Day #2 of the oil debacle has sent the Dow down another 631 points and putting the market in worsening fears of a deep economic downturn as oil traders have run out of places to keep their deliveries and are therefore paying buyers to take it away.  The focus now is even more intense on Q1 which is expected to be bad.  But as long as it’s not as bad as expected (which has been the trend for some time now), the market will still improve.  Let’s see what happens on that score.  As today’s expert said – will this prove to be a consolidation or is it instead the beginning of a bigger pullback?  The S&P has now recovered about half of the losses from the March low, but it was up nearly 2/3 a couple days ago so there’s been some backtracking.  An important business activity survey is due out Thursday and is expected to be recession-era low.  Netflix is about the only company that is doing well as everyone streams video as they shelter in place.  Volume remains consistent at about 12 billion. 

Tue  APRIL 21, 2020 / 4:27 pm 

Wall Street tumbles as oil crash stirs pandemic fears

Noel Randewich

DJ:  23,650.44  -592.05        NAS:  8,560.73  -89.41         S&P:  2,823.16  -51.40      4/20

DJ:  23,018.88  -631.56        NAS:  8,263.23  -297.50       S&P:  2,736.56  -86.60      4/21

(Reuters) - Wall Street tumbled for a second straight day on Tuesday as a collapse in U.S. oil prices and glum forecasts by companies worsened fears of a deep economic downturn.  All 11 S&P 500 sector indexes fell 1.6% or more, with energy .SPNY sliding for the seventh time in eight sessions a day after the WTI contract CLc1 crashed below zero as oil traders ran out of storage for May deliveries.

With the collapse spilling into June futures contracts, equity investors became wary of the extent of the economic damage from sweeping lockdown measures that have halted business activity and sparked millions of layoffs. [O/R]  The S&P information technology index .SPLRCT slumped 4.1%, while the financial index .SPSY dropped 3.2%. After many companies pulled their forecasts because of uncertainty related to the coronavirus, investors will focus in the coming days on first-quarter reports for signs of how badly the pandemic is hurting U.S. corporations.

The benchmark S&P 500 index .SPX has climbed over 20% from its March low, powered by trillions of dollars in stimulus, but it remain nearly 20% below its February high due to fears of devastating economic damage caused by the coronavirus.  “What you’re seeing is pulling back in the areas that have done well, and taking profits while you can,” said Quincy Krosby, a market strategist at Prudential Financial in Newark, New Jersey. “The question will be whether this is a consolidation after the market ran up so quickly, or is this the beginning of a more important pullback in the overall market?”  U.S. jobless claims hit 22 million in the past month 

 as companies launched dramatic cost-saving measures to ride out the slump, and readings of U.S. business activity surveys, due on Thursday, are likely to plummet to recession-era lows. 

Coca-Cola Co (KO.N) provided the latest evidence of the damage wrought by the global health crisis, saying its current-quarter results would take a severe hit from low demand for its soft drinks. Its stock fell 2.5%.  International Business Machines Corp (IBM.N) declined 3% after the company withdrew its 2020 annual forecast late on Monday.  In extended trade, Netflix (NFLX.O) surged 2.6% after the streaming video company reported more paid subscribers than expected in the first quarter.  Also after the bell, Texas Instruments (TXN.O) rose 3% following its quarterly report. 

During Tuesday's session, the Dow Jones Industrial Average .DJI fell 2.67% to end at 23,018.88 points, while the S&P 500 .SPX lost 3.07% to 2,736.57.  The Nasdaq Composite .IXIC dropped 3.48% to 8,263.23. 

Declining issues outnumbered advancing ones on the NYSE by a 4.27-to-1 ratio; on Nasdaq, a 3.18-to-1 ratio favored decliners.  The S&P 500 posted one new 52-week high and no new lows; the Nasdaq Composite recorded 25 new highs and 34 new lows.

Volume on U.S. exchanges was 12.1 billion shares, compared with a 13.2 billion-share average for the full session over the last 20 trading days.