President Trump took time out of his busy schedule Wednesday morning, handling major issues of national import, to Tweet about his daughter’s recent troubles with Nordstrom—and the company is seeing an immediate, negative market reaction.
Nordstrom and its outlet store, Nordstrom Rack, announced last week that they were dumping Ivanka’s line of shoes and accessories because of poor sales—and likely pressure from liberal boycotters who made Nordstrom a top target in their anti-Trump actions.
Trump, who is supposed to be taking a hands-off approach to his family businesses, Tweeted a scathing critique at the high-end retailer, accusing of taking a potshot at his daughter.
The official @POTUS Twitter account later retweeted the President’s personal account, ostensibly making the sentiment part of Trump’s official policy.
While Trump’s missive caused, as usual, a wave of outraged responses on Twitter, it also hit Nordstrom in the pocketbook. As soon as Trump Tweeted, shares of Nordstrom stock took a dive.
This might be the last thing Nordstrom needs: its stock had remained steady most of 2016, but took a 14% hit in December on news that department stores had a rough holiday season.
But the Seattle-based luxury retailer isn’t alone in suffering the “Trump effect.” A number of companies, including Boeing, Carrier and even Amazon have suffered the same result after Donald Trump took to social media to complain about their business models or product prices.
There’s even a smartphone app for investors that alerts you when Trump Tweets about stock you might hold, so that you can reconfigure your investment strategy accordingly.