Strong Earnings Couldn't Save Markets From Meltdown
A strong earnings season was not enough to save the markets from a down day of trading Tuesday, another sell off in what's been a pretty depressing year so far for stock markets.
The Dow Jones closed down around 420 points, and was down as much as 600 during the day. The Nasdaq was down more than 120 points, and the S&P 500 fell 35 points.
Art Hogan, the chief market strategist for B. Riley FBR, said in an interview with Cheddar that this market downturn is the exact opposite of what investors might expect after a series of strong first-quarter earnings reports.
He said something else is weighing down the Dow.
"I think it all predicates itself around fears of bad trade policy," said Hogan.
In the fourth quarter of last year, chief executives were excited about the potential of tax reform, but that optimism has shifted, he said.
Now, in their earnings calls, executives are expressing concern about trade policy, tariffs, higher input costs, and commodity prices going even higher. Those changes could affect earnings beyond this quarter, Hogan said.
"While the earnings are spectacular ー they are nothing short of spectacular in the earnings reports themselves ー the tone of the conference calls has changed," said Hogan. "And the market is getting to a point where we are concerned what we are doing about trade policy."
When it comes to advice on what to do now, Hogan said to stay cyclical and, in a rising interest rate environment, avoid high dividend yield sectors like utilities and telecoms.
For full interview, [click here](https://cheddar.com/videos/markets-close-down-over-400-points).
General Motors (GM) announced that it will stop production on the current sixth generation of the iconic Chevrolet Camaro. Production at the Lansing Grand River Assembly Plant in Michigan is expected to end in January 2024.
Web browser Mozilla is investing $30 million into launching a startup, called Mozilla.ai, focused on building a "trustworthy, independent, and open-source AI ecosystem."
The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) is launching a new plan to avoid flight delays in New York City and Washington, D.C. this summer. The plan will lower requirements for airlines to obtain take off and landing rights to help avoid congestion.
Lawmakers grilled TikTok CEO Shou Zi Chew on Thursday in a high-stakes hearing on the future of the popular, Chinese-owned video sharing platform in the U.S.
Actress Lindsay Lohan appears at the Christian Siriano Fall/Winter 2023 fashion show in New York, Feb. 9, 2023. The Securities and Exchange Commission said Wednesday, March 22, that Lohan, rapper Akon and several other celebrities have agreed to pay tens of thousands of dollars to settle claims that they promoted crypto investments to their millions of social media followers without disclosing they were being paid to do so.
Cheddar News breaks down what to look for on The Day Ahead, as TikTok CEO is scheduled to testify before Congress on Thursday while earnings from General Mills and Darden Restaurants are on tap. Residential sales data for February is also scheduled to be released.
Virgin Orbit is reportedly in talks for a $200 million rescue plan and the company said in a regulatory filing that it plans to resume operations on Thursday.
