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Wall Street rally fades as corporate profit reports ramp up | Business News

Wall Street rally fades as corporate profit reports ramp up | Business News

If you know of local business openings or closings, please notify us here.

PREVIOUS OPENINGS AND CLOSINGS

· Jimmy’s Barbershop in Allentown has moved to 822 N. 19th Street

· Air Products and Chemicals Inc.’s chosen warehouse developer, Prologis Inc., will have to wait until July 13 for a final decision by Upper Macungie Township’s zoning hearing board on 2.61 million square feet of warehouses. 

· Chubby’s of Southside Easton has added Krispy Krunchy Chicken to its offerings and name.

· Curaleaf Holdings Inc., which operates in the U.S. and Europe, will open a medical-marijuana dispensary at 1801 Airport Road, Hanover Township.

· Habitat for Humanity, which has “ReStores” that sell new and lightly used furniture, has leased 30,000 square feet at the South Mall.

· Nat Hyman’s bid to convert an old warehouse at 938 Washington St. in Allentown into 48 apartments did not win zoning hearing board approval this week after neighbors said more housing would make an on-street parking shortage worse.

· Members 1st Federal Credit Union opened a new branch this week at 5605 Hamilton Blvd, Trexlertown. It’s one of five planned for the Lehigh Valley. 

· A Turkish restaurant has relocated from one downtown to another, taking its fresh ingredients and cozy atmosphere from Nazareth to 200 Main St., Tatamy.

· The Tennessee Titans have chosen Allentown-based Shift4 Payments to handle payments at Nissan Stadium.

· Wells Fargo Bank held ribbon-cutting at its downtown Allentown branch at 740 Hamilton St.

· The Wiz Kidz outlet at the Madison Farms residential/retail development in Bethlehem Township will hold a grand reopening and ribbon-cutting at noon on July 15.

· Bad Biscuit Company, which offered breakfast with scratch-made biscuits, freshly baked pastry and local, small-batch artisan coffee, said it will cease operations at 16 Columbia Ave. in Reading after its July 1 hours.

· FastBridge Fiber has announced it will build an all-fiber cable network that will offer ultra-fast internet in the Reading area.

· Hamid Chaudhry has said he no longer plans to move forward with pursuing a food truck park he previously proposed on the site of the former Sheetz convenience store and gas station in Exeter Township at 6600 Perkiomen Ave. (Route 422 East). 

· The Maxatawny Township Planning Commission has OK’d a proposal for a Mavis Discount Tire store in the Kutztown Road shopping center that features a Giant supermarket.

· Valentino’s Italian restaurant has gotten Maxatawny Township’s approval to remain open when the state transportation department takes one-third of its parking lot to build a traffic roundabout at the intersection of Route 222 and Long Lane.

· Pocono Mountain Harley-Davidson, under new ownership, will hold a “Grand Re-Opening Bash” July 9 and July 10 from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. 

· Sauce West End plans to open in a former Rita’s Italian Ice, just off Route 209 across from the Tractor Supply store in Brodheadsville.

· The Surgery Center of Pottsville, which offered medical procedure services for 16 years in Cressona Mall. will close June 28.

· Wells Fargo has closed its branch office in Langhorne, near the intersection with Maple Avenue.

· The latest PrimoHoagies location in New Jersey held a grand opening at 1930 State Route 57, Hackettstown.

· A new Tractor Supply Co. store in Warren County will have its grand opening in the former Toys ‘R’ Us store in Pohatcong Plaza on July 9.

· Hunter Pocono Peterbilt plans to move Pocono Township operations to Stroudsburg.

· Coal Winery and Kitchen at 81 Broad St., Bethlehem, has closed as its owner searches for a new location for the business, according to its Facebook page. 

· Lowhill Township supervisors approved a 312,120-square-foot commercial warehouse and distribution center on a 43.4-acre tract on the west side of Route 100, south of the Kernsville Road intersection.

