Study after study, headline after headline, and now earnings report after earnings report are showing the same thing: Business leaders are having a difficult time planning and managing in the current situation of economic volatility. But Deloitte’s annual Q1 CFO Signals report likely captures the CFO’s situation more clearly than anything else right now: The firm opted not to issue the report given the major changes in the macroeconomic picture in such a short amount of time.

An email Deloitte sent me last week said that they fielded the survey in late February. In just two months, “we believe the results may no longer accurately reflect the current sentiment of CFOs.”

Today is President Donald Trump’s 100th day in office, and the administration’s new policies have forced business leaders to reassess their long and short-term plans, supply chains, budgets, customer base, and go-to-market strategies. And then, sometimes just days later, changes or reversals come from the executive branch, forcing businesses to start from zero and start figuring out their plans again. The outlook and ideas from late February can seem like they’re from a past year, not just a past month.

It’s not known if and when the frenetic pace of change will slow down, and what it will mean for business. Trump received some support as he campaigned on tax cuts and fewer regulations. The tax cuts he instituted in his first term are on their way to an extension, and regulatory changes have been relatively slow to come. But without some clarity and stability on the economy and global trade, it may be hard for any business to plan much further than the immediate future, which could make for a very long 1,361 days left in Trump’s presidency.

One company that is optimistic about its future is fast-casual restaurant chain Cava. The Mediterranean food eatery has been on a growth path not only through its food choices, but by making customers and employees feel welcomed. I talked to CFO Tricia Tolivar about Cava’s view of the future. An excerpt from our conversation is later in this newsletter.

Brand new Subaru cars sit in a storage lot at Auto Warehouse Co. in Richmond, California last month.

Last week was very good on Wall Street, especially compared to earlier this month. The Nasdaq rose 8.29%, while the S&P 500 saw gains of 5.59% and the Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 3.1%. Markets mostly held steady on Monday. What caused the markets to rise last week seemed to be the absence of chaos and optimism that new tariff deals would be announced soon. Last Tuesday, Trump said that he had “no intention of firing” Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell, following several days of insulting and threatening him with termination on social media. On Wednesday, he said the current 145% tariffs on Chinese goods would “come down substantially.”

Even though Trump sounded like he was softening his tariff stance, there wasn’t much progress in the last week. On Thursday, Chinese officials said there had been no motion in trade negotiations with the U.S., and reiterated that they want Trump to drop all unilateral tariffs. Chinese Ministry of Commerce spokesperson He Yadong said China is open to talks, but any such dialogue must be “conducted on an equal footing and based on mutual respect,” and the U.S. must correct its “wrong practices” before engaging with Beijing.

Tuesday morning, the Trump Administration confirmed a Wall Street Journal

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