Stock Market Today: Stocks Slip Further as Sanctions Mount
The U.S. and U.K. announced additional sanctions as the Russia-Ukraine crisis continued to ramp up, sending the major indexes further into the red Wednesday.
![A sign advertising the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline between Russia and Germany](https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/nEXJP8VW3NFEGaUSjcabB6-415-80.jpg)
The S&P 500 dipped deeper into correction territory Wednesday amid additional fallout of Russia's attacks on Ukraine.
A U.S. official told NBC News that Russia has "nearly 100 percent of all the forces we anticipated [Russian President Vladimir Putin] would need" to launch a full-scale invasion of Ukraine, which has declared a state of emergency and called up its military reserves.
Meanwhile, a day after announcing sanctions targeting two of Russia's largest banks, President Joe Biden announced new measures against Nord Stream 2 AG, a company responsible for the Nord Stream 2 natural gas pipeline stretching from Russia to Germany. And U.K. Prime Minister Boris Johnson promised military support (including weapons) for Ukraine.
![https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/hwgJ7osrMtUWhk5koeVme7-200-80.png](https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/hwgJ7osrMtUWhk5koeVme7-320-80.png)
Sign up for Kiplinger’s Free E-Newsletters
Profit and prosper with the best of expert advice on investing, taxes, retirement, personal finance and more - straight to your e-mail.
Profit and prosper with the best of expert advice - straight to your e-mail.
"If Russia goes deeper into Ukraine, the conflict could be longer and the West's reaction could be more severe. As a result, sanctions could be more biting," says Lauren Goodwin, economist and portfolio strategist at New York Life Investments. "Higher commodity prices and slower growth could have a meaningful impact on the global economy, including emerging-market economies and by making the Fed's job even more difficult."
Stocks teased investors by opening in the green, but the trap door quickly opened. The S&P 500 (-1.8% to 4,225) suffered its fourth consecutive decline, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average (-1.4% to 33,131) and Nasdaq Composite (-2.6% to 13,037) each posted their fifth straight losses.
Other news in the stock market today:
- The small-cap Russell 2000 sank 1.8% to 1,944.
- U.S. crude oil futures gained 0.2% to end at $92.10 per barrel.
- Gold futures rose 0.2% to settle at $1,910.40 an ounce.
- Bitcoin slid modestly, off 0.6% to $37,702.21. (Bitcoin trades 24 hours a day; prices reported here are as of 4 p.m.)
- TJX (TJX) stock slipped 4.2% after the off-price retailer reported earnings. In its fourth quarter, TJX reported earnings of 78 cents per share on revenue of $13.9 billion, falling short of the 91 cents per share and $14.2 billion analysts were expecting. The TJ Maxx parent also reported a 10% jump in same-store sales for the three-month period and hiked its dividend by 13%. "Although this was a disappointing quarter in our view, nothing has changed in our 12-month thesis, as we see TJX outperforming as the consumer weakens and becomes more aware of higher costs across all aspects of retail," says CFRA Research analyst Zachary Warring (Strong Buy). "We see more and more consumers returning to off-price retailers over the next 12-months as stimulus fades, and we expect TJX to be the biggest beneficiary."
- In its fourth quarter, Lowe's (LOW, +0.2%) reported earnings of $1.78 per share – up 34.8% year-over-year and coming in well above analysts' consensus estimate for earnings of 71 cents per share. Revenue was up 4.8% from the year prior to $21.3 billion, also exceeding forecasts for $20.9 billion in sales. "LOW is improving its processes to enhance store product offerings, operational improvement, and widen margins," writes CFRA Research analyst Kenneth Leon (Buy). "We think the PRO segment will outperform the Do-It-Yourself (DIY) segment in fiscal 2023, given affluent households boosting remodeling contracts with PRO customers, and DIYs face inflation pressures and reduce disposable income."
The Coming Days, Weeks Are Pivotal
Bluntly speaking, the market is now at a "put up or shut up" moment.
More specifically, says Sam Stovall, chief investment strategist at independent research firm CFRA, now is a point at which a garden-variety correction either begins to sort itself out … or signal a bear market is nigh.
