rising. As seasoned investors know, past performance is no guarantee of future gains. Analysts at ING and UBS say gold can go higher. For what it's worth, most strategists surveyed by FactSet give Berkshire a Hold rating.

The fact that gold and Berkshire shares hit highs on the same day the broader market went up hints that, while investors may be looking for less risk, sentiment hasn't completely soured. That could be a silver lining for stocks.

-- Brian Swint

***

Consumers Are Spending Less. Economists Slash GDP Outlooks.

The consumer spending boom is fading, according to February retail sales, and that could spell trouble for the global economy. The report provides a second month of hard economic data that backs up what consumer sentiment has been signaling for weeks: consumers are increasingly cautious about the economy.

   -- Retail sales rose by 0.2% in February from January, below forecasts for a 
      0.7% increase. Uncertainty around inflation, federal worker layoffs, 
      stock market volatility, and the Trump administration's economic policies, 
      particularly tariffs, have clouded the outlook. 
 
   -- Consumer spending has driven gross domestic product growth in the 
      postpandemic years, offsetting weakness in other sectors such as 
      manufacturing, which remains sluggish. The New York Fed's Empire State 
      index plunged in early March to its lowest point since early last year, 
      signaling a drop in factory activity. 
 
   -- The Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta's GDPNow revised its estimate for 
      first quarter GDP growth to a 2.1% decline. That is down from an estimate 
      for a 1.6% drop in early March. GDPNow roughly forecasts the government's 
      official GDP estimate before it is released. 
 
   -- The Bureau of Economic Activity will publish its advance estimate for 
      first-quarter GDP on April 30. Economists will be looking to the Federal 
      Reserve for real-time insight into economic growth when policymakers 
      release an updated version of their summary of economic projections this 
      Wednesday. 

What's Next: Former Boston Fed President Eric Rosengren told MarketWatch he sees 2025 growth at 1%, down from his prior forecast of 2.4%. And the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development cut its U.S. economic growth projection to 2.2% this year from 2.4%.

-- Sabrina Escobar

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Canada Questions Big Order for Lockheed Jet Fighters

Canada is questioning its order for 88 Lockheed Martin F-35 jet fighters, adding to the defense contractor's recent turmoil amid U.S. leadership changes and questions about its technological viability. The jets are equipped with the latest stealth and other technologies.

   -- Canadian Defense Minister Bill Blair has discussed examining alternatives 
      for the Canadian Air Force with new Prime Minister Mark Carney. Of course, 
      Canada is also facing new tariffs imposed by the Trump administration and 
      the president's repeated calls for the nation to become the 51st U.S. 
      state. 
 
   -- Lockheed said it values its continued partnership with the Canadian Air 
      Force. Overall, it has received about 3,500 orders for the 
      fifth-generation F-35 jets, with 1,100 of them in use around the world. 
      The U.S., Russia, and China are the only nations with significant 
      fifth-generation capacity. 
 
   -- Canada could choose fourth-generation jets but the options are dwindling. 
      Boeing plans to end its F-18 Super Hornet production in 2027. Airbus 
      makes the fourth-generation Eurofighter Typhoon. Saab makes the 
      fourth-generation Gripen, and Dassault Aviation makes the Rafale. 
 
   -- Canada's potential move comes amid Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth's 
      sweeping internal review of Pentagon programs and Elon Musk's Department 
      of Government Efficiency. Musk has questioned the efficacy of F-35s 
      versus drones. 

What's Next: Canada spends less than 2% of its gross domestic product on national defense, falling below guidelines set by the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, something that has upset the Trump administration. Blair sees Canada reaching that target between 2027 and 2030.

-- Al Root, Adam Clark, and Janet H. Cho

***

President Complains About Biden's Use of Autopen. What, Again?

The flurry of pardons issued by President Joe Biden in his final days in office looks poised to face a legal challenge by the Trump administration because they were signed with autopen. While legal experts have dismissed the assertions, they raised broader questions about the widespread use of electronic signatures.

   -- President Donald Trump declared void Biden's pardons of congressional 
      committee members who investigated the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol Hill attack. 
      But legal experts say the law is clear on the use of autopen, a device 
      for signing official documents that has been used by previous presidents 
      including Barack Obama. 
 
   -- Thomas Jefferson, the third U.S. president, used a precursor device at 
      the start of the 19th century, Smithsonian reports. Among modern 
      presidents, Harry Truman and Gerald Ford also used them to sign various 
      types of documents. Signatures aren't even needed for pardons, says 
      Georgetown Law professor David Super. 
 
   -- The Justice Department's Office of Legal Counsel says autopen is fair 
      game. The president can sign a bill by directing a subordinate to affix 
      the president's signature to such a bill, for example by autopen, it 
      says. Trump's comments, on social media Sunday night, seem to be another 
      example of his defiance of legal norms. 
 
   -- Bruce Schulman, American political historian and history professor at 
      Boston University, tells Barron's that a legal fight is likely. "In 
      practical terms, what Trump says will have force unless the courts rule 
      against Trump, the appeal process is exhausted in a final judgment, and 
      the Trump administration complies with the court," he said. 

What's Next: The 2000 E-Sign Act said electronic signatures carry the same weight as digital ones, and all 50 states have similar laws. It covers many types of contracts, including car loans, giving a boost to e-signature providers such as DocuSign and Adobe.

-- Anita Hamilton and Liz Moyer

***

Google Parent Resumes Talks to Buy Cloud Cybersecurity Firm Wiz

Alphabet is in fresh talks to acquire cybersecurity company Wiz after a deal fell apart last year. The Google parent is now again on track to close a $30 billion deal that has the potential to significantly strengthen its cloud business -- in which growth decelerated during the last quarter.

   -- The two companies are in advanced talks for a $30 billion deal that could 
      close soon, The Wall Street Journal reported Monday, citing people 
      familiar with the matter. Neither company immediately responded to a 
      Barron's request for comment. 
 
   -- Barring any last-minute setbacks, it would be significantly bigger than 
      Alphabet's most expensive acquisition to date -- the $12.5 billion 
      purchase of Motorola Mobility in 2012. 
 
   -- The tech companies were close to reaching a $23 billion deal last year 
      under the former Biden administration and Federal Trade Commission Chair 
      Lina Khan, but talks failed amid concerns about the time it would take to 
      overcome regulatory hurdles and disagreement on whether Wiz would become 
      part of Alphabet's cloud-computing business or remain its own unit. 

What's Next: While Khan tried to rein in Big Tech, investors should see the unfolding of an Alphabet-Wiz deal as an indicator of the appetite of her successor Andrew Ferguson to approve deals. He was appointed by President Donald Trump so his response will set the tone for dealmaking under this administration.

-- Elsa Ohlen

***

Robinhood Users Can Bet On Fed Moves, 'March Madness'

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