Investment strategist warns trade war could turn 'recession fears' into 'depression fears'

Anxiety over the U.S.-China trade war is continuing to heighten after the Dow Jones Industrial Average, Nasdaq Composite, and S&P 500 all had their worst day of 2019.

This market turmoil occurred on Monday after China devalued its currency and after President Trump announced new tariffs on Chinese imports. The Dow was down 767 points by the end of the day.

Investors, Axios reports, are starting to fear that the trade war "could do massive damage to the entire global economy." The report goes on to cite Jim Paulsen, The Leuthold Group chief investment strategist, who in a memo to clients on Monday wrote, "If the stimulus introduced about the globe in the last six to nine months does not trigger at least some bounce in the economic and earnings recovery, it won't be recession fears that will spike, it will be depression fears."

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The Treasury Department later on Monday officially labeled China a currency manipulator in yet another escalation of the trade war. Amid Monday's market turmoil, Lawrence Summers, who served as National Economic Council director under former President Obama, warned that "we may well be at the most dangerous financial moment since the 2009 Financial Crisis."