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By Brian Baker, CFA, Bankrate.com

Stocks sold off in early April as investors grappled with how tariffs would impact inflation and the outlook for economic growth. Some investors even grew concerned about a possible recession. Some of the biggest tech companies saw their shares tumble 20% or more, with Tesla falling around 50% from its recent high. The Federal Reserve faces the challenge of whether to cut interest rates at the risk of keeping inflation above its target, or keeping rates elevated at the risk of seeing economic growth slow.

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Spirit and CEO Ted Christie part company, leaving committee in charge of airline

S&P 500 rises 1% after paring a much bigger, early gain as uncertainty about Trump’s tariffs reigns read more

Spirit Airlines CEO Ted Christie, who led the pioneering discount carrier as it navigated a Chapter 11 bankruptcy restructuring, multiple takeover bids and efforts to make the airline more customer friendly, has stepped down from his post after 13 years with the company, officials announced Monday.

According to a regulatory filing and statement, the airline will be run at least for now by committee. Its board of directors established an Office of the President to be occupied by three incumbent executives: John Bendoraitis, executive vice president and chief operating officer; Fred Cromer, executive vice president and chief financial officer; and Thomas C. Canfield, senior vice president, general counsel and secretary.

“On behalf of the Board and the Spirit team, I thank Ted for his tireless efforts over the course of his 13 years at the Company,” Spirit Chairman Robert Milton said in a statement. “He has seen a lot and done a lot during his tenure here, including navigating the Company through the COVID crisis and multiple strategic junctures, as well as most recently, a corporate restructuring. Ted has kept the company together through challenging times, and for this we wish him all the best going forward.” read more

By STAN CHOE, AP Business Writer

NEW YORK (AP) — The U.S. stock market is careening through a second straight day of stunning swings Tuesday as uncertainty continues to reign about what whether President Donald Trump will ease up on his trade war, which is scheduled to kick into a higher gear after midnight.

After roaring to an early gain of 4.1%, which put it on track for its best day in years, the S&P 500 quickly lost all of it within a few hours. It was virtually flat in afternoon trading after bouncing between modest gains and losses.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 158 points, or 0.4%, after giving up most of its earlier surge of 1,460 points, while the Nasdaq composite was down 0.2%, as of 1:25 p.m. Eastern time.

Stocks globally had rallied earlier in the day, with indexes up 6% in Tokyo, 2.5% in Paris and 1.6% in Shanghai. But even after those jumps, analysts had been warning to expect more swings up and down for financial markets not only in the days ahead but also the hours. read more

LONDON (AP) — Instagram users under 16 won’t be able to livestream or unblur nudity in direct messages they’ve received without parental approval, owner Meta Platforms said Tuesday as it widened its safety measures for teenagers.

The social media company also said it was extending safeguards for users under 18 to Facebook and Messenger.

Meta launched its teen account program for Instagram in September to give parents more options to supervise their children’s online activity amid a growing backlash against how social media affects the lives of young people.

The latest changes will roll out first to users in the United States, Britain, Canada and Australia, before going out to global users in the following months.

Under the changes, teens under 16 are blocked from using Instagram Live unless parents give permission. They also need permission to “turn off our feature that blurs images containing suspected nudity” in direct messages, Meta said in a blog post.

In another major update, Meta said it’s extending the teen account safeguards to its Facebook and Messenger platforms, read more

Being on the doorstep of the nation’s largest and fastest-growing retirement community has made Leesburg a magnet for new residential development. But city leaders say it’s been too much of a good thing, and now they’re considering a pause on all residential rezonings and annexations in the city until 2027.

The City Council will vote April 14 on a moratorium that could halt even projects that were submitted ahead of the meeting, according to a report in GrowthSpotter. The moratorium would pause virtually all new residential projects from later this month until January 1, 2027, a period of over 20 months. It would not apply to land that is already designated for residential uses — only to projects that require a comprehensive plan amendment and rezoning.

As justification for the drastic measure, the city points to a surplus of 30,000 undeveloped, approved single-family residential lots within the city limits. Rather than promote more residential zoning, Leesburg hopes to spur more robust commercial offerings. read more