The Supreme Court's approval rating hit a record low. Republicans stopped liking them. The reason? The Trump administration lost cases on tariffs, birthright citizenship, and the Federal Reserve in 2026.
You know what else hit record lows? Every trader who thought Supreme Court rulings mattered to their positions. They read the headlines. They panic-sold their ETFs. They bought puts on America or whatever the f*ck TikTok told them to do.
Here's what actually happened to the market after these rulings: absolutely nothing you could trade. The S&P moved on seventeen other things that same week. Earnings. A jobs report. Some Fed member coughing during a speech. But sure, the birthright citizenship case was the catalyst for your AMD shares cratering.
Retail traders treat Supreme Court decisions like earnings beats. They don't read the opinions. They read the headline, assume it means buy or sell, then blame the system when their account goes red. One guy definitely mortgaged his house to short the dollar because the Fed case went the wrong way. He's currently explaining to his wife that judicial precedent is actually very bullish if you squint.
The best part? Approval ratings for the Supreme Court have zero correlation with market returns. None. You could poll a thousand people about their feelings on judicial independence and it would tell you less about future price action than a ouija board. But that won't stop some dipshit from creating a Supreme Court sentiment indicator and selling it as a trading signal.
The Court ruled against tariffs and birthright citizenship changes. The administration lost. Republicans got mad. And somewhere, a day trader with $847 in buying power is convinced this creates an arbitrage opportunity in treasury futures.
The Supreme Court doesn't care about your calls, your puts, or your approval rating of them.
Photo by Fine Photographics on Unsplash
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