Stock Market’s ‘Whirlpool’ Tests Pain Thresholds
Very few of the fundamental reasons given for the big drop in equities hold up under scrutiny, suggesting people sold because they had to.
Markets are getting turbulent.
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Before trying to come up with any good, overarching explanations for last week’s excitement in the stock market, I would like to offer this chart of Whirlpool Corp.’s share price. The appliance manufacturer, which announced its third-quarter results on Thursday, attracted much attention earlier in the year as the beneficiary of an early U.S. tariff on foreign made washing machines — and then later as a victim of the higher cost of steel that resulted from other tariffs. But it is not clear what drove the stock’s turbulent ride last week: