Tariffs cause new tumult for dealmakers

• Digging a bit deeper, however, showed that both the global and U.S. markets got busier as the quarter progressed. Particularly when it came to large mergers.
• That means we entered Q2 with momentum. Not the raucous energy that many dealmakers expected after Trump got elected, but still up and to the right.

State of play: Wednesday may have changed everything.

• It's way too early to know if we're at the start of a protracted trade war that wrecks global economies, or what will prove to be a short-lived skirmish.
• Such tumult, however, becomes a brick wall for many companies planning long-term investments like acquisitions. Plus, sellers may hold back while their valuations plunge.
• It also creates major challenges for the booming AI market, and everything that springs from it, in terms of data center construction.
• Uncertainty is the only certainty. But there are degrees to that statement, and right now the global economy is running a fever.

What they're saying: "We've gone from animal spirits to animal hibernation," Sen. Dave McCormick (R-Pa.), former CEO of Bridgewater Associates, yesterday told CNBC.

• One Twitter user replied that it might be closer to "animal abuse."

The bottom line: A top bank exec told Axios in January that everyone would have a much better sense of the deal market during Milken than during Davos. That seems to be bearing out.