Markets sink; tech, retail fall; Dow drops 600

Associated Press (ap.org via mail.com); Pat Macpherson, Crystal Q. (eds.), Wisdom Quarterly

Trader Vincent Napolitano, left, works on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange. The U.S. stock market opens at 9:30 a.m. EDT on Tuesday, November 20, 2018 (AP).

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There goes my easy retirement! (AP)

NEW YORK, USA - Stocks are skidding today (Tuesday, 11-20-18) as weak results from retailers and mounting losses for big technology companies push the market back into the red for the year. 

Energy companies are slumping because of a 7 percent plunge in the price of oil. Crude is on track for its biggest loss in three years. Industrial companies are also dropping as the downward momentum in stocks carries into a second day.

 

Pull out of American stocks, quick! (AP)

The Dow Jones Industrial Average has lost 3.7 percent in the last two days, and the S&P 500 is off 3.4 percent.

The Nasdaq, heavily populated with technology stocks, is off close to 5 percent. As of 3 p.m., the S&P is down nearly 10 percent from the peak it reached in September.

 

Investors are measuring a number of headwinds and increasingly playing it safe. The global economy is showing signs of weakening, with the United States, China, and Europe all facing the rising threat of a slowdown, which can hurt demand for commodities such as oil and pose a threat to company profits.

Trade tensions between the U.S. and China appear to be getting worse instead of improving, contributing to the sell-off in tech stocks and multinational industrial companies.

 

Faced with these challenges, investors have lately turned to safer bets such as... More