Stocks Make Back Losses, S&P 500 Finishes Little Changed

Stocks went nowhere today after making back early losses, as Chevron (CVX) and Wal-Mart (WMT) gained, while Visa (V) and Boeing (BA) fell.

REUTERS

The S&P 500 gained 0.03% to 1,868.20, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 0.07% to 16,340.08. Chevron’s 1% gain, which came after being added to the Focus List at Credit Suisse, and Wal-Mart’s 0.8% rise helped balance out Visa’s 0.5% fall and  Boeing’s 1% drop, which came after UBS cut its price target. Tesoro (TSO) jumped 4.1% to $54.50 after oil prices fell, making the refiner the S&P 500′s biggest winner.

Once again, concerns about China are reputed to have driven early weakness in the stock market. Rhino Trading Partners’ Michael Block expresses his concern about the falling Chinese yuan:

…cheaper Chinese exports could wreak havoc on non Chinese exporters around the world.  The most obvious losers would be South Korean, Japanese, U.S. and European stocks that are heavy exporters to countries other than China…In the U.S., I am concerned about export heavy sectors like autos and steel the most.  Given the weaker yuan and lower Chinese purchasing power, consumer companies selling into China, whether they be luxury goods makers or QSRs, are also ones to avoid here.

The big picture is that this could end up being an issue that affects everyone going into this November.  If a weaker CNY causes U.S. exports to fall and jobs and GDP suffer, you better believe that protectionism becomes a byword going into mid term elections and then beyond that into the 2016 campaign.   The risk of this escalating into a full scale currency war is the biggest risk that China's new path may entail.   And yet I see good reasons for why it will happen.  China may have no choice but to give it a try.  Any questions or comments, please contact me.

Hey, maybe I wasn’t wrong when I wrote about China’s problems hitting the U.S. Maybe I was just early.