Yup. We’re excited too. That’s because XCF CEO Mihir Dange dropped by to chat with us on Monday as his sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) business made its IPO in real time!

Then on Wednesday, we welcomed back our favorite Macromarkets gurus–Claudia Sahm and Ophir Gottlieb–to discuss tariffs, trade talks with China, and Trump’s Big Beautiful Bill. 

The last time we had Claudia and Ophir on was April 3rd. That was the day after Liberation Day. At the time, they didn’t like what they were seeing. Neither did the markets. That was the beginning of a dramatic selloff, followed by three weeks of insane volatility.

But as far as the markets are concerned…

After finding the bottom in late April, the markets have rallied without looking back. In fact, as we cruise into the summer with the Nasdaq and S&P 500 approaching all-time highs, it’s practically like April never even happened. 

Ophir acknowledges that the markets and the media were right to react with panic when the president first unveiled his staggering tariffs. 

“The initial impulse was appropriate,” he says. “You couldn’t have overdone it. It was bad.”

But the most dramatic of Trump’s proposed tariffs have not come to fruition, and investors are cautiously optimistic. After announcing a series of massive levies on trade partners and penguins alike, Trump scaled down his biggest threats.

As Claudia explains, “The tariffs rates are notably higher than they were at the beginning of the year but they are in a manageable range. This is definitely a cost factor for some companies. It’s a hit, but it’s not a catastrophic hit to the economy.”

Wednesday also brought a promising CPI report. The key index for measuring inflationary trends rose just .1% in May, suggesting a muted impact from tariffs…so far. 

But, Claudia says, “We’re really just at the forefront of seeing the impact of the tariff policies. The CPI for May looked good. If not for the tariff concerns, this would be good.”

But we really can’t rule out the possibility of more tariffs to come. 

“Because it’s an executive order,” says Ophir, “[the President] can change his mind everyday.”

Traditionally, tariffs are the business of the legislative branch. Trump’s flip-of-the-switch negotiation tactics depend on his ability to bypass this branch.

“Can you imagine going to Congress…several times?” said Ophir.

The reality is that Trump’s unilateral control over tariffs by executive order still has business owners scrambling. 

“There’s a lot of pressure on the whole system, and for businesses that have been trying to navigate this,” says Claudia. 

Speaking of hedge mazes…

Ever wonder what kind of obstacle course you have to run to go from the seedling of an idea to the moment of making an Initial Public Offering (IPO) on a major U.S. exchange? We wondered the very same thing. 

Fortunately, XCF CEO Mihir Dange brought us in for front-row seats. 

On Monday, June 9th, XCF Global Capital debuted on the Nasdaq under the ticker SAFX. With that, XCF became the very first “publicly traded pure-play SAF producer in the United States.”

Mihir tells us that there were a lot of twists and turns on the way to this moment. Many years and countless hours of hard work helped bring XCF to this point. 

“When the bell rang, that was a different feeling…to see the ticker, to see it trading,” said Mihir,  “It’s a surreal feeling.”

Not only that, but it’s an extremely exciting inflection point for sustainable aviation fuel (SAF). 

“The decarbonization of the aviation industry has taken a back seat for a long time,” says Mihir. 

Not only is XCF poised to put aviation biofuels in the cockpit, but now, for the first time ever, everyday investors can come along for the ride. 

To find out more about XCF, what it’s like to build toward an IPO, and why Mihir thinks the GOP’s proposed spending bill would be “a big win” for the biofuels industry, check out the whole episode. 

To find out why Claudia and Ophir believe the spending bill would only deepen America’s budget deficit, check out this week’s Macromarkets episode.