The markets were mixed today as the new tariffs on foreign steel and aluminum sparked concerns of a trade war. President Trump commented that "Trade wars are good, and easy to win" which left investors concerned going into the weekend. The Dow 30 was lower by 71 thanks in part to a downgrade on McDonalds (NYSE: MCD) which sent shares lower by 5%. The S&P 500 was higher by 13, and the Nasdaq 100 added 77. Next week the focus will likely stay on the tariffs until the ink is dry.
Retail stocks wrapped their full week of earnings releases with the Gap, Inc (NYSE: GPS) as your S&P 500 leader. The stock shot higher by 8% today as earnings showed the company was able to drive traffic away from their discount, Old Navy brand and into their Gap stores. The company has been working to stave off competition from other names like H&M and Forever 21. The CEO said in a conference call, "We dug in, I diagnosed the situation, we made a change and we intend to move very quickly forward." Investors cheered the beat, and positive sentiment going forward.
Nordstrom (NYSE: JWN) released their earnings which showed profits grew by 23%, earning them $437 million for the year on sales of $15.1 billion. This is a record revenue for the company which is currently completing plans to go private. The company did choose to report that they would no longer be reporting in store sales seperate from online sales. The number would be combined going forward. This initially sent shares lower but by the end of the day had closed up 6%.
J.C. Penny's (NYSE: JCP) and Foot Locker (NYSE: FL) did not do so well today after releasing their earnings. Both stocks suffered large losses on the day after earnings came in light. As of now these "Brick and Mortar" stores have not been able to stave off the competition from names like Amazon (NASDAQ: AMZN) and others that have moved faster to compete.