Weekly Market Commentary 03/23/2018

Spring, the season of hope, made an auspicious entrance this week, bringing another nor’easter that was as welcome to the victims in its path as a trade war is to stock investors. Speaking of a trade war, events this week raised the odds that one may well be on the way. Coming hard on the heels of announced tariffs on steel and aluminum. President Trump ordered tariffs of up to $60 billion on Chinese imports on Thursday, adding more heft to the administration’s protectionist leanings. The announcement, like the nor’easter, had the predictable effect, blasting a deep hole in stock prices that saw the Dow Industrials plunge by more than 700 points on the day, with the slump continuing through Friday. And, as advertised, the move is not going unheeded in China, as the nation immediately announced that it is considering retaliatory tariffs on American goods.