Wall Street falls amid fears of trade war with China

For the third consecutive session the Dow has seen triple-digit losses, wiping out much of last week’s gains, today to the tune of 248  points.  And, as before, jitters over the new tariffs and fears of a trade war, particularly with China, has triggered the continuing sell off.  Also weighing was a fall in retail sales for the third month.  But at 6.5 billion shares traded, volume was a little lighter than average which would indicate that investors are still in wait-and-see mode.  So … we’ll wait and see. 

Wall Street slides on Tillerson exit, tariff worries

Change makes investors nervous so the Dow took a 171 point dive today upon the announcement of the firing of Rex Tillerson.  More uncertainty was presented by way of Politico’s analysis of tariffs hitting $30 billion dollars worth of Chinese imports coming soon and the ramifications thereof.  At 6.9 billion shares traded, volume remains in line with the 4-week average of 7.1 billion.  

Dow, S&P weighed down by tariffs while tech boosts Nasdaq

On Friday, the labor report put the market at ease and made everyone decide that the tariff issue was not a big deal after all.  Today, having taking the weekend to mull it over some more, investors have taken on a renewed concern about the potential deleterious effects the tariffs may have on American companies.  In particular, Boeing and Caterpillar took a dive as two companies seen as most vulnerable to these new policies.  But really, as affirmed by today’s expert, any big multinational firm is now at risk, the Dow taking a 157 point hit on fairly average volume of 6.5 billion shares. 

Succinct Summation of the Week’s Events for 3.9.18 (plus history of DST)

It's weekly summation time with all three major indexes up more than 3 percent this week, regaining much of the ground lost in the February correction.  The labor participation rate was also up 0.3% more than forecast which the market reacted to with great exuberance.  And though it's in the "negative" column that wages rose only a tepid 0.1 percent, that news actually made the market rise as it was interpreted as a sign that inflation was under control.  This Sunday's bonus is a fascinating article from Smithsonian Magazine about the checkered history of Daylight Savings Time, especially appropriate on this particular Sunday when we had to do the traditional spring forward.  A second  bonus is a very easy to read and informative graph which shows us exactly where we should be putting our money right now.  Hope everyone enjoyed this sunny weekend.  Warmer temps will be here by next weekend. 

Taking the Night Off For DST

As we all prepare to spring forward, I'm taking the night off for DST.  See you tomorrow night with the weekly summation. 

Wall Street climbs on bull market's birthday as inflation fears ebb

A lot went right today.  In addition to the easing fears of trade wars and the hint of a thaw in tensions with North Korea, the February jobs report came in much higher than expected and that coupled with a wage report showing only a very modest increase after last month’s whopper increase eased market fears of potential runaway inflation.  Thus the Dow soared, really soared a big 440 points, as did both other major indexes.  This is also the 9^th anniversary of this bull market, the second longest on record, though it’s been pointed out a number of times in this space that there’s been much expert opinion that we’ve had a number of corrections in 9 years so it’s not really nearly as long as everyone supposes.  The Dow is now about 5 percent below the January high which is about halfway back from last month’s low.  The S&P has fared even better, now only 3 percent below the high, 10 percent above February’s low.  Volume was 6.8 billion. 

Wall Street rises as Trump softens tariff plan

The market continues to suffer from tariff-itis though the tamped down rhetoric from the White House has investors a little more at ease today.  The Dow still swung back and forth in a 250 point range, but the upside ended at a +93.  However, the bottom line remains, as today’s expert points out, “He [Trump] dialed it back a little bit, but they’re still tariffs, and we’re still going in the wrong direction …”  Reflecting all the uncertainty is the below average volume of 6.3 billion shares traded as the market sits on the fence waiting to see how this is really going to play out.  Nobody quite believes that things are as they appear.