Markets still struggling as Middle East filming expands

When rockets started flying over Israel, stocks in the United States plummeted.

As oil prices rose, tech stocks fell as investors tried to gauge whether Iran’s bombing of Israel meant all-out war in the Middle East.

And that was just the beginning of a very bad day.

Related: ILA port strike poses major threat to auto supply chain

A dock strike broke out in ports from Houston to Portland, Maine. This could lead to an increase in the prices of fruits and vegetables. Most of the bananas that Americans consume come to the United States at the port of Wilmington in Delaware.

It could disrupt the arrival of holiday toys in stores, though companies like Walmart (WMT) and Costco (COST) he had brought goods of foreign manufacture earlier than usual.

A long strike could affect the November elections.

It wasn’t really what the market had expected after the third quarter ended on Monday and the fourth quarter began. And there was no clear answer to many of the issues raised by the rackets and the strike at the end of the trade in New York.

The Standard & Poor’s 500 fell 0.9%. Its year-to-date swing fell from 20.81% on Monday to 19.7% on Tuesday. The Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 173 points, or 0.4 percent, at 42,157 after dropping 385 points in the early open, and the Nasdaq Composite was down 279 points, or 1.5 percent, at 17,910.

Interest rates have fallen. The 10-year Treasury yield fell to 3.737 on Tuesday from 3.787% on Monday. The Mortgage News Daily estimate of mortgage rates fell to 6.2% from 6.24% on Monday.

A worker unloads bananas from a truck at a market in Colombo, Sri Lanka

IDREES MOHAMMED/Getty Images

Stocks can be pressed again

Stocks are likely to fall again on Wednesday as well.

Futures trading sends the Dow down more than 100 points at the open. The S&P 500 was down 10 points before the open. The Nasdaq-100 index was tracking a 26-point loss on top of its own 287-point loss on Tuesday.

Crude oil was rising again, but gasoline prices were at least holding steady, with national average gas prices at $3.20 a gallon and many states seeing prices below $3 a gallon.

The only saving grace is that there are few major economic reports to be announced on Wednesday and only earnings reports: Conagra (CAG) the major food company and Levi Strauss & Co. (LEVI) famous for its denim goods.

But things get more interesting on Thursday, when the Labor Department’s weekly jobless claims report comes out. And Friday’s jobs report, due at 8:30 am ET, is the most important economic report of the month.

The fund manager buys and sells:

• Experts cite stocks to buy after Fed rate cut
• Cathie Wood exits $23 million in growth tech stocks
• Top Value Fund Manager Says Alphabet Is Deep Value Stock

The Middle East: always on the minds of investors

If you ask money managers and investment managers about their biggest fears, turmoil in the Middle East is always cited. Ed Yardeni wrote Tuesday morning that “an expanding Middle East war has been our number one risk scenario over the past year for the stock market.”

For good reason. Oil supply disruptions mean economic disruptions around the world. The only winners are really the oil producing countries that are not at war with Israel and the oil companies.

Chevron (CVX) added 1.7% to $149.70 on Tuesday. ExxonMobil (XOM) rose 2.% to $119.93.

You’d think Tesla (TSLA) which does not produce gas vehicles. would be up. You would be wrong. Shares were down 1.4% at $258.02. General Motors (GM) rose 4 cents to $44.88. Ford Motor (F) added 19 cents to $10.75.

Overall, tech stocks had a mediocre day. Nvidia (NVDA) fell 3.7% to $117. Apple (AAPL) fell 2.9% to $226.21.

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