Day Traders Diary

8/5/19

The major averages fell nearly 3% as the Dow Jones dropped 767 points for its worst day of 2019 as the trade war between the world's two largest economies intensified. The Dow Jones Industrial Average plunged 767 points, or 2.9%, to close at 25,717, dropped as much as 961 points. The S&P 500 dropped nearly 3% to 2,844 with only a handful of the 500 stocks in the index closing higher. The Nasdaq Composite lagged, falling 3.5% to 7,726.04. All three averages posted their worst percentage drop for the year. The S&P 500 is now down more than 6% below its record high set only a few weeks ago.

The Nasdaq fell for a sixth straight session, its longest losing streak since late 2016. The S&P 500 also posted a six-day losing streak. The Dow declined for a fifth straight day. The move continues a sell-off that began last week when President Donald Trump ordered new tariffs on the rest of Chinese goods and the Federal Reserve failed to signal it would be as aggressive as the market hoped in backstopping the economic slowdown.

Apple led the decline in the tech sector and among the large cap stocks dropping 5.2%. The SPDR S&P Retail ETF closed 2.2% lower as the new tariffs will hit items apparel, electronics and toys. Nike dropped 2.7%. Macy's and Best Buy pulled back 3.1% and 3.5%, respectively.

FedEx dropped 4%. Caterpillar and Boeing dropped 2.3% and 2.5%, respectively. Semiconductor stocks such as Micron Technology, Skyworks Solutions and Advanced Micro Devices fell at least 4.4%.

Basically, everything was lower. To close on a high note, Tyson Foods (TSN) jumped 5% to an all-time high following in-line earnings and in-line guidance. Chickens reign supreme for a day.