Today’s Economic Shakers

Wall Street heading for a rough Monday morning opening…

Hard on the heels of Trump’s failure to pass his healthcare bill, the equity market is heading for a sharply lower opening this morning as investors question the President’s capacity to push through his pro-business agenda.

Futures contracts for all three of the key equity indices are pointing sharply lower, with futures for the Dow Jones Industrial Average down 0.82%, the S&P 500 index futures off by 0.98% and those for the Nasdaq-100 index declining 0.77% just prior to the morning’s opening bell.

Meanwhile, across the pond, where the European bourses are already in full swing, the regional benchmark Stocks Europe 600 index has already tumbled by over 0.7%.

The decline in European equities was led by a sharp drop in stocks of the banking sector, followed by those of miners.

The decline in futures for US equities is coming at the cost of both the banking sector and the healthcare sector, based on pre-market trading in both sectors on Wall Street.

The failure of the current administration to pass a new healthcare bill, which was labeled as “Trumpcare” and was a prominent campaign platform put forth by Trump, has left investors questioning the President’s ability to deliver on his other main pro-business promises, such as tax reform and infrastructure development.

The platform of Trump’s business-friendly agenda has been a key driver in the stock market’s big gains over the last four months, as the bulls have rallied to send the market to record highs in anticipation of a pro-business environment.

But as indicated in the sharp rise in the “fear gauge”, the CBOE Volatility Index known as the VIX, investors have sharply shifted sentiment this morning, driving the volatility index up nearly 13%, the highest level it has seen so far this year.

The VIX generally rises as the equity market falls, and vice versa.

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Uber’s bad month continues as its self-driving car program suffers major setback...

Up until the weekend, it has been one bad month for Uber Technologies Inc., as the company has suffered a series of high-profile embarrassments including revelations of potential sexual harassment issues and general bad behavior by Travis Kalanick, Uber’s CEO.

However, the latest bad news for the company may be the most critical, as the news hit the media that one of Uber’s self-driving cars was involved in a crash in Arizona over the weekend.

Pictures of an autonomous Uber vehicle flipped on its side were widely dispersed across social media, and though police reports indicated that the car, a Volvo SUV, was not at fault, the company still shut down its current self-driving program until an internal investigation could be launched.

The company, which has had self-driving programs in multiple cities including Pittsburgh and until recently San Francisco, said that it would be halting the current round of autonomous vehicle programs at least until the investigation has been completed.

The accident took place in the Arizona town of Tempe, and though there was a person behind the wheel of the self-driving car, as is the case for all the current tests, it is not yet known if the driver was in control of the vehicle at the time of impact.

The Volvo flipped over after being hit hard by another driver who failed to yield for Uber’s vehicle. The local police said there were no apparent injuries.

Still, the accident serves up a red flag regarding the immediate fate of Uber’s self-driving program, which has been a big focus for the company in its push to stay on the cutting edge of an area that is seen by both the tech and auto industry as one of the next big opportunities in both sectors.