Comment: MAR 22 2017: For the first time since the election, Trump optimism is showing signs of cracking
For the first time since the election, markets are doubting they will get the pro-growth policies of tax reform and stimulus promised by President Donald Trump and the Republican Congress.
The repeal of Obamacare appears to have hit some snags and the GOP brought out Trump earlier Tuesday to serve as pitchman to House Republicans who may have been wavering ahead of Thursday's vote. Whether he won votes or not is unclear, but markets certainly took the lack of clear majority support as a negative.
"I think it's certainly interesting the market is questioning it, based on the limited amount of votes the Republicans can afford to lose in the House. It suggests if you thought this party would be voting as a block on the key agenda items, that might not be the case," said Mark Cabana, head of U.S. short rate strategy at Bank of America Merrill Lynch. "It might be a lot more fractured party than many might have anticipated."
The stock market sold off sharply with many market leaders of the Trump trade lagging. The Dow was down as much as 200 points, but the underpinnings of the market were even weaker. The Russell 2000 small-cap index, for instance, fell 2 percent, and the Dow transports lost 1.7 percent. Financial stocks were the worst performers, down 2.6 /2017/03/21/trump-honeymoon-over-markets-are-now-scared-his-policy-promises-wont-come-true.html#