pessimism set in monday night after markets closed following bad news from first republic bank  markets then opened lower on tuesday and selling continued throughout the day by the time tuesday was over the sp 500 lost over 15 while the nasdaq composite dropped 2 the news from first republic bank that march’s crisis cost the bank almost 100 billion in deposits sent the stock down close to 50 on the day shares closed at 810 and are indicated even lower this morning in premarket that’s a remarkable fall from just the beginning of february when the stock closed at 147 after the close tuesday both microsoft and alphabet reported earnings both companies beat on estimates however there are signs growth is slowing at alphabet ad revenues were down less than 1 ad revenue from youtube dropped 26 from last year one bright spot was in their cloud computing segment which reported growth of 28 another bright spot for investors was news the company authorized a 70 billion stock buyback meantime microsoft reported an increase in revenue of 7 for the quarter beating estimates but that represented the second consecutive quarter of sub double digit growth there is also news out this morning that the uk is planning to block microsoft’s 69 billion purchase of activision  britain’s competition and markets authority said the merger would harm competition microsoft said they will be appealing the decision elsewhere general motors raised their full year outlook after beating on expectations the automaker announced they will discontinue production of the chevy bolt in favor or producing electric pickup trucks in premarket shares of gm are relatively unchanged boeing is also out with earnings before the market the company beat on revenue but missed on profits boeing reaffirmed full year forecasts and the stock is indicated higher by about 3 in premarket in other news the layoffs continue gap announced they will be letting 500 employees go from corporate positions that news comes following news last week that chicagobased cdw was laying of somewhere between 600 – 700 employees with the macroeconomic picture cloudy it feels like we’ve entered into an era where companies have liberty to let workers go without the typical scrutiny that accompanies cutbacks at some point though all these layoffs will be felt in the broader economy and is a situation i continue to monitor this morning saw the release of the most recent durable goods orders data while the idea of a report on durable goods is about as exciting as buying a paint sprayer it is one of two major data points we’ll get this week along with friday’s personal consumption expenditures core durable goods were expected to contract 02 but actually expanded by 03 injecting continued uncertainty about the strength of the economy ahead of next week’s federal reserve meeting it is expected the fed will raise rates by a quarter point at that meeting for today it will be interesting to see how investors digest the microsoft and alphabet news and position themselves for tonight’s earnings from facebook parent meta platforms along with ebay while yesterday was a disappointing day i’d point out that vix continues to remain below 20 suggesting the selling wasn’t panic induced and the sp 500 is still within 100 points of the 4200 level i have mentioned as a significant level of resistance as always i would stick with your investing plan and long term objectives tastytrade inc commentary for educational purposes only this content is not nor is intended to be trading or investment advice or a recommendation that any investment product or strategy is suitable for any person