Day Traders Diary

5/31/19

The markets did not end May on a good note as President Donald Trump's surprised investors this morning by threating tariffs on all Mexico imports, amid a worsening trade war with China. The Dow Jones Industrial Average closed 354 points lower at 24,815, while the S&P 500 slid 1.3% to 2,752. The Nasdaq Composite dropped 1.5% to 7,453. Eight of the 11 S&P 500 sectors finishing with losses over 1.0%. The utilities (+0.5%) and real estate (+0.8%) sectors finished higher amid a steep drop in U.S. Treasury yields.  For the week, the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 3%, the Nasdaq Composite fell 2.4% and the Russell 2000 fell 3.2%. For the month, the S&P 500 ended down 6.6%, the worse month for the year.

In corporate news, shares of General Motors fell 4.3% and Ford (F) fell 2% on the Mexico tariff threat. Mexico is now the biggest U.S. trading partner and home to more than a fifth of the region's automobile production facilities. Everything Mexico related got hit tpoday. On the earnings front, Dell Technologies (DELL) fell 10%, Gap (GPS) fell 9.3%, and VMware (VMW) fell  7.4% following disappointed earnings. Uber (UBER) closed up a percent following their first publicly traded quarterly report.