Free Republic
Browse · Search
News/Activism
Topics · Post Article

Skip to comments.

U.S. Stocks Sell Off on Concerns About Trade
Wall Street Journal ^ | March 22, 2018 | Michael Wursthorn and Riva Gold

Posted on 03/22/2018 2:49:13 PM PDT by reaganaut1

Trade war fears that have roiled the markets for two weeks intensified Thursday, sending the Dow Jones Industrial Average tumbling more than 700 points and adding to concerns that stocks could be headed for a larger reckoning.

Thursday’s selling, which sent shares of manufacturers, aluminum producers and steelmakers sharply lower, marked the culmination of months of growing investor anxiety over the course of U.S. trade policy. It came at a time when many say the market was already under pressure, gripped by fears over rising interest rates and sliding technology shares.

Trade tensions ratcheted higher, as the Trump administration said it would impose tariffs on tens of billions of dollars of Chinese imports on top of taxing steel and aluminum imports—provoking the ire of officials from China to Germany to Mexico.

Investors had widely brushed off concerns about trade fears and rising interest rates until earlier this year. But signs that interest rates will rise more quickly than expected, along with the Trump administration’s aggressive push to narrow the U.S.’s trade deficit, drove a resurgence in volatility and renewed worries among investors that the nine-year bull market is losing its momentum.

“The stakes are getting higher and larger, and that’s what the market is thinking about,” said Ken Taubes, U.S. chief investment officer at Amundi Pioneer. Investors are concerned that China will retaliate, leading to “tit-for-tat” escalations of policies hindering trade, leading to slower growth, he said.

The Dow industrials fell 724.42 points, or 2.9%, to 23957.89, posting their biggest one-day percentage decline since Feb. 8, when they fell into correction territory for the first time in more than two years. The S&P 500 fell 68.24 points, or 2.5%, to 2643.69, sliding back into negative territory for the year, while the Nasdaq Composite lost 178.61 points, or 2.4%, to 7166.68.

(Excerpt) Read more at wsj.com ...


TOPICS: Business/Economy; News/Current Events
KEYWORDS: fedrate; johndowdresigns; omnibus; stockmarket; stocks; swampspendingbill; tariffs; tradewars; trumptariffs
Navigation: use the links below to view more comments.
first 1-2021-4041-48 next last
Tariffs are bad for consumers, for workers in industries whose costs are increased, for workers in export industries, and investors.
1 posted on 03/22/2018 2:49:14 PM PDT by reaganaut1
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | View Replies]

To: reaganaut1

The markets don’t like uncertainty and nothing is more uncertain than a trade war.


2 posted on 03/22/2018 2:50:51 PM PDT by DoodleDawg
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: reaganaut1

This is going to be a giant mess.


3 posted on 03/22/2018 2:51:32 PM PDT by Poison Pill
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: reaganaut1

Tariffs. We’re all gonna die.


4 posted on 03/22/2018 2:52:29 PM PDT by Pelham (California, a subsidiary of Mexico, Inc.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: reaganaut1

Investors buy low sell high now is a money maker time to many people spook to easy everything is long term except tech.


5 posted on 03/22/2018 2:52:37 PM PDT by Vaduz (women and children to be impacIQ of chimpsted the most.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: reaganaut1
I proudly voted for President Trump and I'll be the first to say he couldn't possibly be more WRONG on this one.

A trade war is NOT a negotiating tactic. Shaking my head here ......

6 posted on 03/22/2018 2:54:58 PM PDT by usconservative (When The Ballot Box No Longer Counts, The Ammunition Box Does. (What's In Your Ammo Box?))
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Pelham

Yeah tariffs thats it!

Never mind the House passing the GDP-crushing omnibus spending monstrosity,
that has no effect on a market economy. It's gotta be Trump and those tariffs.

7 posted on 03/22/2018 2:57:38 PM PDT by John 3_19-21 (New Media creed: "This story is so perfect, no need to verify it!".)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 4 | View Replies]

To: reaganaut1
Tariffs are bad . . .

Right it's all about trade nothing having to do with Facebook's unethical behavior with user data. Even though Tech has been driving the market and FB has popped the Tech bubble.

8 posted on 03/22/2018 2:57:54 PM PDT by stig
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: reaganaut1

Poppycock. A trade war has been conducted against US product for years, with countries heavily subsidizing their own industries for make-work and dumping substandard product on the US. We’re not starting anything, we’re just fighting back for a change.