· The Mint Gastropub at 1223 W. Broad St., Bethlehem, announced that it has temporarily closed to undergo a merger with a “well-known restaurant group” from Bethlehem.

· The Slatington Farmers Market opened its 28,000-square-foot showroom, which includes space for 53 vendors, as well as a 4,000-square-foot event space.

· St. Luke’s University Health Network opened a new pediatric inpatient unit next to the eight-bed pediatric intensive care unit at St. Luke’s University Hospital – Bethlehem.

· 25th Asian House opened at the location of the former Tin Tin Chinese restaurant in the 25th Street Shopping Center in Palmer Township.

· The Chick-Fil-A in Broadcasting Square shopping center in Spring Township was razed to make way for a new, expanded facility for the popular chicken sandwich restaurant.

· Plans for drive-thru locations of a Chipotle and a Starbucks at the intersection of Ivy League Drive and Kutztown Road were rejected by Maxatawny Township planners.

· Cumru Township plannes reviewed preliminary plans for NorthPoint-Morgantown Commerce Center, a 738,720-square-foot warehouse to be built on 75.2 acres at Morgantown Road (State Route 10) and Freemansville Road.

· Kutztown University has plans to expand its historic Poplar House to 13,161 square feet with an addition around its side and back, but keep the 129-year-old structure intact.

· A wine store and beverage outlet could be coming to a new two-unit building along the commercial strip of Blakeslee Boulevard Drive East in Lehighton, Carbon County.

· ChristianaCare, a Delaware health care organization, has announced it will buy the former Jennersville Hospital in West Grove, Chester County.

· Garden of Health Inc. celebrated the opening of the food bank’s new warehouse at 201 Church Road, North Wales, in Montgomery County.

· Silverline Trailers Inc. opened its first location in Pennsylvania and in the Northeast at 223 Porter Road, Pottstown, where it sells utility, cargo, dump, equipment and car hauler trailers. 

· A new smoothie and bowl restaurant, Sips & Berries, opened at 285 Maple Ave., Harleysville, in Montgomery County.

· Terrain on the Parkway offers 160 new 1-, 2- and 3-bedroom apartments at 1625 Lehigh Parkway East in Allentown. 

· Lehigh Valley native Don Wenner is moving his real estate investment and finance firm DLP Capital from Bethlehem to Allentown at 835 W. Hamilton St.

· While Wells Fargo has been the leader in closing banks lately, it will hold a ribbon-cutting for its new downtown Allentown office at 740 Hamilton St. on June 30.

· If you’re in the market for sterling silver jewelry, minerals and semi-precious gemstones, C& I Minerals is now operating at the South Mall at 3300 Lehigh St. in Allentown.

· The Allentown-based utility company PPL Corp. bought a major Rhode Island utility.

· Ownership at Martellucci’s Pizzeria in Bethlehem has changed, but Paul and Donna Hlavinka and their family are running the pizza place at 1419 Easton Ave., just as it has been operated for 49 years. 

· Dr. Jacob Kasprenski’s new Kasprenski Family Eye Care opened at 1088 Howertown Road, Catasauqua.

· Josie’s New York Deli in downtown Easton closed early in the COVID-19 pandemic, but a June 13 Historic District Commission meeting approved a request for a new sign at its building at 14 Centre Square. 

· Zekraft cafe has opened its second location in the Easton Silk Mill in Easton. The first Zekraft restaurant was opened in Bethlehem. The restaurants’ menus change frequently, with a focus on local ingredients. 

· Manta Massage at 319 Main St., Emmaus, will hold its grand opening on July 10 starting at 11 a.m. 

· The former Iron Lakes Country Club, constructed in the late 1950s and early 1960s, will operate at 3625 Shankweiler Road in North Whitehall Township under its new name, The Club at Twin Lakes. 

· Prologis, a titan in the logistics industry, will own and operate three warehouses proposed in Upper Macungie Township at the former Air Products headquarters campus at 7201 Hamilton Blvd. 

