Recession fears make Trump backtrack in trade war with China

San José, CA – On Wednesday, August 14, the U.S. stock market tanked, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average down 800 points, or 3%. The technology-heavy NASDAQ index also fell 3% and the S&P 500 fell just shy of 3%. This is the third day in a row of major market moves: Down more than 450 points on Monday, up 375 points on Tuesday, and now down again.

San José, CA – U.S. stocks fell again on Monday, August 12 as growing recession worries were added to ongoing concern about the direction of Trump’s trade war with China. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell almost 400 points, or 1.5%, while the broader markets fell by smaller percentages of about 1.2%.

U.S markets have the worst day this year

San José, CA – On Monday, August 5, China replied to Trump’s new tariff threat by calling off the purchases of U.S. agricultural products and weakening government support for the RMB, China’s currency. In response the RMB fell to 14 U.S. cents, meaning it will take slightly more than 7 RMB to buy one U.S. dollar. Soybean prices also fell, as China is the largest foreign buyer of U.S. soybeans.

San José, CA – On Thursday, July 31, President Trump tweeted that he would be imposing new tariffs, or taxes, on the $300 billion of Chinese goods not covered by his 25% tariffs. U.S. stocks took an immediate dive, giving up all of their 300-point gain to drop 280 points for the day. They continued to fall on Friday, leading to the worst week for U.S. stocks all year.

San José, CA – More cracks showed up in the U.S. economic expansion as the May employment report saw a gain of only 75,000 net new jobs, less than half what most economists expected. In addition, the Labor Department revised the job creation numbers down by 75,000 for March and April. Over the last four months the economy has added new jobs at a rate of 130,000 per month, much less than the 223,000 new jobs added each month on average in 2018.

San José, CA – On Tuesday, May 7, the Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJIA) fell almost 500 points, or close to 2%. This came following President Trump’s tweets on Sunday threatening to escalate the trade war with China on Friday if he couldn’t get a trade agreement done. While the U.S. stock market largely shrugged off this news on Monday, statements by his economic advisors convinced investors that his threats are for real.

San José, CA – On Friday, April 26, the Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA) issued its first report on economic growth in 2019. The country’s Gross Domestic Product, or GDP, which measures the total production of goods and services, grew at a 3.2% annual rate during the first three months of the year (January to March). This was stronger than most economists expected.

San José, CA – On April 21, the Trustees of Social Security and Medicare released their annual report. The report includes a projection that the Social Security benefits will be greater than income next year for the first time since 1982. The Social Security trust fund, which has grown to almost $3 trillion, will start to be tapped for the first time.

San Jose, CA – Friday, March 22 was a day of good news, bad news, and ugly news.

San José, CA – On Sunday, February 17, more than 400 people filled the San Jose Buddhist Church gym for the 39th annual Day of Remembrance event. Across the country, Japanese American communities commemorate the anniversary of Executive Order 9066, which led to the incarceration of more than 100,000 Americans of Japanese descent during World War II. The San Jose event was organized by NOC, the Nihonmachi [Japantown] Organizing Committee.

Bust follows boom under capitalism

San José, CA – The New Year is starting off much the way 2018 ended: with U.S. stocks being hammered again. On Thursday, January 3, the Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJIA) fell more than 600 points, the technology heavy NASDAQ fell more than 200, and the broad S&P 500 fell more than 60 points. All the averages fell more than 2% to put the year into the red.

Trump administration makes bad situation worse

San José, CA – On Monday, December 24, all three major stock market indices smashed the old records for declines on Christmas Eve. The Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJIA) fell more than 650 points or 2.9%, more than twice the 100 year record set back in 1918 when it fell 1.1%. The broader S&P 500 fell 2.7%, to close more than 19% from its record high, and less than 1% away from the 20% drop that would put it in bear market territory and ending an almost ten-year bull market in stocks.

Capitalism’s cycle of boom and bust continues

San José, CA – Casting a shadow on the stock market are the growing number of economic statistics that point to a recession in 2019. Almost all mainstream economic forecasters expect economic growth to slow down in 2019 as the impact of the 2018 tax cuts wear off; the forecast is for 2.4% growth, about the same as in 2017. But few predict a recession.

San José, CA – On Friday, December 21, stock prices fell again, capping the worst week on Wall Street in ten years. Typically, stock prices go up in December, in what many call a “Santa Claus rally.” But not this year. The NASDAQ stock index, which includes many big technology companies, fell 3%, to end 22% below its August high, putting it in bear market territory for only the second time in the last 20 years. The NASDAQ joined the Russell 2000, a stock index of smaller corporations, which went into bear territory earlier in the week. The headline Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJIA) of 30 large companies, and the broader S&P 500 of 500 major corporations also declined to levels just short of a bear market.

San José, CA – At 12:01 a.m. on Saturday, December 22, nine of 15 agencies of the federal government will shut down over President Trump’s demand for a wall on the U.S.-Mexico border. Almost 400,000 federal workers would be furloughed, and another 400,000 so-called essential workers will have to go to work without pay. This comes to about 40% of the 2 million federal government workers. In past shutdowns, federal workers got backpay at a cost of billions of dollars to the government. But there are millions of contractors and contract workers who will probably not be paid, right in the middle of the holiday season.

_Worst December since Great Depression _

San José, CA – On Monday, December 17, U.S. stocks continued to drop. The widely quoted Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJIA) fell more than 500 points, or 2%. The broader S&P 500 and the tech-heavy NASDAQ also fell more than 2%. All the major stock indices are now down in double digits from their record highs this year, and the Russell 2000, an index of smaller companies, is now in an official ‘bear market,’ as it fell to a level more than 20% below its all-time high. U.S. stocks are deeper in negative territory for the year and have had their worst December since 1931, during the Great Depression.

San José, CA – On Friday, December 7, the Department of Labor released its report on the job market in November. There was a net gain of 155,000 jobs, less than the predicted 200,000 and less than the average gains for the first ten months of the year. While the official unemployment rate stayed the same at 3.7%, the broadest measure of unemployment, which includes part-time workers who can’t find full-time work, ticked up to 7.6%, more than twice the official rate.

Wall Street likes the news

San José, CA – On Monday, November 26, General Motors announced that it was cutting 15,000 jobs. Their plans include closing five auto and auto parts plants in the United States and Canada. Wall Street liked the news, and GM’s stock rose almost 5%, three times as much as the broader stock market. But for thousands of GM workers, the holidays suddenly became much bleaker.

San José, CA – Stocks fell again on Friday, November 23, pulled down by the falling price of oil. The broadest major stock market index, the Standard & Poor’s 500, which measures the prices of 500 large U.S. corporations, officially entered correction territory, by closing more than 10% below its all-time high. This has been the worst week for the stocks in the S&P 500 in 80 years.

San José, CA – U.S. stocks couldn’t hold on to early gains, November 21, as their attempt to bounce after two days of large losses largely fizzled. The Dow Jones Industrial Average, which had gained more than 200 points in early going, actually ended with a tiny loss, while other averages were able to hold on to small gains of less than 1%. Despite this break from heavy losses, the U.S. stock market is off to its worst start for the third quarter (October to December) since the 2008 financial crisis.