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Well, we started off great, at least. Pre-market futures got off to a roaring start after overseas markets expressed optimism that trade deals with the U.S. were nigh. Talks were already ongoing with trade leaders in Japan, and the Nikkei finished up +6% as a result. This was no guarantee of anything, but hey — it’s a start.

Then, around mid-day, President Trump’s press secretary stepped out to make plain the trade war is definitely on with China: an additional +50% tariffs on Chinese imports are now getting levied as of midnight tonight. China retaliated against the U.S. adding a +34% tariff on Chinese imports last Wednesday with a +34% tariff of its own on U.S. exports. Initially, +20% was put onto Chinese imports earlier, which now brings Chinese imports to +104% in tariffs.

This news wasn’t good for Apple (AAPL - Free Report), which makes its iPhones in China. The stock fell an extra -5% in today’s trading session, putting the company’s market losses at greater than -22% since this time last week. This mounts to a loss of roughly -$700 billion in market capitalization — among the largest share value losses of any company in history.

News wasn’t all bad for Wall Street, however: an unexpected hike in payouts to Medicare Advantage has bolstered major healthcare insurers, particularly Humana (HUM - Free Report), which gained +10% on the day, and UnitedHealthcare (UNH - Free Report), which concluded the session up +5.4%.

But the S&P 500 has now closed sub-5000 for the first time in nearly a full year. The Volatility Index (VIX), what market participants call the “fear gauge,” jumped another +11.4% today, +244% from this time a year ago to 52.33. The 10-year bond yield accelerated up 10 basis points (bps) on the session to +4.23%, while the 2-year bond yield found a bottom at +3.67% and closed at +3.73%.

In all, the Dow swung from up +1461 points early today to -320 points, -0.84%, at the close. The S&P 500 shed another -79 points, -1.57%, while the Nasdaq tumbled another -335 points, -2.15%. The small-cap Russell 2000 got rocked again: -67 points, -3.73% for the session.

What to Expect from the Stock Market Wednesday
 

The unofficial kick-off to Q1 earnings season begins tomorrow morning — although Zacks Director of Research Sheraz Mian would say Q1 earnings season began a couple weeks ago when Nike (NKE - Free Report), FedEx (FDX - Free Report) and a few other big names reported — when Delta Air Lines (DAL - Free Report) announces results. Delta is expected to make a nickel less that Q1 of the previous year, with revenues slightly in the positive year over year to $13.80 billion. The airline has missed on earnings in two of its last three quarters, however.

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