Dow Plunges Over 800 Points as Investors Flee Tech
*By Kavitha Shastry*
U.S. stocks accelerated their losses Wednesday, with the Dow tumbling more than 800 points for its biggest point drop since February.
Shares of Amazon ($AMZN) and Microsoft ($MSFT) were down more than 4 percent late in the trading day, while Jack Dorsey's Twitter ($TWTR) and Square ($SQ) were both down more than 7 percent.
"Valuation is just coming to a bit more realistic levels in the tech sector," said John Petrides, Managing Director at Point View Wealth Management. "How many times have we spoken about tech being the driving sector for the market returns.
"Twenty-six percent of the S&P 500, the FAANG stocks equalling 45 percent of the Nasdaq ー you're having profit-taking there."
The sell-off adds to October's market losses ー the S&P 500 is now down five days in a row, its longest losing streak since before the 2016 election ー with investors worried about the impact of ongoing trade tensions and borrowing costs at seven-year highs.
While tech stocks were among Wednesday's biggest losers, high-end retailers also took a hit. France's LVMH warned it was seeing slower demand from Chinese consumers, an indication that tariffs from the U.S. were eating into discretionary budgets. Shares of Tiffany ($TIF), Michael Kors ($KORS), and Ralph Lauren ($RL) were all down.
The Nasdaq led losses among the broad market indexes, falling more than 3 percent. For the month, it's already down nearly 8 percent, its biggest monthly decline since January 2016.
It’s a chicken-and-egg problem: Restaurants are struggling with record-high U.S. egg prices, but their omelets, scrambles and huevos rancheros may be part of the problem. Breakfast is booming at U.S. eateries. First Watch, a restaurant chain that serves breakfast, brunch and lunch, nearly quadrupled its locations over the past decade to 570. Fast-food chains like Starbucks and Wendy's added more egg-filled breakfast items. In normal times, egg producers could meet the demand. But a bird flu outbreak that has forced them to slaughter their flocks is making supplies scarcer and pushing up prices. Some restaurants like Waffle House have added a surcharge to offset their costs.
William Falcon, CEO and Founder of Lightning AI, discusses the ongoing feud between Elon Musk and Sam Altman, and how everyday people can use AI in their lives.
U.S. tariffs on steel and aluminum “will not go unanswered,” European Union chief Ursula von der Leyen vowed on Tuesday, adding that they will trigger toug
The Trump administration has ordered the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau to stop nearly all its work, effectively shutting down the agency that was created to protect consumers after the 2008 financial crisis and subprime mortgage-lending scandal. Russell Vought is the newly installed director of the Office of Management and Budget. Vought directed the CFPB in a Saturday night email to stop work on proposed rules, to suspend the effective dates on any rules that were finalized but not yet effective, and to stop investigative work and not begin any new investigations. The agency has been a target of conservatives since President Barack Obama created it following the 2007-2008 financial crisis.
Jeff Benedict, author of 'The Dynasty,' weighs in on the Kansas City Chiefs being the next big dynasty, who he thinks will win Super Bowl LIX and more. Watch!
