--- title: Stock Market Outlook Plunges as Investors' Tariff Fears Grow description: Bearish investor sentiment has reached its highest point since September 2022. authors: - name: Jordan Chussler role: Editor, Investing and Banking url: https://money.com/author/jordan-chussler/ bio: Jordan is an investment editor and CPFC who specializes in traditional equities, gold and other precious metals, retirement savings and income investing. He combines his personal and professional interests in finance and education to help readers increase their financial literacy and make better investment choices. education: Lynn University certifications: Certified Personal Finance Counselor at_money_since: 2023 articles: 130 covers: - Investing - Banking - Credit - Credit Cards - Economy and Politics - Housing - Identity Theft - Insurance - Loans - Mortgages - Personal Finance - Professional Services - Retirement also_seen_in: - Weiss Ratings - 24/7 Wall Street - Better Investing - Yahoo Finance - Nasdaq - Investing.com - Marketbeat - MSN Money social: - https://www.linkedin.com/in/jordan-chussler-b3597811/ editors: - name: Katherine Peach role: Associate Editor url: https://money.com/author/katherine-peach/ bio: Katherine Peach is an associate editor with a focus on news and email at Money. She didn’t always intend to write about money. She’s a classically trained pianist who dreamed of becoming an archaeologist. However, in 2007 Katherine began working in financial publishing as an editor for Agora Inc. (Apparently, unearthing ideas about improving your personal finances isn’t such a bad career alternative!) Katherine’s writing and editing work has been featured in Investing Daily, Clever, Investor Junkie, The Palm Beach Letter, Truth & Plenty, Independence Monthly, NICHE, AmericanStyle, AntiqueWeek, Millennial Money, Money Done Right, TheStreet, Sure Dividend and many others. Katherine holds a Bachelor of Arts in Ancient Studies with concentrations in Archaeology and Ancient Languages and a minor in Literature from the University of Maryland, Baltimore County. She is a member of Phi Beta Kappa. education: University of Maryland, Baltimore County at_money_since: 2025 articles: 14 covers: - Investing - Banking - Career Advice - Credit - Credit Cards - Debt - Economy and Politics - Education - Federal Reserve Rate Cuts - Health and Wellness - Housing - Identity Theft - Insurance - Lifestyle - Loans - Mortgages - Personal Finance - Professional Services - Retirement - Shopping - Taxes published: '2025-02-28T14:55:04.000Z' modified: '2025-02-28T16:30:17.000Z' section: Investing tags: - News word_count: 457 canonical: https://money.com/stock-market-outlook-plunges-as-investors-tariff-fears-grow/ type: NewsArticle source: structured-blocks --- > **Disclosure:** We research all brands listed and may earn a fee from our partners. Research and financial considerations may influence how brands are displayed. Not all brands are included. [Learn more](https://money.com/page/disclaimer/). ![Traders work on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) floor on February 24, 2025 in New York City.](https://img.money.com/2025/02/News-Investors-Bear-Stock-Market.jpg) Investors are feeling overwhelmingly negative about the current state and future direction of the stock market. According to the American Association of Individual Investors' weekly [Sentiment Survey](https://www.aaii.com/sentiment-survey) for the week ending Feb. 26, 60.6% of respondents reported a bearish outlook. For context, that is the highest bearish reading since the survey registered 60.81% on Sept. 29, 2022, at the tail end of the last bear market. "The surge in bearish sentiment has been even more dramatic than the collapse in bullish sentiment," Bespoke Investment Group wrote in a message to subscribers, indicating that the jump in bearishness was the largest weekly increase since August 2019. Meanwhile, CNN's [Fear & Greed Index](https://www.cnn.com/markets/fear-and-greed) is currently registering "Extreme Fear." The jump in negative perception is permeating all corners of the market and coincides with the current pullback that has seen the S&P 500 lose 4.13% since hitting its all-time high last week. ## SoFi® is for everyone, including new and seasoned investors ### With SoFi®, you can build a balanced portfolio and trade stocks, ETFs and options as frequently as you want, commission-free. Click your state to start investing today! [Start Investing](https://money.com/pr/kaca5eee7c9d?ap_referrer=%2Fstock-market-outlook-plunges-as-investors-tariff-fears-grow%2F) INVESTMENTS ARE NOT FDIC INSURED • ARE NOT BANK GUARANTEED • MAY LOSE VALUE. Brokerage and Active investing products offered through SoFi Securities LLC, member FINRA / SIPC. ## Why investors are bearish With President Donald Trump announcing that tariffs against Canada and Mexico will go into effect next week while simultaneously threatening to levy tariffs against the European Union, the market recoiled and posted its fourth consecutive losing day. The president's rhetoric on tariffs, [according](https://www.investors.com/news/trump-tariffs-25-percent-european-union-threat-sp-500/) to Investor's Business Daily, "is undercutting an S&P 500 rally." Leading up to the pullback, the