
‘Downside Accelerants’ And Politics In Focus As US Stocks Stumble
US stocks buckled under the weight of political tumult on Tuesday, as Donald Trump's contentious remarks around trade with China at the UN General Assembly and news that Nancy Pelosi is set to announce a formal impeachment inquiry weighed on risk sentiment.
It didn't help that consumer confidence slipped the most in nine months, while the Richmond Fed’s factory gauge missed even the lowest estimate for September.
Ultimately, both the S&P and big-cap tech posted their largest losses since
For the past 2-3 weeks, the spin has been about “green shoots”. The latest data points have been rather brown.
Distinctly brown so in just about every ex-US economy, mostly so in the mfg-transp-trade part of the US economy, and tinges of brown are creeping into the US consumer story, what with stumbling sentiment, high net worth cash positioning, even a hint of employment worry.
Is it springtime, or autumn, in the economic cycle?
I will go out on a limb and assert that the US consumer and her employment, spending, and confidence are just about the only significantly green set of data points in the global picture. When the first of those leaves fall from the branch, the cold wind will be near.