To the Editor: Barron's cover story " The Mag 7 Stocks Have Gotten Crushed. Buy These 4 Now" (March 14) highlights the group's declines from 52-week highs, ranging from negative 19.0% to negative 49.8%. Andrew Bary summarizes the conundrum with such descriptions as "fewest warts," "fall from grace," "China problem," and "fully priced."

As a longtime small-cap investor, I take a different approach. The small-cap space remains in obscurity, which translates into a huge price/value disparity for selected individual stocks. What is needed to avoid statistically cheap value traps is a major upside catalyst driving prices higher. Enter large players looking for complementary acquisitions to increase critical mass and scale and thereby fulfill growth objectives.

Rob Suthe Bethesda, Md.

Spending: On Hold

To the Editor: Andy Serwer explores how and why President Donald Trump exerts his influence over the economy and stock market (" When Does This Become a Trump Market and a Trump Economy?" Up & Down Wall Street, March 14). Trump's inconsistent approach to tariffs and his aggressive attitude toward our traditional allies has unsettled both retail and institutional investors and forced industrial concerns and consumers to put spending plans on hold.

Bill Gottdenker Mountainside, N.J.

Musk's Bright Idea

To the Editor: You reap what you sow (" Tesla Stock Falls on Hard Times. What to Do Now," March 14). Elon Musk has damaged the fine reputation that Tesla once enjoyed because of a wildly inflated ego, which led him to believe that he would be the most highly qualified candidate to function as Trump's government efficiency expert. In essence, Musk sacrificed nearly half of Tesla's market cap to prove he is largely incapable of reducing governmental inefficiency. How bright an idea was that?

Bruce Greenberg On Barrons.com

Cuts With Teeth

To the Editor: Kenneth G. Pringle's article " Trump Follows Other Presidents Who Promised Government Cuts. Here's What They Actually Did" (The Back Story, March 14) might have included President Reagan's Grace Commission, on which I served. We identified $424 billion of federal government cost savings over three years. The savings were projected to grow to $1.9 trillion by the year 2000.

A key element of Grace Commission savings was our methodology, which realized that congressional approval was necessary to achieve our identified cost savings. This approach meant that cost savings actions became permanent since we didn't rely on executive orders alone.

Mark Mishler Morristown, N.J.

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March 21, 2025 18:43 ET (22:43 GMT)

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