Trump's impulses help to fuel Wall Street selloff

Bloomberg presents this stunning datapoint: "U.S. stocks had their worst April start since 1929."

The big picture: "The president — who frequently touted Wall Street’s rally following his 2016 election victory — was partly blamed for a sharp stock selloff ... that investors believe is likely to continue, deepening cracks in a nine-year-old bull run," per Reuters.

• "The selling was sparked by escalating fears of a trade war ... and by Trump’s renewed criticism of Amazon."
• Doug Kass, president of Seabreeze Partners Management in Palm Beach: “The president’s behavior is now beginning to impact the capital markets — both the averages and individual equities."
• Michael Purves, chief global strategist at Weeden & Co. in New York: “Selling tech is not a sector rotation story, it's a sell-the-market story.”

At the close yesterday, CNBC was rocking a red "MARKET SELL-OFF" graphic:

• "Financials down 10.6% from Jan. 26th 52-week high."
• "Dow, S&P and NASDAQ close in correction territory."
• "20% of S&P's tech sector enters bear market territory."