*By Chloe Aiello*
The markets plunged again on Friday, capping off a wild week on Wall Street. Fears of slowing global growth, exacerbated by U.S.-China tensions, and a weaker-than-anticipated jobs report contributed to the losses.
The tech-heavy Cheddar 50 Index, which measures the performance of Cheddar's 50 top companies ー from Apple to GM ー fell 4 percent on Friday. Every stock in the index was down, with Lululemon ($LULU) leading the declines. Shares were down more than 13 percent after reporting a disappointing outlook for its all-important holiday quarter. Stitch Fix ($SFIX), Netflix ($NFLX), and Roku ($ROKU) also dragged on the index.
Major indexes were also down. The Dow Industrials lost an additional 558 points or 2.2 percent ー putting it on track for its worst week since March. The S&P 500 fell 2.3 percent and the Nasdaq dropped 3 percent.
While a [jobs report](https://www.bls.gov/news.release/empsit.nr0.htm) early Friday morning initially sent stocks higher on optimism that the Fed would temper interest rate hikes to combat slower growth, markets changed course about an hour after the open and were sharply lower for the rest of the day.
Details also emerged Friday about the arrest of Meng Wanzhou, the CFO of Chinese tech giant Huawei. During a bail hearing on Friday, it was revealed that the executive and daughter of the company founder has been charged with fraud for breaching U.S. sanctions to do business with Iran. The U.S. alleges that Huawei used a firm called Skycom to do business with Iran, [Bloomberg reported](https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2018-12-07/huawei-cfo-being-prosecuted-for-fraud-canada-lawyer-says) and that banking institutions were forced into the transactions, inviting the risk of fines. Meng faces up to 30 years in prison for each charge.
Meng was arrested in Canada at the request of the U.S. Department of Justice on Dec. 1, the same day that President Trump met with China's Xi Jinping to continue trade negotiations. It is not clear whether or not Trump was aware of the arrest at the time.
Friday's drop capped a roller-coaster week that started with a sharp rise on Monday after it appeared the U.S. and China had come to an agreement on tariffs and then saw steep declines on Tuesday due to worries about a flattening yield curve. Markets were closed Wednesday for late President George H.W. Bush's funeral. But news of Meng's arrest, which broke late Wednesday, sent [markets into a tailspin early Thursday](https://cheddar.com/videos/arrest-of-huawei-executive-prompts-sell-off-on-fears-of-escalating-u-s-china-tensions), with the Dow dropping nearly 800 points before mostly paring its losses, following comments from the Fed.
President Donald Trump has fired one of two Democratic members of the U.S. Surface Transportation Board to break a 2-2 tie ahead of the board considering the largest railroad merger ever proposed.
Ford is recalling more than 355,000 of its pickup trucks across the U.S. because of an instrument panel display failure that’s resulted in critical information, like warning lights and vehicle speed, not showing up on the dashboard.
Nvidia reported a 56% increase in second-quarter revenue and a 59% rise in net income compared to a year ago.
The Rev. Al Sharpton is set to lead a protest march on Wall Street to urge corporate America to resist the Trump administration’s campaign to roll back diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives. The New York civil rights leader will join clergy, labor and community leaders Thursday in a demonstration through Manhattan’s Financial District that’s timed with the anniversary of the Civil Rights-era March on Washington in 1963. Sharpton called DEI the “civil rights fight of our generation." He and other Black leaders have called for boycotting American retailers that scaled backed policies and programs aimed at bolstering diversity and reducing discrimination in their ranks.
President Donald Trump's administration last month awarded a $1.2 billion contract to build and operate what's expected to become the nation’s largest immigration detention complex to a tiny Virginia firm with no experience running correction facilities.
Netflix CEO Ted Sarandos claims audiences don't want to watch Netflix movies in theaters, but that seems not to be the case recently.
Chipmaker Nvidia is poised to release a quarterly report that could provide a better sense of whether the stock market has been riding an overhyped artificial intelligence bubble or is being propelled by a technological boom that’s still gathering momentum.
Cracker Barrel said late Tuesday it’s returning to its old logo after critics — including President Donald Trump — protested the company’s plan to modernize.
Low-value imports are losing their duty-free status in the U.S. this week as part of President Donald Trump's agenda for making the nation less dependent on foreign goods. A widely used customs exemption for international shipments worth $800 or less is set to end starting on Friday. Trump already ended the “de minimis” rule for inexpensive items sent from China and Hong Kong, but having to pay import taxes on small parcels from everywhere else likely will be a big change for some small businesses and online shoppers. Purchases that previously entered the U.S. without needing to clear customs will be subject to the origin country’s tariff rate, which can range from 10% to 50%.
Southwest Airlines will soon require plus-size travelers to pay for an extra seat in advance if they can't fit within the armrests of one seat. This change is part of several updates the airline is making. The new rule starts on Jan. 27, the same day Southwest begins assigning seats. Currently, plus-size passengers can pay for an extra seat in advance and later get a refund, or request a free extra seat at the airport. Under the new policy, refunds are still possible but not guaranteed. Southwest said in a statement it is updating policies to prepare for assigned seating next year.
