Stocks Fall, Capping a Dismal Week, as Investors See More Pain Ahead

[Celerity]

Stocks slide at the end of a rough week for investors. Pessimism is deepening as bellwether companies like FedEx warn of worsening economic and business conditions.

https://www.nytimes.com/live/2022/09/16/business/economy-news-inflation-stocks

https://archive.ph/15Ei3

Stocks tumbled on Friday, capping one of Wall Street’s worst weeks of the year, with corporate executives, bankers and managers of trillions of dollars of investors’ money warning of more pain to come for the economy and markets. The slump is another bout of whiplash for investors, after a string of surprises this summer that have steadily undermined optimism in the financial markets.

After hitting a low in June, the S&P 500 rallied more than 17 percent into mid-August, before gyrating again. This week’s latest sell-off leaves the benchmark stock index down nearly 19 percent for the year and roughly 5 percent above its June low. Friday’s 1.4 percent fall took its weekly loss to over 5 percent for just the fourth time this year.

Now, some of the most powerful trading houses in the world, deploying investments on behalf of pension funds, governments and other investors, are warning that there is more pain to come.

“If you asked me a year ago what is the worst scenario for financial markets, I think things are now worse than anything we could have imagined,” said Nicolai Tangen, the head of Norway’s sovereign wealth fund, the largest of its kind. The fund manages money generated by Norway’s extensive oil and gas sales and has $1.4 trillion invested around the world.

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[honest.abe]

1. I really think this is mostly due to the Fed interest rate hikes.

I really wonder what would happen if we just let things go and did nothing.

[jimfields33]

5. The quarterly 401K statements go out in two weeks.

Hopefully the next two weeks are gains to recover the last loss’.

[honest.abe]

6. Its been ugly for sure the past few months

But it could have been worse. I do think things will begin to normalize. Gas prices coming done is a big indicator.

[gratuitous]

2. And if a national railway strike hadn't been averted?

Gee, those uppity workers are getting paid more and demanding paid time off and a chance to schedule their lives without worrying about repercussions. Something Must Be Done!

[doc03]

3. Biden gets the Union and companies together and

avoids a crippling RR strike. But somehow Wall Street takes that as bad news I guess. I am 74 and have seen many recessions. Every time the economy just crashed suddenly. This time we keep hearing recession and the unemployment is at near record lows, there are not enough people to fill jobs. People complain about prices but restaraunts are full every weekend. Cars are sold before they arrive at the dealerships. This just doesn't feel like any recession I have seen.

[SergeStorms]

4. Isn't this what they wanted?

The economy was moving too fast and inflation was running away! WE HAD TO SLOW DOWN THE ECONOMY, FAST!

OK, the economy has been slowed down. THE ECONOMY HAS BEEN SLOWED DOWN. STOCKS ARE GOING TO FALL. BE AFRAID!

Do you actually mean stocks can't keep rising forever? Does this mean all of those cookie cutter MBAs working on Wall Street were wrong?

There's always something for investors to panic about. I didn't agree with Fidel Castro on hardly anything at all, but when he called the Stock Market nothing but a Casino for the wealthy I couldn't have agreed more.

[Bettie]

7. things would improve

slowly, but this is the result TFG's fed chair wants.

[Celerity]

8. Powell was renominated for a second term by President Joe Biden on November 22, 2021.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jerome_Powell

In light of his term as chair expiring in February 2022, many Democrats began to express opposition to Powell's reappointment. In August 2021, progressive Democrats, including Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, called on President Joe Biden to replace Powell, criticizing him for failing to "mitigate the risk climate change poses to our financial system".

In September 2021, Senator Elizabeth Warren, Democrat of Massachusetts, criticized Powell for his financial regulation track record and called him as a "dangerous man to head up the Fed." Powell was renominated for a second term by President Joe Biden on November 22, 2021. His initial nomination expired at the end of the year and was returned to President Biden on January 3, 2022.

President Biden presented his nomination to the Senate the following day. Hearings were held on Powell's nomination before the Senate Banking Committee on January 11, 2022. The committee favorably reported Powell's nomination to the Senate floor on March 16, 2022, in a 22-1 vote; Senator Elizabeth Warren was the lone member to vote against his nomination. His nomination for another term as chair was confirmed by the full U.S. Senate on May 12, 2022 in an 80-19 vote. He was sworn in for his second term as chair on May 23, 2022.

[Bettie]

9. Well, he seems hell-bent on crashing the economy

so, there's that. I didn't know he was re-nominated.

[Celerity]

10. I was surprised so so many Dems went along and voted from Trump's Fed head for another term.