Written by Gary
U.S. stocks fell sharply on Thursday, pressured by worries of a potential trade war and a decline in tech shares. The broader market was also pressured by a decline in bank stocks. The Dow Jones industrial average dropped 724.42 points to close at 23,957.89, with Caterpillar, 3M and Boeing as the biggest decliners. The 2.9% decline was the worst since Feb. 8. and at one point the DJIA was down 10% from the all-time high. The Dollar Index closed up 0.2% while WTI crude lost 1.3% and spot gold was down 0.34%.
Todays S&P 500 Chart
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The Market in Perspective
| Here are the headlines moving the markets. | |
 | Trump edges closer to China tariffs, appears to avert trade warWASHINGTON (Reuters) – U.S. President Donald Trump signed a presidential memorandum on Thursday that could impose tariffs on up to $60 billion of imports from China, although his action was far removed from threats that could have ignited a global trade war. |
| Stocks tumble to worst day in six weeks after Trump tariff actionNEW YORK (Reuters) – U.S. stocks slumped on Thursday as President Donald Trump’s move to impose tariffs on up to $60 billion of Chinese imports drove fears about the impact on the global economy, fueling the biggest percentage declines in Wall Street’s three major indexes since they entered correction territory six weeks ago. |
| Investors, lawmakers, advertisers pressure Facebook over dataWASHINGTON/LONDON (Reuters) – Facebook Inc came under further pressure from lawmakers, investors, advertisers and users on Thursday, the day after Chief Executive Mark Zuckerberg admitted the social media network made mistakes in letting 50 million users’ data get into the hands of political consultancy Cambridge Analytica. |
| Exclusive: China to respond to U.S. tariffs, resist protectionism – WTO envoyGENEVA (Reuters) – China is preparing a range of responses to planned U.S. tariffs and will stand up to protectionism, but still hopes for dialogue, Beijing’s ambassador to the World Trade Organization (WTO) said on Thursday. |
| U.S. Justice Department urges judge to block AT&T-Time Warner mergerWASHINGTON (Reuters) – President Donald Trump’s administration urged a federal judge on Thursday to block AT&T Inc’s proposed $85 billion merger with Time Warner Inc, saying the deal would hand the company a “weapon” to harm competition and raise consumer prices. |
| Nike tops revenue, profit estimates on strong global sales(Reuters) – Nike Inc’s quarterly revenue and profit beat analysts’ estimates on Thursday, helped by robust demand in its international markets and initiatives such as selling directly to customers. |
| Ackman exits Nike stake with $100 million in profit: source(Reuters) – Investor William Ackman has stepped out of his Nike sneakers, at least in a financial sense. |
| Goldman Sachs CEO says sovereign balance sheets look riskyBOSTON (Reuters) – Goldman Sachs Group Inc Chief Executive Lloyd Blankfein said on Thursday sovereign country balance sheets look risky to him as deficits become a larger percentage of their gross domestic product. |
| Citi sets restrictions on gun sales by retail clients(Reuters) – Citigroup Inc added restrictions on firearms sales for new retail-sector clients, the Wall Street bank said on Thursday, the strongest move to date by a major U.S. lender following last month’s high school shooting in Florida. |
| China Responds: “Not Afraid Of Trade War”, Vows To “Fight To The End”Earlier today we laid out the various ways in which China can retaliate to today’s official start of trade warfare between Washington and Beijing (of which the “trade war heavy” scenario was especially troublesome), and said that at this point all there is to do is watch and wait as China unveils next steps. It did just that when the Chinese Embassy in the US issued a statement in response to the “Section 301” investigation, in which it said that the US, “ignoring rational voices” has engaged in a “typical unilateral trade protectionist action” which “China is firmly opposes.” The embassy then said that while China “does not want a trade war with anyone”, it is “not afraid of and will not recoil from a trade war.” Furthermore, Beijing is “confident and capable of facing any challenge.” It then warns Trump that “if a trade war were initiated by the U.S.” which it just was a little after noon Eastern, “China would fight to the end to defend its own legitimate interests with all necessary measures.” Ultimately, China warns that “the actions undertaken by the U.S. are self-defeating. They will directly harm the interests of U.S. consumers, companies, and financial markets. They also jeopardize international trade order and world economic stability.” And in a plea that will fall on deaf ears in the White House, Beijing concludes by urging the U.S. “to cease and desist, make cautious decisions, and avoid placing China-U.S. trade relations in danger with the purpose of hurting others that eventually end up hurting itself.” Translation: China will retaliate imminently, at which point – in typical tit-for-tat fashion – the US would respond in kind again, until the worst-case scenario envision by |
