Another fall for stocks on Friday had the S&P 500 flirting with a 20% drop from its peak set early this year, putting it within the grasp of what Wall Street calls a bear market.

The benchmark index was down 0.4% for the day in afternoon trading and on pace for its seventh straight losing week. Rising interest rates, high inflation, the war in Ukraine, and a slowdown in China's economy are all punishing stocks and raising fears about a possible U.S. recession. The last bear market was in 2020, an unusually brief downturn that sliced 34% off the S&P 500.

The index finished the week off with a 3 percent loss, which was its seventh straight weekly decline, the New York Times reported. It's the longest window of losses since 2001.

Surprisingly low earnings reports from Target and Walmart this week didn't help either which contributed to dragging the markets even lower. The New York Times points out that since World War II, recessions almost always follow bear markets.

Stocks rose on Wall Street Friday and closed higher for the week, breaking a seven-week losing streak, the longest such stretch since 2001.

The S&P 500 rose 2.5%, increasing its gain for the week to 6.6%. That's the biggest weekly gain for the benchmark index since November 2020. Technology stocks were a big factor pushing the market higher. That sent the Nasdaq composite up 3.3%. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 1.8%. Retailers also made solid gains.

The yield on the 10-year Treasury note, which helps set mortgage rates, slipped to 2.74%. U.S. crude oil prices rose.

Retailers were among the biggest gainers on Friday as investors continued reviewing the latest round of earnings to get a better sense of just how much pain rising inflation is inflicting on businesses and consumers. Beauty products company Ulta Beauty surged 12.5% for the biggest gain in the S&P 500 after raising its profit forecast for the year. Amazon rose 3.7%, the Associated Press reported.

Stocks are lower on Wall Street in afternoon trading Tuesday after Walmart warned that inflation was negatively impacting American consumers' spending power.

The S&P 500 was down 1.3% as of 2:42 p.m. Eastern, wiping out modest gains from a day earlier. The Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 247 points, or 0.8%, at 31,744 and the Nasdaq Composite slid 2%.

Walmart shares dropped 8.3% after the retail giant cut its profit outlook for the second quarter and the full year, saying rising prices for food and gas are forcing shoppers to cut back on more profitable discretionary items, particularly clothing.

Walmart's profit warning in the middle of the quarter is rare, and raised worries about how the highest inflation in 40 years is affecting the entire retail sector. Stocks of other major chains fell following Walmart's announcement, made after Wall Street's closing bell on Tuesday. Target dropped 4.2%, Macy's slid 6.5% and Kohl's fell 8%.

Investors have remained deeply concerned about inflation's impact on company profits and how it will affect U.S. consumers. While Americans' finances are relatively strong thanks to savings built up during the pandemic, those nest eggs are being spent on high gas and food prices.

The major indexes are coming off solid gains last week fueled by mostly better-than-expected reports on corporate profits. Falling yields in the bond market also helped, easing the pressure on stocks after expectations for rate hikes by the Federal Reserve propelled yields higher much of this year.

The central bank is expected to announce a rate hike of up to three-quarters of a percentage point on Wednesday, triple the usual amount. The central bank is waging an aggressive campaign to stem four-decade high inflation. The expected hike would put the Fed's benchmark rate in a range of 2.25% to 2.5%, the highest since 2018.

Bond yields were mixed Tuesday. The two-year Treasury yield, which tends to move with expectations for the Fed, rose to 3.04% from 3.02% late Monday. The 10-year yield, which influences mortgage rates, fell to 2.79% from 2.82%.

Technology stocks, retailers and communication companies were among the biggest drags on the benchmark S&P 500 index. Microsoft was down 3.5%, Amazon slid 5.3% and Facebook owner Meta Platforms dropped 4.5%.

The losses easily outweighed gains by health care and utilities stocks. Small company stocks also fell, sending the Russell 2000 0.6% lower.

Investors were eying the latest batch of corporate earnings reports.

Shares of automaker General Motors fell 3.1% after the company said its second-quarter profit fell 40% from a year ago, as computer chip and parts shortages hobbled factory output and drove the company's U.S. sales down more than 15%.

The Detroit automaker earned $1.67 billion from April through June, well below the $2.79 billion it made a year earlier. GM couldn't deliver 95,000 vehicles during the quarter because it lacked parts.

Shopify slumped 15.3% after the Canadian e-commerce company said it is cutting 10% of its staff, or about 1,000 employees, as it reckons with an unexpected sales downturn after pandemic-fueled growth.

