President Donald Trump consulted banking experts on Wednesday after all three indices plummeted about 3%, with the Dow’s posting an 800-point loss on amid the recession signal from the bond market. The stock market took a huge hit in the previous session with the Dow plunging in its fourth-largest point drop ever to a two-month low. The Dow’s 3% fall was the worst this year. The S&P 500 also slid nearly 3%.
The CBOE Volatility Index (VIX), aka Wall Street’s fear gauge, jumped to a high of 24 on Wednesday, up from under 12 late last month, signalling investors are frantic.
In an unusual turn of events, the president held a conference call with the CEOs of the three largest U.S. banks as the stock market tanked Wednesday, J.P. Morgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon, Bank of America’s Brian Moynihan and Citigroup’s Michael Corbat, according to people informed about the situation.
Concerned about future prospects for the stock market and the economy, the president requested that CEOs give provide him with an analysis of the health of the U.S. consumer, according to one of the people. The executives claimed that the consumer is doing well, but that the economy could be improved if ongoing concerns such as the China-U.S. trade war were resolved, this person said.
The three men also told President Trump that the trade dispute is stultifying prospects for capital spending by corporations, according to another person with information regarding the discussions. The president was open to the idea that uncertainty over trade is hurting corporate confidence, this person said.
One opinion that was particularly notable concerning the call was that a 25 basis point cut by the Fed won’t likely change capital flows in the markets. The president has been critical of the Fed for some time now for not taking enough action to cut rates to counteract moves by China.
Bank stocks were among those that were hit most severely recently after the 2/10 yield curve inverted Wednesday. In June, the Federal Reserve signed off on the capital plans for 17 of the nation’s largest banks, citing their strong capital levels.
Markets stabilized on Thursday, after an early selloff, and then advanced strongly on Friday, with the SPDR S&P Bank ETF (KBE) up 2.54% Friday.
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