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The volatility in the stock market that finally arrived in early February continued into March as stocks sold off early in the month, then continued their rally off the Feb. 8th lows before faltering again to the February lows and finally bouncing back a bit on the last four days of the month. The net result was still a down month for stocks, primarily due to weakness caused by trade war fears as well as a more ‘hawkish’ outlook than expected from the new U.S. Federal Reserve Chief Jerome Powell during his ‘post-meeting’ press conference. The Federal Reserve Board raised their expectations for the number of rate hikes in 2019 and the Trump administration, while battling another round of defections and firings in the West Wing, announced their decision to levy tariffs of 25% on imported steel and 10% on imported aluminum. Then, realizing that those tariffs didn’t really reach their ultimate target, announced tariffs on about $60 billion worth of Chinese goods. On top of that, there were some concerns about slowing economic growth as ISM surveys were weaker and data on retail sales came in below expectations despite the recent tax cuts. Adding to the recent stock market woes was a breakdown in some of the key FAANG stocks, lead by Facebook (FB). Its failure to protect customer data shaved 14% off its stock price in one week, contributing to the S&P500 Info Tech Index’s 7.9% slump. (more…)