Market plummets with worst losses since 1987 as growth concerns dominateDow -2997.10 at 20188.52, Nasdaq -970.28 at 6903.95, S&P -324.89 at 2386.13 [BRIEFING.COM] There was a crisis of confidence in the stock market today, which led to the worst day of losses since the crash of 1987. The Dow Jones Industrial Average declined 12.9%, the S&P 500 fell 12.0%; the Nasdaq Composite dropped 12.3%; and the Russell 2000 plunged 14.3%. Confidence was lacking in the monetary policy response; it was lacking in the fiscal response; and it was lacking in the outlook for economic growth and earnings prospects. The lack of confidence kicked in overnight when the futures market went limit down after the Federal Reserve announced a stunning series of policy measures aimed at supporting the financial markets and the flow of credit. Specifically, the target range for the fed funds rate was cut by 100 basis points to 0.00% to 0.25%, the discount rate was cut by 150 basis points to 0.25%, a $700 billion quantitative easing program is being implemented, there was coordinated central bank action to enhance liquidity via standing U.S. dollar liquidity swap line arrangements, and bank reserve requirement ratios were reduced to 0.00%, effective March 26. The policy effort is laudable, yet market participants quickly made it known that it isn't thought to be enough to turn the tide of deteriorating confidence on Main Street and Wall Street. That confidence has been shaken by a multitude of announcements that made it clear the U.S. economy -- the world's largest economy -- is rapidly sliding into a shutdown mode that will severely curtail earnings prospects and will raise the specter of recession in coming months. Those announcements included forced closures of restaurants and bars in some states; airlines further cutting their flight capacity further; more and more schools announcing extended closures; Apple (AAPL 242.21, -35.76, -12.9%), and other retailers, announcing that they will voluntarily close their stores; Wynn Resorts (WYNN 54.80, -17.82, -24.4%) and MGM Resorts (MGM 10.25, -5.19, -33.6%) noting they will temporarily suspend their casino/resort operations in Las Vegas; the president recommending to avoid gatherings of 10 or more people; and the city of San Francisco issuing an order for residents to stay inside, except for essential purposes. In other developments, Canada announced it will be closing its borders to non-citizens, with the exception of permanent residents and Americans. The EU, meanwhile, discussed closing borders for 30 countries to foreigners. These developments were all part of a mosaic that undermined consumer confidence and investor confidence. The latter was further impacted by a sense of angst that the government has not gone far enough with its fiscal stimulus plans to effectively mitigate the economic fallout from the growing wave of "cocooning" that is expected to lead to a major retrenchment in consumer and business spending and large job losses as a result of that retrenchment. There was some chatter during the day that the White House is pushing an $800 billion stimulus proposal, half of which would involve a payroll tax cut, and an assistance package for the airline industry. Separately, Senate Minority Leader Schumer was reportedly floating a $750 billion stimulus proposal. Notwithstanding those ideas, there was nothing concrete as a step-up measure on the fiscal side to alter investor confidence. The end result was wholesale selling of risk assets, which escalated further in the final hour as President Trump and his coronavirus task force conducted a press conference, which featured a suggestion that the trajectory of the virus might not peak until July or August. Importantly, though, it didn't feature any announcement of a fiscal stimulus plan. The major indices all closed at, or near, their lows for the day, pressured by double-digit percentage losses in ten of the 11 sectors. The lone exception was the consumer staples sector (-7.0%); otherwise, losses ranged from 10.0% (health care) to 16.6% (real estate) in an historic day of trading. All 30 Dow components ended lower, with more than half suffering double-digit percentage losses. Boeing (BA 129.61, -40.59, -23.9%) was the biggest laggard. Reviewing today's economic data: The New York Fed's Empire State Manufacturing Survey fell to -21.5 in March (Briefing.com consensus 4.7) from 12.9 in February. The dividing line between expansion and contraction is 0.0. Tuesday's economic releases will include Retail Sales and Industrial Production for February, Business Inventories for January, and the NAHB Housing Market Index for March. Nasdaq Composite: -23.0%S&P 500: -26.1%Dow Jones Industrial Average: -31.7%Russell 2000: -41.8% Market Snapshot Dow20188.52-2997.10(-12.93%)Nasdaq6903.95-970.28(-12.32%)SP 5002386.13-324.89(-11.98%)10-yr Note NYSEAdv 114 Dec 2796 Vol 1.89 blnNasdaqAdv 283 Dec 3063 Vol 4.50 bln Industry Watch Strong: --Weak: Information Technology, Financials, Consumer Discretionary, Materials, Real Estate, Energy Moving the Market --Growth worries escalating amid rapid shutdown efforts to curb spread of coronavirus-- Fed announced