Is It Time to Start Worrying About the Stock Market?The market fell again on Friday.
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The wall of worry the stock market is trying to climb is getting higher by the day.
The major stock indexes sold off today after fighting back from steep losses yesterday. The Dow and S&P 500 indexes were down more than two percent and the Nasdaq composite fell 3.05 percent. TheEntrepreneur Index™closed down 3.03 percent, with only one of 60 stocks on the index (Bed Bath & Beyond), posting a gain on the day.
Two major factors are causing the anxiety. The prospects for a trade deal with China appear in jeopardy after the arrest of the CFO of Chinese telecom giant Huawei in Canada at the request of U.S. authorities. If the temporary truce in new tariffs ends, global economic growth is expected to suffer.
The second issue is the Fed and its tightening monetary policy. Lower than expected November job growth numbers reported today were potentially good news for investors, in that they may forestall central bankers from hiking interest rates aggressively. It didn't placate investors, however. The Fed is widely expected to raise rates this month, though it may slow or eliminate rate hikes next year.
The volatility once again hit high-growthtechnologystocks hardest today. The FANG stocks (Facebook,Amazon.com,NetflixandGoogle-- nowAlphabet Inc.) were down sharply after helping stage a comeback in the market yesterday. Netflix (-6.27 percent) had the biggest decline of the four.
The rest of the tech sector fell heavily as well. ChipmakerNVIDIACorp. was down 6.75 percent--the biggest drop on the Entrepreneur Index™ today.Adobe Systems Inc.(-5.04 percent) andsalesforce.com(-4.3 percent) also declined.Twitter, which has 16 analyst buy ratings compared to three sells according to TradingView, had the smallest loss in the tech sector, falling 0.39 percent.
Other high growth stocks were also hammered. Medical device makerBoston Scientific Corp.up 43 percent this year, was down 3.51 precent today and biotech firmAlexion Pharmaceuticalsfell 4.49 percent.
Fedex Corp. continued to fall on fears of a slowing economy. It was down 6.36 percent and is now off more than 20 percent since mid-September. Other cyclical stocks like food makersJ.M. Smucker Company(-2.64 percent) andTyson Foods(-2.92 percent) and business Services companyCintas Corp.(-3.62 percent) also declined. Clothing makers Ralph Lauren (-3.61 percent),L Brands(-4.73 percent) andUnder Armour Inc.(-2.58 percent) were down sharply.
Casino-operatorWynn Resorts, levered to the enthusiasm of wealthy gamblers in China and the U.S., continued to magnify market volatility, falling 6.6 percent today.
The big retailers also suffered. Compared to Costco Wholesale Group (-3.58 percent) and discounterDollar Tree Inc.(3.32 percent),Walmartwas down a more modest 1.67 percent. Hospital operatorUniversal Health Servicesdeclined 4.12 percent.
The only stock on the Entrepreneur Index™ that gained on the day was specialty retailer Bed Bath and Beyond. It was up 0.57 percent but is down 43 percent this year.
TheEntrepreneur Index™收集前60上市公司但书ded and run by entrepreneurs. The entrepreneurial spirit is a valuable asset for any business, and this index recognizes its importance, no matter how much a company has grown. These inspirational businesses can be tracked in real time onEntrepreneur.com.