9 posted on 03/22/2018 3:03:10 PM PDT by blueplum ( "...this moment is your moment: it belongs to you... " President Donald J. Trump, Jan 20, 2017)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: reaganaut1
The markets don't understand Trump. He negotiates by firing off the worst possible threat.

When buying a piece of property, you offer an insulting price nicely. The seller thinks you are ignorant...a nice but ignorant rube.

But then he comes down a little bit..and you make a stupid counter offer and show him the cash.

His appetite is whetted. He sees the cash and thinks you are stupid.

You keep pulling down to his point of no return. He has one, otherwise he would not be selling.

Pull him down to his absolute lowest price...and then evaluate the investment.

Does it make sense at that price. If so, execute.

If not, thank the other side profusely and walk away.

10 posted on 03/22/2018 3:09:02 PM PDT by RoosterRedux (Churchill: Success is not final, failure is not fatal. It is the courage to continue that counts.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Vaduz

Definitely a good time to buy if you believe in the Trump economy.


11 posted on 03/22/2018 3:12:27 PM PDT by JerryBlackwell (some animals are more equal than others)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 5 | View Replies]

To: reaganaut1

great buying opportunity for stocks.

i am not worried.

part of MAGA means getting treated fairly by other nations. if that means a bunch of rich wall street guys can’t go on a third cruise this year, so be it.

if tariffs were forever, that’d be one thing. if they are changed when nations start treating us fairly, then i am fine.

just say five hundred steel workers were hired to start up an idle plant in illinois. those five hundred will add tons of auxilary jobs and business to cities nearby...maybe even more than make up for the tariff.

if i am wrong, i’ll be glad to see the tariffs lifted. but i know trump is right when he says our manufacturing has been decimated the last thirty years or so.


12 posted on 03/22/2018 3:17:15 PM PDT by SoFloFreeper
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: reaganaut1

If I were a Wall Street trader, I’d be more panicked by the @#$%! budget bill for FY 2019 that the Congress is expected to pass at any moment. Perhaps the WSJ reporters should have asked a few folks on the floor about that monstrosity.


13 posted on 03/22/2018 3:17:17 PM PDT by agave (Jesus: Bigger Than the Beatles)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: blueplum

14 posted on 03/22/2018 3:18:39 PM PDT by SoFloFreeper
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 9 | View Replies]

To: reaganaut1

Tariffs are Patriot candy. More tariffs please. Lots more.


15 posted on 03/22/2018 3:20:31 PM PDT by central_va (I won't be reconstructed and I do not give a damn)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: DoodleDawg

Well we’ve been in a trade war for 3 decades dumb a$$. How many times do you have to be told this?


16 posted on 03/22/2018 3:21:31 PM PDT by central_va (I won't be reconstructed and I do not give a damn)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 2 | View Replies]

To: Poison Pill

Why aren’t the Gook tariffs portrayed as bad and harmful?


17 posted on 03/22/2018 3:22:19 PM PDT by central_va (I won't be reconstructed and I do not give a damn)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 3 | View Replies]

To: reaganaut1

“Tariffs are bad for consumers”

Then go complain to the Europeans and Chinese for placing them on us.


18 posted on 03/22/2018 3:22:44 PM PDT by ScottfromNJ
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: usconservative

We are in a f-—ing trade war now! We are finally fighting back!


19 posted on 03/22/2018 3:22:58 PM PDT by central_va (I won't be reconstructed and I do not give a damn)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 6 | View Replies]

To: central_va

All impediments to trade are harmful. We were on the verge of removing a block of those impediments across Asia and putting Chinese tariffs in the gun sites. Then Trump pulled the plug. Now Chinese tariffs are just going to ratchet up. Boeing is the biggest decliner today on fears of retaliation from China.


20 posted on 03/22/2018 3:38:46 PM PDT by Poison Pill
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 17 | View Replies]


Navigation: use the links below to view more comments.
first 1-2021-4041-48 next last

Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.

Free Republic
Browse · Search
News/Activism
Topics · Post Article

FreeRepublic, LLC, PO BOX 9771, FRESNO, CA 93794
FreeRepublic.com is powered by software copyright 2000-2008 John Robinson