massive stimulus actions, including cutting rates to nearly zero and restarting quantitative easing --Anxiousness about fiscal stimulus planningECONOMIC EVENTS: In the U.S., the Empire State manufacturing index dropped a record 34.4 points to -21.5 in March, which was much lower than the consensus forecast. Yesterday, The Federal Reserve announced it has lowered the target range for the federal funds rate to 0 to 1/4 percent in light of the view that the effects of the coronavirus will "weigh on economic activity in the near term and pose risks to the economic outlook." Also, to support the flow of credit to households and businesses, over coming months the Fed will increase its holdings of Treasury securities by at least $500B and its holdings of agency mortgage-backed securities by at least $200B. Meanwhile, the Wall Street Journal reported that European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen said that the EU intends to enact an unprecedented 30-day ban on nonessential travel into the bloc in an effort to restrict the spread of COVID-19. The measure needs to be approved formally by EU leaders when they discuss the matter on Tuesday, and the EC president said she had spoken to the majority of EU leaders over the weekend and had their support, according to the Journal. Canada also announced a ban of entry for non-citizens. TOP NEWS: As the world continues to grapple with the spread of the novel coronavirus, multiple U.S. states and cities have ordered the closure of restaurants and bars for either a determined or undetermined amount of time. The cities of Los Angeles and New York have closed all restaurants while allowing delivery and carryout, while the states of Ohio, Illinois, Massachusetts, and Washington have closed all restaurants, with delivery and carryout allowed. Certain restaurant stocks felt pressure near noon from these executive orders, including Darden (DRI), Shake Shack (SHAK), Kura Sushi (KRUS), Denny's (DENN), and Chipotle (CMG). Meanwhile, Stephens analyst James Rutherford upgraded Domino's Pizza (DPZ) to Overweight from Equal Weight with an unchanged $350 price target, saying that Domino's is one of hte best-positioned restaurants in the U.S. for the changing behavior. Additionally, Starbucks (SBUX) said yesterday that it is moving all its company-owned U.S. and Canada stores to a "to go" model amid the outbreak of COVID-19 for "at least" two weeks. In other COVID-19 news, industry trade organization Airlines for America said that given the rapid spread of the novel coronavirus, U.S. airlines are in continuous conversations with the Trump administration, Congress, and labor unions in an effort to secure financial assistance from the federal government to protect and preserve the 750,000 jobs of men and women who are directly employed by U.S. airlines, as well the 10M jobs supported by the airline industry. Publicly traded companies in the space include Alaska Air (ALK), American Airlines (AAL), Delta Air Lines (DAL), JetBlue (JBLU), Southwest (LUV), Spirit Airlines (SAVE) and United Airlines (UAL). Amazon (AMZN) said in a blog post that it is currently out of stock on certain household staples amid the outbreak. The company noted that its delivery promises are currently "longer than usual." Separately, The Wall Street Journal's Dana Mattioli reported that Amazon intends to hire an extra 100,000 employees in the U.S. as people are turning to online shopping at a breakneck pace to help contain the outbreak of COVID-19. Meanwhile, Apple (AAPL) said it is closing all its retail stores, except those in Greater China, for the next two weeks to minimize the risk of coronavirus transmission. A great number of retailers have similarly said they will be closing their stores or adjusting their hours in response to the virus. Additionally, shares of MGM Resorts (MGM) were 33.6% lower after Bloomberg reported that the company intends to draw down as much as $1.5B in backup loans amid pressure from the COVID-19 outbreak. MAJOR MOVERS: Among the noteworthy gainers was BioNTech (BNTX), which surged 29.3% after it reported "rapid progress" on its COVID-19 vaccine program. Also higher was Clorox (CLX), which gained 2% after JPMorgan analyst Andrea Teixeira double upgraded the stock to Overweight from Underweight with a price target of $185, up from $153. The analyst sees higher than previously modeled for demand of the company's products with disinfecting claims as well as trash bags, salad dressing and charcoal as more consumers stay home for a longer duration than initially anticipated. Among the notable losers was Mallinckrodt (MNK), which dropped 40.8% after a court decision to uphold Medicaid drug rebates for Acthar Gel will cause the company to pay $650M. Also lower was AMC Entertainment (AMC), which fell 19.2% after it announced a new "50/50" social distancing and attendance policy amid the COVID-19 outbreak. Source: (Briefing.com)(theFly.com) Disclosure: I may trade in the ticker symbols mentioned, both long or short. My articles represent my personal opinion and analysis and should not be taken as investment advice. 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