Movers & Shakers: Aug 13., 2019
Stranded and chaos at the Hong Kong airport on 2nd day of shut down. Hong Kong's airport authority on Tuesday canceled most inbound and outbound flights after thousands of pro-democracy protestors flooded the terminals. This after more than 200 flights were canceled on Monday in what experts considered an unprecedented move for one of the world's largest and busiest hubs.
Global markets rocked as China takes another hit. The airport closures are raising concerns about an economic backlash for the region and whether or not businesses will start to reassess the region's business climate. The Hang Seng Index fell over 2 percent and is sitting at the lowest level since January. Throw in the ongoing U.S.-China trade war and global investors remain on edge.
Recession fears rattle stocks and bonds. The yield curve is flashing red and having been an accurate predictor of recessions over the past 50 years investors are getting spooked. The spread between the U.S. 2-year and 10-year Treasury yields fell below 6 basis points Monday, this as the Dow Jones Industrial Average lost close to 400 points. Despite falling stock and bond prices, U.S. equity futures were modestly lower on Tuesday.
Bernie Sanders blasts Jeff Bezos as the socialist takes on the billionaire. "I wonder why The Washington Post — which is owned by Jeff Bezos, who owns Amazon — doesn’t write particularly good articles about me," Vermont Sen. and Democratic presidential hopeful Bernie Sanders said at a Monday town hall in Wolfeboro, New Hampshire. "I don’t know why. But I guess maybe there’s a connection. Maybe we helped raise the minimum wage at Amazon to 15 bucks an hour as well.”