| No Injuries Reported After “Small Manhole Explosion” Near New York FedUpdate 2: NYPD has issued an official statement confirming that the explosive sound was a small manhole cover…
* * * Update 1: Panic over – it was a manhole that blew…
* * * Numerous social media users are reporting hearing a “loud sound” or “explosion” near The New York Fed in Lower Manhattan… @EddieWard8 notes that “Just heard loud boom sound in lower Manhattan 5 mins ago. Sirens/police now on the way…” NYTimes’ Shane Goldmacher tweeted…”I’m in lower Manhattan and we just heard a very loud sound, akin to an explosion a couple minutes ago. Police active nearby” And noted “fire trucks converging near Liberty St and Maiden Lane…” right where The New York Fed is… < … |
| Stocks Plunge As Trade Turmoil, Credit Crisis, & Tech Wreck LoomSeemed appropriate…
All of a sudden, ‘stuff’ matters: Powell hawkish Trump lawyer resigns Trump trade wars start Funding market stress surges Credit markets spike Facebook new lows Tech tax and regulation The Dow dumped over 700 points on massive volume, broke below it 100DMA to its lowest since Feb 9th…and lowest close since February 8th’s crash lows…
Well that re-escalated quickly… |
| “Now I’m F—ing Doing It My Way”: Trump Prepares For War With MuellerHours after the resignation of John Dowd, President Trump’s lead attorney handling the special counsel investigation, Trump said he “would like to” testify in Robert Mueller’s ongoing probe – a move panned by some, including Fox’s Judge Napolitano, as a bad move. The President’s 180 comes after the White House legal team had reportedly been considering ways that President Trump might be able to testify – including giving written answers – with Trump’s attorneys reportedly having been split on the terms of such a deal, reported the Wall Street Journal earlier this month. But that’s not Trump’s style… After bringing on former federal prosecutor Joe diGenova on Monday – a former Special Counsel himself who went after both the Teamsters and former NY Governor Elliot Spitzer, Trump is reportedly taking the gloves off according to Vanity Fair’s Gabriel Sherman.
diGenova – who said in January that the Obama administration engaged in … |
| ‘Rolldown’ Shows Why the Bond Market Is an Unfriendly Place to HideThe Federal Reserve’s decision to raise rates on Wednesday signaled that the yield curve could flatten further, which is bad news for a money-making force known as rolldown. |
| Dropbox May Get a Little Help From Its FriendsDropbox has a big valuation to live up to. But other richly valued cloud stocks—and the huge premium Salesforce.com just paid for MuleSoft—could help sell the latest tech IPO. |
| U.S. Trade Leverage With China Is WeakeningChinese workers are less dependent on labor-intensive export industries than they used to be. But U.S. farmers are more dependent on China. |
| March 2018 Kansas City Fed Manufacturing Was Unchanged
Of the three regional manufacturing surveys released for March, all were in expansion. |
| February 2018 Leading Economic Index Sees Robust Economic Growth to Continue Through 2018Written by Steven Hansen The Conference Board Leading Economic Index (LEI) for the U.S improved this month – and the authors say ” the recent weakness in residential construction and stock prices – important leading indicators – should be monitored closely”.
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| NewsWatch: There’s been a historic amount of earthshaking stock-market volatility this yearVolatility has been extremely, well, volatile this year. |
| The Wall Street Journal: Charles Lazarus, founder of Toys ‘R’ Us, dies at 94Charles Lazarus had a simple if powerful idea: Build a supermarket for toys. After returning from World War II, he opened a store that he would build into a national chain called Toys “R” Us Inc. with hundreds of cavernous locations stocked with Barbies and Hot Wheels. |
| Market Snapshot: Dow closes more than 700 points lower as trade fears spark plungeU.S. stocks fell sharply on Thursday, with major indexes suffering their worst day in weeks, as fears trade tensions with China could spark a trade war sparked a broad selloff. |
Summary of Economic Releases this Week
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