CNBC Business News Update - Market Midday: Stocks Mixed, S&P 500 Index Builds On Record High, Retailers Face New Headwinds 2/19/25

Episode Date: February 19, 2025

From Wall Street to Main Street, the latest on the markets and what it means for your money. Updated regularly on weekdays, featuring CNBC expert analysis and sound from top business newsmakers. Anchored by CNBC's Jessica Ettinger.

I'm Jessica Edinger, CNBC. Wall Street has turned mixed for stocks this afternoon. The Dow is still in the red, down 87 points, led lower by shares of Home Depot. They're down more than 2%, but the S&P 500 index, which opened at a fresh record high this morning, is building on that. It's up four points now.

The Nasdaq's still in the red, but only down two points. NVIDIA shares are up, but only a fraction of a percent. Companies whose shares have hit fresh all-time highs today include Ticketmaster, Parent Live Nation, Take-Two Interactive, Garmin, Fiserv, Visa, Palo Alto Networks, and Tractor Maker Deere. We expect a lot of choppiness in the market. The negatives are the policy and regulatory uncertainty and the government spending reductions. And we are going to start seeing how that starts to impact the real economy here in the coming months. So we expect a lot of choppiness. North Stars Nimrit Kang on CNBC. The minutes from the last Fed meeting will be out

this afternoon. Investors will comb through those for hints on whether another interest rate cut could be on the table. Crude oil popping higher again today, as is gold, which is near its intraday record high. President Trump floating 25 percent tariffs on auto, drug and chip imports as soon as April 2nd. Some investors are spooked. Some are shaking it off as just talk. EV maker Nikola filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection. Homebuilder Toll Brothers shares were lower on an earnings miss for the last quarter. It delivered just under 2,000 new homes, falling short of expectations. More people applied for mortgages to buy homes last week than the same week last

year. The average rate on a 30-year fixed home loan is 7 percent, according to Mortgage News Daily. Retail earnings will start to come out. One expert says there are headwinds ahead. He's calling it RIFT. That is rates, inflation, FX, and tariffs. These are the policy risks that we think retailers will talk about when they give their 2025 guidance. We expect that most retailers will give a cautious outlook. Now, as you said, we do think it was a good holiday, but we think it behooves retailers to set a relatively low bar for 2025. DA Davidson Research Analyst Michael Baker on CNBC. The Quaker Oats Pearl Milling Company pancake and waffle mix recall now bumped up to the highest level. The FDA says the class one recall means the product

could cause health issues, including death. It contains undeclared milk. Jessica Ettinger, CNBC. The Investing Club. We're not about trading. We're about investing. Get invested. Join the club today. Go to cndc.com slash Jim's Club.