Tech heavyweights Alphabet and Microsoft report their results after the closing bell, while Meta, Apple and Amazon report later in the week.

Friday marked the end of the week and month on Wall Street, closing out with losses across the board.

September finished on a miserable note for stocks with a loss of 9.3%, which makes it the worst monthly decline since March 2020.

The S&P 500 fell 1.5% on Friday and is at its lowest level in almost two years.

The benchmark index has lost ground for six of the last seven weeks and posted its third straight losing quarter.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average lost 1.7%, and the Nasdaq fell 1.5%.

Nike fell sharply after the company had to slash prices to clear inventories, while Carnival dropped following weaker-than-expected quarterly results.

Bond markets were showing calmer as yields relaxed.

The root cause of markets struggling is fear, as people worry about a possible recession and interest rates soaring in hopes of beating down the high inflation that's swept the world.

Stocks edged higher in morning trading on Wall Street Wednesday as investors count down to the end of the worst year for the S&P 500 since 2008.

The S&P 500 rose 0.1% as of 10:12 a.m. Eastern. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 12 points, or less than 0.1%, to 33,257 and the Nasdaq rose 0.2%.

Bond yields fell. The yield on the 10-year Treasury, which influences mortgage rates, slipped to 3.84% from 3.85% Tuesday.

Investors are in the middle of a mostly quiet and holiday-shortened week. Markets were closed on Monday for the observed Christmas holiday and there are no major economic reports expected this week.

Stocks were mostly restrained. Health care and technology companies had some of the broadest gains. Eli Lilly rose 0.5% and Microsoft rose 0.8%.

Tesla rose 2.3% as it rebounded from steep losses it suffered after reports Tuesday that it temporarily suspended production at a factory in Shanghai.

U.S. crude oil prices fell 1.8% and weighed down energy stocks. Hess fell 2%.

Southwest Airlines shed 2.5% as the carrier's dramatic trouble with flight cancellations continued.

The Chinese government announced late Tuesday that it will start issuing new passports, a major step away from anti-virus travel barriers that likely will bring a flood of tourists out of China for next month’s Lunar New Year holiday. China has already said it will drop most of its COVID-19 travel restrictions next month.

Hong Kong’s Hang Seng climbed 1.6%, while the Shanghai Composite index dropped 0.3%.

Markets in Europe were mixed.

Wall Street remains on edge and will likely continue dealing with volatile trading as the Federal Reserve continues its fight against stubbornly hot inflation. The Fed and other central banks have been raising interest rates to stifle borrowing and slow spending in order to tame inflation. The strategy, though, risks slowing the economy too much and bringing on a recession.

The Fed has already raised its key interest rate seven times this year and is expected to continue raising rates in 2023.

Bed Bath & Beyond is hoping its latest financial move will allow it to stave off bankruptcy.

The company announced a stock offering that it expects to bring in more than $1 billion. The money will be used to pay off some of its debt and attempt to rehab the struggling business.

Bed Bath & Beyond filed a report in January with the Securities and Exchange Commission that said it received notice of default on a loan from JPMorgan Chase Bank.

The company also plans to close 150 more stores across the country. The announcement comes about a week after the company said it would close 90 additional Bed Bath & Beyond stores.

The company also announced last week that it was closing all of its Harmon locations. They are mostly located in New York and New Jersey— with additional locations in California, Nevada and Florida.

If the stock selloff does not work, Bed Bath & Beyond warned that it will likely need to file bankruptcy.

The retailer initiated a new merchandising and inventory strategy in the third quarter of 2022. However, Sue Gove, president and CEO of Bed Bath & Beyond Inc., said they did not achieve their goals.

The company reported that sales declined more than 30% compared to the third quarter of 2021.

Click here to see the full list of store closures

Stocks fell in afternoon trading on Wall Street Friday as major indexes head for their second weekly loss in a row after another bout of turbulence shook markets.

The S&P 500 fell 1%, the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 0.8% and the Nasdaq fell 1.5%. Investors have been watching the latest developments in Ukraine, where Russia has been amassing troops on the border, as well as more corporate earnings reports.

This week investors also received the latest confirmation from the Federal Reserve that it intends to move decisively to fight inflation with higher interest rates.

The Wall Street Journal reported on Friday that the U.S expects an attack from Russia on Ukraine in the coming days. And Joe Biden reportedly is expected to move more U.S. troops to the region.

As CNBC reported, Friday was a volatile day for the markets for a number of reasons, including a warning that trillions of dollars in ETFs, indexes, options and futures were set to expire.

