after a slew of data showing the economy in a much more precarious position than previously believed the stock market could be poised for another forceful plunge in march according to morgan stanley’s investment chief who notes that the last month of the quarter has been difficult for stocks over the year as investors gear up for a fresh round of negative earnings reports though high inflation and federal reserve interest rate hikes have fueled much of the fears driving the ongoing stock weakness the depth and length of most bear markets are determined by the trend in earnings projections the morgan stanley team led by michael wilson told clients in a monday note over the past year stocks have rallied as corporate earnings come out but then plunged in the month leading up to new reports which have consistently shown companies cutting profit expectations after surging more than 16 since october and then abruptly falling 3 last week the sp 500 is at a critical level cautions wilson saying theres a high risk the bear market could induce a forceful stock plunge in march the last month of the quarter—particularly since earnings are expected to take another hit once reports start trickling in ultimately we think this rally is a bull trap he notes positing the sp may have one last stand but then could plunge as much as 13 more until earnings projections stop falling—which the analyst believes wont happen for several more months if not quarters the feds relentless efforts to slow down the economy will inevitably hurt earnings and push stocks to a new multiyear low says principal asset managements seema shah who is telling investors to brace for increased volatility since its become increasingly clear this year that the fed is not yet finished with its rate hikes after a particularly tough year for stocks and a fedinduced global bond market selloff yields on the 10year treasury are now more than twice the sps estimated dividend yield—bad news for stocks but an opportunity for investors looking to lockin income with a less volatile asset says shah texas factory activity fell in february for the first time since may 2020 according to the dallas feds manufacturing survey released monday february has been a slow month—it is hard to know why but our outlook has worsened for both our business and retail activity in general one respondent said while another posited we are not sure if it’s the fed jacking with interest rates or some sort of cyclical slowdown but it feels like business has ground to a halt after hitting a near twoyear low in october stocks rallied as signs that inflation was slowing started to abound but this month has shown the journey to normal price levels may be much longer than many hope on friday the commerce department reported the prices consumers paid for goods and services last month edged up 54 from a year ago—up from 53 one month prior despite expectations calling for a decline though it’s unclear when the fed will stop raising rates analysts at goldman and bank of america added another rate hike to their forecasts following another hotterthanexpected inflation reading earlier this month they now expect the central bank will raise rates to a top level of 55 potentially hitting the highest level in more than 20 years