Dow tumbles more than 700 points as inflation and tariff fears mount

[ificandream]

Source: CNN

By David Goldman, CNN

US stock markets fell sharply Friday after an economic report showed American consumers are growing increasingly fearful of price increases and how President Donald Trump’s tariffs could reignite the inflation crisis. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 748 points, or 1.7%. The broader S&P 500 also sank 1.7% and the Nasdaq was 2.2% lower. The Dow tumbled for the second consecutive day, falling about 1,200 points over the course of Thursday and Friday.

The University of Michigan’s latest survey, released Friday, showed that US consumer sentiment declined in February for the second consecutive month, according to a final reading, down by a steep 10% from January. That was double the decline initially reported earlier this month. The survey found that Americans are losing confidence in the economy, driven primarily by worries over Trump’s tariffs potentially jacking up prices.

A new CNN poll released Thursday similarly showed pessimism on the rise because of prices: Nearly two thirds of US adults nationwide, 62%, said they feel Trump isn’t doing enough to address inflation. The Michigan survey showed that Americans are now fearful of higher inflation on the horizon.

Investors grew fearful that weak consumer sentiment could lead to a pullback in Americans’ shopping habits. Consumer spending makes up more than two-thirds of the US economy.

Read more: https://www.cnn.com/2025/02/21/investing/stock-market-dow-jones/index.html

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Hey Donald, your "support" is tired of your crap.

[durablend]

1. LOL "isn't doing enough"

He's not doing anything about inflation

[JohnSJ]

2. "trump isn't doing enough". He is causing the inflation concerns you idiots,

especially with his cockamamie tariff speculations.

[Lovie777]

3. Stock market....

Americans have concerns, ya know us the middle class.

[yourout]

4. Only going to get worse.

[TexasBushwhacker]

13. But all the big wigs are cleaning up

shorting stocks.

[yourout]

14. When the stock market collapses and we're in a full-on depression in 6 months the...

Rubes will hopefully really start waking up and the midterms will be a bloodbath for the Republicans.

[DENVERPOPS]

5. Trump

isn't doing a fucking thing, and in fact causing it more every day you idiot Trumphumpers.

AND Trumphumpers, he doesn't care what all you 75+ million say or do, he has already kicked you under the bus.....

Did you not understand what he meant when he said: "Vote for me this one last time, and you will never need to vote again"....
You have outgrown your usefulness, just like everyone else has in his entire life, before he kicked ALL of them to the curb....

[progree]

6. Between election day close and pre-inauguration day, S&P 500 went up 3.7%. From then to now: up 0.3%

Last edited Mon Feb 24, 2025, 10:36 PM - Edit history (2)

# 11/5/24 close (election day): 5783
# 1/17/25 close (Last close b4 Inauguration Day): 5997
# Friday 2/21/25 close: 6013 (up 0.3% since b4 inauguration day and up 4.0% since the election)

https://finance.yahoo.com/quote/%5EGSPC/history/

It actually hit an all-time closing high two days ago, Wednesday, Feb 19: 6144
but dropped 2.1% since then.

I only mention this as there is discussion in some other threads I've seen recently about how the stock market has been doing since tRump was elected, and since he took office. Most people just giving their impressions, as opposed to actually looking up these easy-to-find statistics.

Anyway, not much of a climb, although he is still "above water" at this point. But facts to use in case tRump and his tRumpers and the Muskers keep making claims about the "great" "Trump Trade" stock market. And just one very mild ordinary down day, just 0.3% or more down, will put him underwater for his presidency. So we have that to look forward to.

I don't know what the Dow did, and I don't care, since I consider it a silly legacy measure of just 30 cherry-picked stocks, price-weighted (how silly!) It should have faded away along with the Big Band era, but habits are very hard to change.

[Magoo48]

7. Inflation means more money for his rich pals. He doesn't give a rat's ass about inflation.

[progree]

8. As for the consumer sentiment part of it (graph)

Last edited Sun Feb 23, 2025, 07:07 AM - Edit history (1)

DU thread on that: https://www.democraticunderground.com/10143401252

http://www.sca.isr.umich.edu/



The red dot is the latest report: 64.7. The solid black line is the 3-month moving average. They apparently place the 3-month moving average in the middle of the three, so that's why there's no 3-month moving average for February. (The dotted line is the actual monthly numbers)/

Notice today's reading is the lowest in the entire history of the graph, which begins in 1992, with the exceptions of the housing bubble crash period, and around the beginning of 2012 -- which I have no idea what caused that -- and the recent inflation peak of 2022-early 2023.

https://data.sca.isr.umich.edu/data-archive/mine.php
(it goes way way back, I just included the following to show what the two recent peak points on the graph are -progree)
1 2023 64.9
2 2023 66.9
3 2023 62
4 2023 63.7
5 2023 59
6 2023 64.2
7 2023 71.5
8 2023 69.4
9 2023 67.8
10 2023 63.8
11 2023 61.3
12 2023 69.7
1 2024 79
2 2024 76.9
3 2024 79.4 (Local high point -progree)
4 2024 77.2
5 2024 69.1
6 2024 68.2
7 2024 66.4
8 2024 67.9
9 2024 70.1
10 2024 70.5
11 2024 71.8
12 2024 74 (local high point -progree)
1 2025 71.7
2 2025 64.7 progree added this line -- from today's report

[twodogsbarking]

9. I am guessing the markets will break records in the next eleven months and they won't be good records.

[slightlv]

11. Too true....

we're adamant we're gonna repeat the 1930's, in every bad way... from Germany to Wall Street.

[IronLionZion]

10. UK got rid of Liz Truss faster than a head of lettuce would wilt

US needs to exercise such options for these levels of merit-based super genius business acumen.

[Playingmantis]

12. Sad to say but only a recession and disaster in the Market will break the spell of Trump

Trump is a con man, liar, and more ( no need to elaborate here) but no matter what the facts, his loyal butt-lickers make excuses for him over and over.

One of the many classics was when he was caught bragging about sexually assaulting women on those Billy Bush tapes. They all claimed it was just "locker room talk"..nothing to be taken seriously. (I wonder if they would have said the same if it was Obama that said all that?)

Same excuse making when he lied about paying off a porn star..or ridiculed a handicapped reporter or insulted veterans..

They make excuses for him at every turn and historians will spend years figuring out why..(please post your thoughts.. I say racism is at the bottom of it&quot

They did not even care when Democrats said he was a "threat to democracy"

We can try to reason with them all we want and I can assure you from experience that does NO GOOD..

Nothing will deter them from their adoration of the Orange Jesus....they just reject the FACTS...

But when their stock portfolio drops SERIOUSLY and when inflation really hurts and when they lose their jobs or when a virus again runs wild those will be facts they cant dispute or deny..

Then, and only then, they will sing a different tune about the evils of government and the wonders of Trump.

They prayed for Trump.. especially the Evangelicals.. Well I say again "When the gods are most angry at men, they give them exactly what they pray for!


My prediction is that the shit will hit the fan much quicker than I expected.. should be sometime this year.

Bring it on Zeus! Come on Aphrodite, Athena, Artemis, Apollo, and the whole gang! Those are a few of my favorites! I know they are listening as they helped me find my keys the other day!

[GreatGazoo]

15. Some of it is money flowing into EU stocks instead of US

The end of sanctions and lower energy costs will help their industry and economies. Also EU defense contractors have seen big gains post Vance speech. SAAB up 21% (they don't make cars now):

https://www.marketwatch.com/investing/stock/saab.b?mod=mw_quote_switch&countrycode=se