Will Stock Market Volatility Lead to a Bear Market?
*By Kavitha Shastry*
Another roller coaster day on Wall Street saw markets roar out the gate Friday, with the Dow Industrials opening up 400 points, giving back all those gains and then some by midday, and ultimately closing up a little more than a percent.
The rally wasn't enough to fully erase the pain investors felt earlier in the week, though, and major indexes posted their biggest weekly losses since March.
"Right now there's a bit of a tug of war ー are we heading into a bear market or is this just a normal correction?" asked Jason Browne, chief investment strategist at Fund-X. "It's still way early to know."
Tech stocks were able to recoup some of their losses Friday, with the so-called FAANG names adding back almost $100 billion to their collective market cap ー about half of what they lost over the previous two days.
The sell off comes just before third quarter earnings season kicks off in earnest, with Netflix ($NFLX) set to report after the bell next Tuesday.
"Anything negative is going to be a real problem right now," Browne said. "In general you're going to have to hear a little bit about, what is the impact, if anything, that rising rates are having on consumers? What is the impact trade wars are having on supply chains? What do they think about input costs?"
U.S. interest rates have risen to their highest levels in more than seven years, sending shares of homebuilders Toll Brothers ($TOL) and Lennar ($LEN) down on the fear of rising mortgage costs. As for tariffs, retailers from Walmart ($WMT) to the Gap ($GPS) to Jessica Alba's The Honest Company have all said rising costs may lead to higher prices.
But if companies indicate they'll be able to absorb these costs, Browne said, "that'll help the market hopefully find some footing."
For full interview [click here](https://cheddar.com/videos/market-week-in-review-2).
Paramount Global is set to absorb Showtime into Paramount+, creating a single streaming option to compete with the likes of Netflix and Warner Bros. Discovery’s Max. The company also plans to raise the monthly price from $9.99 to $11.99 per month after the integration.
Debt ceiling talks are underway in Washington, DC ahead of a default deadline. Michael Rosen, chief investment officer with Angeles Investments, joined Cheddar News to explain how a potential default could affect investment portfolios, among other items, for Americans.
Australia's government announced regulations for buy now, pay later services, which will be labeled as consumer credit products, which puts them under the country's Securities and Investments Commission's watch.
Walmart is reportedly teaming up with pet telehealth provider Pawp, giving subscribers unlimited access to vet services via video and text, starting on Tuesday.
Cheddar News checks in to see what's on The Day Ahead, which will include earnings from Lowe's, Dick's Sporting Goods, BJ's and AutoZone along with new home sales data. In addition, Microsoft's Build 2023 Developer Conference is slated to kick off for software engineers and web developers.
Venmo will soon have accounts for teenagers ages 13-17 but they will have to follow a set of rules, with parents or guardians opening accounts on their behalf under their own accounts.
Rory Harvey, General Motors' incoming North American president, joined Cheddar News to discuss GM's foray into the rapidly-changing electric vehicle market along with what lies ahead. "It's a very dynamic time in the automotive industry," he said. "If you look to the transformation across the EVs, it's happening and it's happening at a pace."