St. Louis Fed President James Bullard has warned that without aggressive action, inflation could get out of control if there are not rate hikes, CNBC reported on Thursday.

Stocks tumbled again Friday and this time bond yields joined in the swoon as worries about an imminent Russian invasion of Ukraine piled onto Wall Street's already heavy list of concerns about inflation and interest rates.

The S&P 500 lost 1.9% after the White House encouraged all U.S. citizens to leave Ukraine within the next 48 hours, before possible military action by Russia. Similar, knee-jerk swings swept through other markets as investors pulled money out of riskier things like stocks and moved instead toward the safety of bonds and gold. The price of oil rose more than 3%.

Tensions have been in the air for a while about military action by Russia, and U.S. national security adviser Jake Sullivan said Friday that the United States did not have clear information that the Russian President ordered an invasion. Sullivan said, “the threat is now immediate enough that prudence demands that it is the time to leave now” for Americans in Ukraine.

As Yahoo!Finance reported, a surge in prices which shot up 7.5% pushed calls for the Federal Reserve to increase interesting rates aggressively to try and curb liquidity in the market.

David Spika, the president of GuideStone Capital Management said, "The Fed realizes they have to start moving...Consumers are getting killed with this inflation. The Fed has to move and has to move quickly if they want to rein this in."

So who is the highest-paid person in the government? The answer may surprise you.

Here's a hint: It's not President Joe Biden, who reportedly makes $400,000 a year as Commander in Chief.

Mark Scribner, Managing Director at Oxygen Financial, tells Newsy that this person is Dr. Anthony Fauci, the Director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases.

Lindsay Tuchman: "So, why does Dr. Fauci make more money than the President of the United States?" 

Mark Scribner: "So, his package, it's about $440,000 a year, and then he has a lifetime pension of $380,000 a year. He is part of an old federal system, I think there's only a handful of people still left. It's called the CSRS system, and it was disbanded in 1987. So, he's part of an old package that was not very effective for pensions, that was costing the government way too much money, so they stopped it, but he's still on that program."

Tuchman: "So, and in part has to do with just his longevity of serving in the position that he's in?"

 

Scribner: "You know, I'm a financial advisor, I have clients that work for the FBI, ATF, and they've had the same tenure in terms of length of service. They don't have those kinds of packages, they are, you know, maybe $80,000 a year in pensions, they have a million dollars in their retirement accounts, Dr. Fauci has about $10.4 million in his investment accounts, so there's definitely a disparity." 

Tuchman: "Interesting. So, as we're talking about government employees making money, there's the salary of course, but we've also seen politicians on both sides of the aisle profiting off of the stock market, and sometimes it's due to some information that they have, or something that they know about, and that of course, faces a lot of criticism. What are your thoughts on making sure that doesn't happen in any, sort of way that could be seen as something to be criticized?" 

Scribner: "Well, for your viewers, there's a great website called Unusual Whales and it goes through each politician and it's not a, it's not a red or blue type of a topic, it's all across the board, but they are definitely having access to inside information. Now, I'm a financial advisor and there's a term called 'front running,' that basically prohibits us from buying an individual stock for our own accounts ahead of a client account, but they have access to trade deals, all kinds of big announcements and they buy individual stocks, and this was something that was attempted to be resolved, and it's called the Stock Act. It got watered down in 2013, but they are buying ahead of, you know, some major announcements, major trade deals, and it actually ruins the integrity of the market when you know, they have access to inside information that the average person can't. It's completely unacceptable and I think it just erodes trust for the consumers."

This report was originally published by Lindsay Tuchman of Newsy.

THE ASSOCIATED PRESS & SCRIPPS NATIONAL — A tumultuous week of trading ended with stocks falling again on Friday.

The S&P 500 fell 1.9%, and notched its worst weekly performance since March 2020. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 1.3% and the Nasdaq lost 2.7%.

This week alone, the Nasdaq suffered a 7.6% loss. According to CNBC, the Nasdaq is off to its worst start to a year since 2008.

Technology and communications stocks fell Friday. Netflix plunged over 20% after the streaming service delivered another quarter of disappointing subscriber growth.

Inflation fears and concerns about the impact of higher interest rates have prompted a cautious shift in the broader market after a solid year of gains in 2021.

This article provides information and education for investors. NerdWallet does not offer advisory or brokerage services, nor does it recommend or advise investors to buy or sell particular stocks or securities.

Why aren’t you investing?

