It’s chaos out there—and CEOs are staying off the radar while they shore up alliances with partners

• In today’s CEO Daily: It’s chaos out there — and CEOs tell Diane Brady they are staying off the radar while they shore up alliances with their partners. 
• The big story: Wall Street is losing confidence in Trump.
• The markets: It’s getting worse.
• Analyst notes from Apollo on recession, Goldman Sachs on oil, Convera on the dollar, and Oxford Economics on the Eurozone.
• Plus: All the news and watercooler chat from Fortune.

Good morning. In talking to dozens of CEOs about the current landscape in recent weeks, some common themes have emerged. They hope the tariffs are lifted and the trade war is short. They worry about blowback to their brands and relationships. They want regulatory easing without regulatory chaos. They’re trying to stay focused on the rapid and seismic shift in technology brought about by AI. They want stable markets and stable currency. Many say it’s too early to predict that the era of rules-based law and free trade is over. And they’re reluctant to say much of this on the record. As one CEO of a major financial institution said on Friday: “I’d rather not see my name, my company or even my industry in the headlines right now.”

So what are they doing? To start, they’re deploying more resources to get to know the players in the Trump Administration and keeping a close eye on what’s happening in the courts at the federal and state levels. To paraphrase Bob Dylan, you can’t criticize what you don’t understand. They’re trying to strengthen bonds with customers, vendors, regulators, employees, and board members, especially in key markets outside the U.S.  

And many are looking to organizations like the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, the Business Roundtable, the National Association of Retailers, the American Hospital Association and others to not just represent their interests in Washington but also provide more intelligence on what’s around the corner. (I’ve seen greater interest in our CEO gatherings, too, especially off-the-record dinners like the one we held in New York recently with Canada’s Chrystia Freeland, former Transportation Secretary Elaine Chao and former Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross.) There’s never been a more critical time to talk to peers, especially across industries.

I spoke recently to Sean West, a veteran global affairs expert and cofounder of the software company Hence Technologies, about what companies can do in this environment. West, the author of Unruly: Fighting Back when Politics, AI and Law Upend the Rules of Business, sees a few things happening. Companies, he said, “need to be thinking about, how do you achieve your political aims through the legal system?” That involves more coordination between your legal team and business units. Another big shift is the increased importance of industry groups. “You need to force your industry groups to take a much more combative position than they want to do if you're afraid to do it yourself. Industry groups are no longer just about, kind of quietly slowing down policy-making. They can be a vehicle for safety in numbers.”

More news below.

Contact CEO Daily via Diane Brady at diane.brady@fortune.com

This story was originally featured on Fortune.com