March trading has started with a bang. The Dow closed down 400 points today after two big events. President Trump announced tariffs on steel and aluminum and the new Fed Chair, Jerome Powell, testified in front of the Senate Finance Committee.
Chad Leat is a former Citigroup and JPMorgan Chase executive. Leat joins Cheddar to break down the market movement and recent volatility.
When asked about President Trump's announcement about tariffs, Leat says good and fair trade traffics make for good politics, but willy-nilly tariffs are bad policy.
When it comes to the current state of the market, Leat says everyone has the same worry in their mind, inflation.
Leat says the highs the market saw in January were not sustainable. He explains the daily ups and downs of the market tend to freak people out, especially when they go down. But Leat encourages investors to try to look at the overall market and understand the full market. Leat says it is still a good time to be in the market, longterm.
Ahead of the release of October's consumer inflation data Tuesday, you may notice changes from the Bureau of Labor Statistics. When it comes to how it estimates health insurance costs, the move is expected to give a boost to the U.S. inflation measure which will reverse a trend that has provided some relief.
A handful of retailers will report earnings this week, including Home Depot, Target, Walmart and Macy's, as gas prices peaked in September to the end of this latest quarter while borrowing costs remain at their highest levels in decades.
