Fortune (July 1)
“Consumer spending is weakening. The job market is getting worse for workers. And U.S. stock investors are loving it. The S&P 500 rose 0.52% yesterday, hitting an all-time high for the second day in a row.” The surging market suggests “investors don’t anticipate anything dramatic like a mass selloff.” Their optimism seems to be pinned on hopes that “the deteriorating macro picture” will convince the Federal Reserve to “cut interest rates sooner rather than later. And cheap money is usually good for stocks.”
Tags: All-time high, Consumer spending, Fed, Investors, Job market, Mass selloff, Optimism, S&P 500, Stocks, Surging, U.S., Weakening, Workers
Reuters (May 29)
“The U.S. dollar’s unusual moves in April, when it fell in tandem with stocks, has cast doubt over a long-lasting relationship between the greenback and risky assets. Over time, it might nudge non-U.S. investors to hedge more or reduce their exposure to American stocks and bonds. Both could create a self-reinforcing downward cycle for the dollar.”
Tags: April, Bonds, Dollar, Doubt, Downward cycle, Exposure, Greenback, Hedge, Non-U.S. investors, Relationship, Risky assets. Over, Self-reinforcing, Stocks, Unusual moves
Washington Post (May 19)
“Markets came under pressure Monday morning as investors dumped stocks, U.S. bonds and the dollar in early trading after the United States lost its triple-A bond rating, signaling new worries about the outlook for the world’s largest economy amid President Donald Trump’s trade war and heightened federal deficits.”
Tags: Bonds, Dollar, Dumped, Economy, Investors, Markets, Outlook, Pressure, Rating, Stocks, Trade war, Trading, Triple-A, Trump, U.S., Worries
Barron’s (May 12)
“The Nasdaq Composite entered a new bull market on Monday as the stock market surged after the U.S. and China agreed to ease back tariffs for 90 days. The tech-heavy index rallied 4.4%, closing more than 20% above its April 8 low to exit the bear market that began on April 4.” That wasn’t the only good news. “The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 1,161 points, or 2.8%, closing more than 10% above its April 8 low to exit a technical correction. The S&P 500 rallied 3.3%.”
Tags: Bear market, Bull market, China, Dow Jones, Ease, Nasdaq, Rallied, S&P 500, Stocks, Surged, Tariffs, Tech-heavy, Technical correction, U.S.
The Economist (April 22)
“Monetary madness” continues in the U.S. as “Trump fires at the Fed.” After Trump took potshots, threatening to fire Fed Chair Jerome Powell, the American economy became “collateral damage…. When markets opened on April 21st, after a long Easter weekend, American stocks, Treasury bonds and the dollar all sharply declined—another example of the ‘sell America’ trade.”
Tags: Collateral damage, Declined, Dollar, Economy, Fed, Fire, Markets, Monetary madness, Potshots, Powell, Sell America, Stocks, Threatening, Treasury bonds, Trump, U.S.
Wall Street Journal (April 21)
“If the White House wanted a test of how firing Jerome Powell would go over in the markets, it succeeded on Monday. U.S. stocks and the dollar plunged while yields on long-term Treasurys climbed after President Trump renewed his attacks on the Federal Reserve Chairman.” The President “thinks he can bully everyone into submission, but he can’t bully Adam Smith, who deals in reality. Markets know tariffs are taxes, and taxes are anti-growth.” It is clear that the “Trump tariffs are the biggest economic policy mistake in decades.” What remains unclear is the President’s ability to see reality. “Markets are spooked because they don’t know if Mr. Trump listens to anyone but his own impulses.”
Tags: Adam Smith, Anti-growth, Attacks, Bully, Dollar, Fed, Firing, Markets, Mistake, Plunged, Powell, Reality, Spooked, Stocks, Submission, Tariffs, Taxes, Treasurys, Trump, U.S., White House, Yields
New York Times (April 21)
“President Trump’s trade war has completely upended investment flows, with global investors selling off U.S. stocks and corporate and government bonds at a clip unlike anything Wall Street has seen in recent years.” Though some semblance of “calm returned to the corporate and government bond markets late last week,” analysts are still wary of “Trump’s next moves, fearing that his protectionist policies and threats against federal institutions could re-accelerate money flows out of the United States, hitting the dollar especially hard.”
Tags: Analysts, Bonds, Calm, Corporate, Global investors, Institutions, Investment flows, Markets, Money flows, Protectionist, Stocks, Threats, Trade war, Treasuries, Trump, U.S., Upended, Wall Street
Wall Street Journal (April 3)
“The tariffs Trump announced would lift the average duty above the previous peak of 1930. It is by far the most disruptive component of an agenda that may be one of the most disruptive of any new president since the 1930s, one that includes slashing immigration, government spending, taxes and regulations.” The timing for all this is striking. “The economy he inherited was the envy of the world with growth of 2.8% last year, faster than almost every other major developed economy, an unemployment rate of just 4.1% and inflation of 2.8%. Stocks were at record highs.”
Tags: 1930, Disruptive, Duty, Economy, Government spending, Growth, Immigration, Inflation, Regulations, Stocks, Tariffs, Taxes, Timing, Trump, Unemployment
Barron’s (March 6)
“The Nasdaq Composite closed in correction territory as Wall Street sold pretty much everything in response to the Trump administration’s latest tariff rhetoric.” Both the S&P 500 and the Dow also dropped amid a tariff saga that has left investors shaking. “The uncertainty surrounding Trump’s tariff plans have caused headaches for market participants. There are also fears among some economists that policy uncertainty will send sentiment falling further until it triggers a recession.”
Tags: 2020, Capitulation, Escalation, Fears, Havoc, Market, Panic selling, Recession, Sparking, Stocks, Tariffs, Trade war, Trump, U.S., VIX, Volatility, Worst week, Wreaked
Market Watch (January 13)
“Last week, a batch of blockbuster U.S. economic data prompted traders to consider the possibility that the Federal Reserve may need to pause interest-rate cuts until summer. As a result, stocks got crushed, with the S&P 500 erasing most of its postelection gains and the Dow Jones Industrial Average posting its worst start to a year since 2016.”
Tags: 2016, Blockbuster, Crushed, Dow Jones, Economic data, Fed, Gains, Interest rate cuts, Postelection, S&P 500, Stocks, Summer, Traders, U.S.
