U.S. stocks are battered in one of their worst days of 2018 as U.S.-China trade deal appears to...

[DonViejo]

U.S. stocks are battered in one of their worst days of 2018 as U.S.-China trade deal appears to sputter

By Damian Paletta and David J. Lynch December 4 at 4:03 PM

The economic agreement President Trump said he reached with Chinese leader Xi Jinping on Saturday showed signs of unraveling Tuesday, with the White House threatening new penalties against Beijing and multiple officials seeking to downplay expectations for an eventual deal.

Investors, who had applauded the deal on Monday, turned sharply negative Tuesday. The Dow Jones industrial average dropped 799 points, or 3.1 percent, to close at 25,027. The Standard and Poor’s 500-stock index fell 3.2 percent, and the tech-heavy Nasdaq gave up 3.8 percent.

Trump, in a series of Twitter posts, threatened to slap a range of import penalties on Chinese products if they did not make major changes in their economic relationship with the United States.

“President Xi and I want this deal to happen, and it probably will,” Trump wrote. “But if not remember, I am a Tariff man. When people or countries come in to raid the great wealth of our Nation, I want them to pay for the privilege of doing so. It will always be the best way to max out our economic power.”

more
https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/economy/i-am-a-tariff-man-trump-says-as-china-talks-show-signs-of-sputtering/2018/12/04/516425e4-f7e0-11e8-8c9a-860ce2a8148f_story.html

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Stocks Slide After Trump Tweets on Trade, While Bond Market Sounds Recession Warning

By Matt Phillips

Dec. 4, 2018

Stocks fell on Tuesday, after President Trump sowed confusion over the status of a truce in the trade war between the United States and China, while the bond market, often considered a safe haven for investors, sent a stark warning about expectations for an economic slowdown.

The S&P 500 dropped more than 3 percent, with economically sensitive financial and transportation stocks sliding.

The warning from the bond market came through what’s known as the yield curve, the difference between interest rates on short-term United States government bonds, such as two-year notes, and longer term bonds, such as the 10-year Treasury.

As wary investors seek security, they buy long-term Treasury bonds, pushing prices up and pushing down yields, which move inversely to prices. The yield on the two-year note tends to move along with the short-term rates controlled by the Federal Reserve; both have risen this year.

The gap between the two-year and 10-year yields has decreased to less than 0.12 percentage points — the lowest it has been since before the financial crisis. Many analysts say it could soon fall below zero, a phenomenon known as an “inversion.”

more
https://www.nytimes.com/2018/12/04/business/yield-curve-recession-stock-market.html

[vlyons]

1. another Trump hoax

call it what it is.

[Wounded Bear]

2. Looking more and more that there's hard times ahead...

I'm kind of surprised it lasted this long.

[beachbum bob]

3. Didn't JP Morgan analyst call out trumps lies late yesterday on china

trade deal? This drop is 100% at the feet of liar trump.