Dow sinks nearly 600 points as U.S.-China trade, falling 10-year yield spook investors

[Roland99]

https://www.marketwatch.com/story/dow-futures-drop-100-points-as-doubts-over-us-china-trade-deal-emerge-2018-12-04

U.S. stocks accelerated losses Tuesday afternoon as skepticism over the significance of an agreement reached by the U.S. and China to postpone new tariffs mounted and as the market digested a flattening yield curve in U.S. government debt.

How are the benchmarks faring?
The Dow Jones Industrial Average DJIA, -2.07% skidded 552 points, or 2.1%, to 25,268, while the S&P 500 index SPX, -2.04% dropped 61 points, or 2.2%, to 2,728. The Nasdaq Composite Index COMP, -2.37% tumbled 200 points, or 2.7%, to 7,243.

Now down over 600pts.

10 yr yield heading to 2.9% quickly. below 200-day moving average.

[Roland99]

1. 2-year and 10-year yield closes in on inversion, with 10-basis-point spread

https://www.marketwatch.com/story/2-year-and-10-year-yield-closes-in-on-inversion-with-10-basis-point-spread-2018-12-04

A popular measure of the yield curve's slope extended its flattening trend Tuesday, nearing an inversion as traders snapped up long-dated bonds. The bond-market rally helped to compress the yield spread between the 2-year note TMUBMUSD02Y, -0.43% and the 10-year note TMUBMUSD10Y, -1.83% to around 10 basis points, its flattest since 2007. Bond prices move in the opposite direction of yields. Investors are on the watch for when the short-dated rate rises above its longer-dated counterparts, or inverts. A so-called yield-curve inversion has been a strong predictor of recessions. Another spread between the 3-year note TMUBMUSD03Y, -0.50% and the 5-year note TMUBMUSD05Y, -0.84% had already inverted Monday.

[Roland99]

2. -735 and dropping!

[Achilleaze]

5. #TrumpSlump (R)

frikking republicans pissing on America's economy. As usual.

[gratuitous]

3. Quit noticing that!

Don't you want America to be great again? Just listen to President "Trade Wars Are So Easy to Win" Trump.

[Roland99]

4. Most interesting aspect today... Dow transports plunge toward biggest-ever point drop...

Dow transports plunge toward biggest-ever point drop, led by UPS and FedEx selloffs
https://www.marketwatch.com/story/dow-transports-plunge-toward-biggest-ever-point-drop-led-by-ups-and-fedex-selloffs-2018-12-04

Separately, UBS analyst Thomas Wadewitz downgraded a number of trucking companies, citing concerns that earnings for the current quarter may not be good enough to boost the stocks after the “peak season tightening” in the freight market was more muted than expected.

Wadewitz cut his ratings on Werner Enterprises Inc. WERN, -4.80% Knight-Swift Transportation Holdings Inc. KNX, -9.73% and Hub Group Inc. HUBG, -10.55% to neutral from buy, while slashing his price target on Werner’s stock by 14% to $36, on Knight-Swift by 16% to $36 and on Hub by 24% to $48. He also lowered his targets on Schneider National Inc. SNDR, -9.79% by 16% to $26 and on J.B. Hunt Transport Services Inc. JBHT, -4.09% by 14% to $124.

“We believe that the combination of incremental expansion capacity and increasing risks to freight demand point to a softer truckload pricing environment in 2019 which could result in either low single digit pricing gains or a modest decline in rates in the 2019 bid season,” Wadewitz wrote in a note to clients.

[Roland99]

6. DJIA closes down 3%. Nearly 800pts. NASDAQ down nearly 4%

DJIA essentially 0% return YTD