market had gained 1.57% since Trump took office. A recent Charles Schwab client sentiment survey suggests that concerns with overvaluation are also prevalent, with two out of three traders believing that the market is currently overvalued, citing mega-cap tech and AI stocks among the culprits. In many instances, stock valuations are exceeding companies' earnings, leading to market prices that have become significantly higher than what profits justify. As measured by the price-to-earnings (P/E) ratio, the S&P 500 is currently approaching levels not seen since April 2020 — at the start of the COVID-19 pandemic — and September 2008, preceding the Great Recession. The market's current P/E ratio of 29.82 is more than 51% higher than its five-year low of 19.17 in September 2022. Looking at the P/E ratios of some [Magnificent Seven stocks](https://money.com/faang-magnificent-seven-tech-stocks/) demonstrates how divorced share prices have become from earnings. Nvidia, for example, has a current P/E of 51.63, meaning investors are paying $51.63 for each dollar of the company's earnings. Tesla's current P/E ratio of 142.55 is magnitudes higher. A softening economic environment is also contributing to bearish investor sentiment, with [consumer confidence](https://money.com/january-data-confirms-inflation-concerns/) hitting a four-year low, unemployment claims reaching a three-month high and inflation having risen each month since September. ## It's never too late to start investing ![START INVESTING](https://s3.consumersadvocate.org/prd/image/image/20107/medium_fab74697-be3e-49a4-8040-ea434cb0e5c3.png) Our Partner [START INVESTING](https://money.com/go/156c2d2542f1?bidid=4018084980&ptid=660836057&ptoken=d1b616354400d612343e27af800f307d) ![START INVESTING](https://s3.consumersadvocate.org/prd/image/image/37704/medium_bb9499f2-9b69-44d9-930a-d80a69dc114d.webp) Our Partner [START INVESTING](https://money.com/go/a1a8ec721782?bidid=4018084986&ptid=660836057&ptoken=41e12a356a3d0f4dc29e859bbe813b0c) ![START INVESTING](https://s3.consumersadvocate.org/prd/image/image/20399/medium_4774dcec-4aba-4810-85b3-843773401646.png) Our Partner [START INVESTING](https://money.com/go/59e2757a8cd4?bidid=4018084983&ptid=660836057&ptoken=29a001fb0364048aa070d114c7cb240b) ![START INVESTING](https://s3.consumersadvocate.org/prd/image/image/16291/medium_00c49a6e-a3eb-40b2-b805-13b4258cd431.png) Our Partner [START INVESTING](https://money.com/go/c2870957998f?bidid=4018084977&ptid=660836057&ptoken=f9ee4f3b81d57a97d6553717c91cb2d5) ![START INVESTING](https://s3.consumersadvocate.org/prd/image/image/38704/medium_33d1fef9-951f-43b5-a923-54259b40e275.webp) Our Partner [START INVESTING](https://money.com/go/521c586a15fb?bidid=4018084989&ptid=660836057&ptoken=5dfc8b7606888a806899737abb7e3e9c) ![](https://s3.consumersadvocate.org/prd/image/image/20107/medium_fab74697-be3e-49a4-8040-ea434cb0e5c3.png) Become a better investor with SoFi® [Start Investing](https://money.com/pr/v42ab7f4acf9?ap_referrer=%2Fstock-market-outlook-plunges-as-investors-tariff-fears-grow%2F) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "BreadcrumbList", "@id": "https://money.com/stock-market-outlook-plunges-as-investors-tariff-fears-grow/#breadcrumb", "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "name": "Home", "item": "https://money.com" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 2, "name": "Investing", "item": "https://money.com/investing/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 3, "name": "Stocks", "item": "https://money.com/stocks/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "Stock Market Outlook Plunges as Investors' Tariff Fears Grow" } ] }, { "@type": "WebSite", "@id": "https://money.com/#website", "url": "https://money.com", "name": "Money", "publisher": { "@id": "https://money.com/#organization" } }, { "@type": "WebPage", "@id": "https://money.com/stock-market-outlook-plunges-as-investors-tariff-fears-grow/#webpage", "url": "https://money.com/stock-market-outlook-plunges-as-investors-tariff-fears-grow/", "name": "Stock Market Outlook Plunges as Investors' Tariff Fears Grow", "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://money.com/#website" }, "datePublished": "2025-02-28T14:55:04.000Z", "mainEntity": { "@id": "https://money.com/stock-market-outlook-plunges-as-investors-tariff-fears-grow/" }, "inLanguage": "en-US", "breadcrumb": { "@id": "https://money.com/stock-market-outlook-plunges-as-investors-tariff-fears-grow/#breadcrumb" }, "dateModified": "2025-02-28T16:30:17.000Z" }, { "@type": "NewsArticle", "headline": "Stock Market Outlook Plunges as Investors' Tariff Fears Grow", "articleSection": "Investing", "image": [ { "@type": "ImageObject", "url": "https://img.money.com/2025/02/News-Investors-Bear-Stock-Market.jpg", "width": 3000, "height": 2000, "caption": "News-Investors-Bear-Stock-Market" } ], "author": [ { "@type": "Person", "name": "Jordan Chussler", "url": "https://money.com/author/jordan-chussler/", "@id": "https://money.com/author/jordan-chussler/#author", "description": "Jordan is an investment editor and CPFC who specializes in traditional equities, gold and other precious metals, retirement savings and income investing. 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