Local stocks fall
Four of the publicly traded companies in Chattanooga have shed half or more of their market value in the past 12 months following Friday’s sell-off. Among the hardest hit local stocks in the past year are:* CBL Properties declined 1.9% Friday to an all-time low of 81 cents per share, down more than 80 percent from a year ago* Dixie Group dropped by nearly 4% Friday to 56 cents per share, down 76.7% from a year ago* Covenant Transport fell by narly 3.5% Friday to $15.02 per share, down 52.3% from a year ago* Astec Industries declined 1.9% Friday to close at a 7-year low of $29.43 per share, down 49.5% from a year ago* Mohawk Industries declined nearly 3.6% to $135.55, down 33.7% from a year ago
Wall Street is no fan of Tariff Man.
The stock market stumbled Friday to its first losing month of 2019 in May, primarily due to President Donald Trump’s decision to broadly wield his tariff powers, first against China over trade and then against Mexico over immigration.
During stocks’ month-long slide investors wrestled with the potential impact that the U.S.’s escalating trade war with China could have on corporate and economic growth. Friday’s losses came after Trump announced plans via Twitter to impose tariffs on Mexico in a bid to compel the nation’s third-biggest trading partner to crack down on migrants attempting to enter the U.S.
The move shocked investors and spurred a broad sell-off that sliced more than 350 points from the Dow Jones Industrial Average. The selling left the benchmark S&P 500 index 6.6% lower for the month, and up 9.8% for the year so far.