The markets sold off hard all morning long as investors worked to re-price the markets given the latest tariff tit-for-tat between the U.S. and China. The Dow was lower by 700 points, which has only happened 7 other times in history. Ultimately it closed lower by 618. The S&P 500 pulled back to the 2800 level, where it found a little intraday support, but still lost 69 on the day. The Nasdaq was the hardest hit with a loss of 269 today.

Sector News

Semiconductors continue to be a weak area of the market as investors focus 100% on the trade war between China and the U.S. The semis have now given back all of April's gains and seem to be headed back to the 200-day moving average. In the short-term, this is the pullback that many investors have been waiting for.

Oil was initially higher as it was reported overnight in Saudi Arabia that two of their tankers were the subject of a sabotage attack. As the U.S. markets began their morning, however, oil prices slid on the Chinese retaliation in the escalating trade war.

Stock News

Uber (UBER  ) shares traded lower again today as the new IPO continues to be under pressure from a valuation standpoint. After launching on Friday the stock sold off almost 8% and today was already lower by 5% before the market even opened. This is now on record as one of the worst 2-day performances by a new, headline IPO in the last 10 years.

Shares of Apple (AAPL  ) sold off sharply today as investors continue to worry about the trade war and how it will play into future earnings and growth. Goldman Sachs (GS  ) has also been warning clients to move away from tech companies with a product focus in favor of more service-based tech companies. The only bright side is that technical traders note the oversold positioning of the stock price, which tends to lead to a short-term bounce.

Teva Pharmaceuticals (TEVA  ) shares sold off sharply today as they (along with a handful of other drug companies) have been hit with a lawsuit. Individual states have sued the pharmaceutical companies for plotting together to inflate or to keep drug prices high.