"For corrections, the S&P 500 posted average price gains of 1.1%, 1.8%, 2.9% and 4.7% one, seven, 30 and 60 days later, respectively," he says. "Conversely, price changes and frequencies of advance continued to slide under declines that eventually became bear markets. Specifically, while the market was typically flat in the day after falling into a correction, the S&P 500 continued to record price declines averaging 0.4%, 2.9% and 4.8% seven, 30 and 60 days later."
More simply put, if the market shows signs of recovery in the coming days and weeks, the correction might be over. If not, "the worst is yet to come."
While we're stuck in something of a Schrodinger's stock market, most investors are better off focusing on long-term quality rather than speculative upside. You can start with the best-rated blue chips of the S&P 500 or the Dow's most promising dividend-yielding stocks.
And those able to fix their eyes far down the horizon might be best off reviewing these 22 retirement-minded stocks – a group of companies that deliver secure, high-yielding dividends backed by ample cash flow and bulletproof balance sheets.
Get Kiplinger Today newsletter — free
Profit and prosper with the best of Kiplinger's advice on investing, taxes, retirement, personal finance and much more. Delivered daily. Enter your email in the box and click Sign Me Up.
Kyle Woodley is the Editor-in-Chief of WealthUp, a site dedicated to improving the personal finances and financial literacy of people of all ages. He also writes the weekly The Weekend Tea newsletter, which covers both news and analysis about spending, saving, investing, the economy and more.
Kyle was previously the Senior Investing Editor for Kiplinger.com, and the Managing Editor for InvestorPlace.com before that. His work has appeared in several outlets, including Yahoo! Finance, MSN Money, Barchart, The Globe & Mail and the Nasdaq. He also has appeared as a guest on Fox Business Network and Money Radio, among other shows and podcasts, and he has been quoted in several outlets, including MarketWatch, Vice and Univision. He is a proud graduate of The Ohio State University, where he earned a BA in journalism.
You can check out his thoughts on the markets (and more) at @KyleWoodley.
-
Want to Earn $1 Million More Over Your Lifetime? Do This
It's simple: Go to college or a trade school. It's an investment that will pay huge dividends for the rest of your life. And the benefits go far beyond money.
By Brian Evans, CPA, PFS Published
-
What Impact Does Politics Have on Insurance?
Some governors choose their state's insurance commissioner, while other states elect theirs, and that person has power over insurance issues, including rates.
By Karl Susman, CPCU, LUTCF, CIC, CSFP, CFS, CPIA, AAI-M, PLCS Published
-
Stock Market Today: Dow Outperforms After IBM Earnings
Investors also parsed a strong reading on second-quarter GDP and a dismal decline in durable goods.
By Karee Venema Published
-
Stock Market Today: Stocks Tumble on Disappointing Big Tech Earnings
Poorly received quarterly results from Alphabet and Tesla sparked a steep selloff in equities.
By Dan Burrows Last updated
-
Stock Market Today: Mega-Cap Tech Rallies to Drag Markets Higher
Markets focused on upcoming earnings from Magnificent 7 stocks rather than chaos in D.C.
By Dan Burrows Published
-
Stock Market Today: Stocks Tumble After Spectacular Global Internet Crash
Market participants rushed out of risk assets to end a wild week of trading.
By Dan Burrows Published
-
Stock Market Today: Dow Sinks 533 Points as Big Banks, Mega Caps Slump
Goldman Sachs and Apple were two of the worst-performing blue chip stocks on Thursday.
By Karee Venema Published
-
Stock Market Today: Semis Get Slammed and Blue Chips Bounce
The potential for more curbs on tech sales to China set off a rotation into blue chips.
By Dan Burrows Published
-
Stock Market Today: Dow Spikes 742 Points After UnitedHealth Earnings
The S&P 500 and Nasdaq also scored wins Tuesday albeit with much smaller gains than the blue chip Dow.
By Karee Venema Published
-
Stock Market Today: Dow Adds 210 Points as Apple, Goldman Hit New Highs
A big rally in blue chips and some dovish Fed speak boosted the equities market Monday.
By Karee Venema Published