Maybe you grew up thinking the stock market was a scam. Maybe you’re worried that you’ll lose all your money. Maybe you think you don’t have enough to start. Many Americans remain uninvested, even though it can hurt their long-term financial future. According to a 2019 Pew Research Center survey, only about 35% percent of U.S. adults said they personally owned stocks, bonds or mutual funds outside of retirement accounts.

While the system may have originally been built to benefit the few, it is growing to accommodate the needs of the many. No matter what your reason for avoiding investing is, you can begin with confidence after busting these stock market myths.

Myth #1: I need to know about the stock market to start investing

If you’re worried that you don’t know enough about investing to get started, consider this: The people who trade stocks frequently, confidently swapping Amazon for Apple when they see fit, rarely “beat the stock market.” Often, buying a simple index fund and letting it grow over time will make you more money, financial advisors say. So don’t worry that a limited investing knowledge will hold you back.

Having a cautious attitude when it comes to investing can be beneficial and keep you from making any rash decisions. Learning how to invest is easier than you might think, and definitely does not involve being an investing expert.

It’s getting started as soon as you can that is key, says Chloe Moore, a certified financial planner and founder of Financial Staples in Atlanta.

“Investing is an important tool for building wealth,” says Moore. “We all want our money to work for us, and investing plays a key role in this. The earlier you invest, the more time your money has to grow.”

Myth #2: The system isn’t meant for me

Different factors contribute to the belief that the stock market isn’t for everyone. Some people might feel this way because they can’t find a financial advisor who looks like them. Maybe it’s because of an inherited distrust or a lack of confidence in managing money, or maybe it’s a fear of discrimination. Maybe they just don’t think they have enough money to start.

These concerns are real, but there are more tools than ever to help people learn about personal finance and start investing. Groups such as the Association of African American Financial Advisors can help investors connect with advisors of color.

Robo-advisors are another option, and they’re a great way to get started investing, Moore says. They use computer algorithms to choose and manage your investments for you, no matter how much money you have (and often for a fraction of the cost of a traditional financial advisor). Ellevest is a robo-advisor that specializes in helping women invest. (Ellevest is a NerdWallet advertising partner).

“These automated online investment platforms can help you find the right mix of assets for your goals and risk tolerance,” Moore says. “They also rebalance your account on a regular basis, and some will optimize your portfolio for tax efficiency.”

Myth #3: If I open an investment account, I’m invested

Just like a checking or savings account, just because you’ve opened an account doesn’t mean you’ve put money in it.

Some investment accounts have a minimum initial deposit, but many do not, meaning you can open an account with $0.

Once you open the account, you’ll need to add money before you can start buying investments. If you’re not ready to commit your dollars to the stock market just yet, you can still dip your toes in the water by opening an account for free. There are even stock market simulators you can use to practice investing before you do it for real.

Myth #4: I’ll probably lose all my money

While this is technically true, it’s highly unlikely. Short term variations in the stock market may make your investment account’s balance go up or down. But if you have a diversified portfolio (which may include low-cost index funds) and hold on to those investments for the long-term, there is a greater possibility for growth over time.

Myth #5: I have to pay for a financial advisor

Just because someone is a professional doesn’t mean they can predict the stock market. A financial advisor may come in handy if your financial life is getting more complicated and you need some help with retirement or estate planning, but otherwise, using a robo-advisor or choosing investments yourself works just fine for most investors.

Disclosure: The author held no positions in the aforementioned securities at the time of publication.

More From NerdWallet

Alana Benson writes for NerdWallet. Email: abenson@nerdwallet.com.

Trading platform Robinhood lifted restrictions on trading shares of GameStop Corp. and AMC Entertainment Inc. late Thursday.“There are currently no temporary limits to increasing your positions,” Robinhood said on its website Thursday night.The news comes following a roller-coaster period last week. Highly volatile trading of GameStop and other stocks erupted when amateur traders, many gathering on the Reddit forum r/wallstreetbets, took advantage of the heavy short selling on underdog stocks like GameStop, and invested heftily, spoiling short-seller's positions.Robinhood users became irate at the service, some even bringing lawsuits, when the trading platform restricted trading of 50 highly volatile stocks that were majorly shorted. Robinhood eased up on the restrictions Sunday, bringing that number down to eight. Still, GameStop and AMC remained on their list. The relaxing of restrictions comes as GameStop, AMC and other stock, once propped up by the hype of mass-investment, seem to be coming down.GameStop had a 500-share purchase limit earlier Thursday, and AMC had a 5,500-share limit.