· Lehigh Valley Health Network ceremonially opened its first Carbon County hospital — a $78 million, 100,578-square-foot facility at 2128 Blakeslee Boulevard Drive East in Mahoning Township.

· Pocono Township commissioners voted to accept Swiftwater Solar’s preliminary final plan for the $111 million, 80-megawatt field on a private 644-acre site on top of Bear Mountain that would include about 200,000 solar panels.

· Firetree Ltd. wants to expand its in-patient rehab operation at the former Sands Ford auto dealership at 440 N Claude A Lord Blvd. (Route 61), Pottsville.

· A Dunkin’ in Schuylkill County located at 400 Terry Rich Blvd., St. Clair, has become just the fourth location of the donut and coffee chain to go entirely digital. 

· The Conservatory music school in Bucks County will close after 34 years, and school officials say the COVID-19 pandemic is the cause. The nonprofit, located at 4059 Skyron Drive, Doylestown, will close June 30.

· A Popeyes Louisiana Kitchen and Arby’s will be built on the site of the former Ahart’s Market on Route 22 in Phillipsburg, New Jersey.

· Hunterdon County Chamber of Commerce offices and the Unity Bank Center for Business & Entrepreneurship will be located at 119 Main St., Flemington. 

· Honeygrow opens Quakertown location, next to Chipotle on Route 309, on June 3.

· Dunkin’ reopens remodeled restaurant at 1174 MacArthur Road in Whitehall Township

· Muse Modern Med Spa at 325 Fifth St. in Whitehall Township  will hold a grand opening June 4.

· Around Again, a consignment store, opened at 154 S. Main St., Phillipsburg

· Steak and Steel Hibachi, a restaurant in the works at 44 W. Walnut St., Bethlehem, still plans on opening late this summer. 

· Take It Outdoors Recreation Hub has moved to a spot along the Schuylkill River Trail at Riverfront Park in Pottstown, Montgomery County

· Pedego Electric Bikes has a new outlet in Lambertville, N.J. at 13 N. Union St.

· Amanda Vachris has opened a new Keller Williams Real Estate office at 15 St. John St. in Schuylkill Haven.

· Easton’s new West Ward Market will open Wednesday and be open on Wednesday’s through the summer from 3 p.m. to 7 p.m. The market, created by the Greater Easton Development Partnership, will sell fresh produce on 12th Street, next to Paxinosa Elementary School.

· Ciao Sandwich Shoppe is adding a second location, this time on College Hill in Easton. Ciao plans to open at 325 Cattell St. in late summer. Ciao already operates in downtown Easton at 12 N. Third St

· Ma’s Crepes and Cakes will hold a grand opening and ribbon-cutting June 16 at 46 W. Broadway, Jim Thorpe. The celebration starts at 5 p.m., with the ribbon cutting at 5:45 p.m. 

· Bethlehem’s Back Door Bakeshop will reopen as a wholesale operation at 7 E. Church St. in the city’s historic district. The business was open for nine years as a retail outlet at Broad and Center streets, before announcing in March that it would close the storefront April 3 and “go back to its origins as a wholesale business.”

·The Beef Baron on Catasauqua Road in Bethlehem is closed indefinitely for renovations

· The Brothers That Just Do Gutters are opening a new location in Allentown at 1302 N. 18th St.

· St. John Chrysostom Academy, an Orthodox school serving grades 1-9 starting this fall, held a grand opening at its St. Francis Center, Bethlehem, campus.

· Easton Commons, a shopping center anchored by Giant Foods at 2920 Easton Ave., Bethlehem Township, has a new name: The Shops at Bethlehem.

· Carbon County is getting a taste of Brazil at Uai Brasil BBQ at 315 Lehigh Ave. in Palmerton.

· The Keystone Pub in Bethlehem Township, at 3259 Easton Avenue, has reopened after a lengthy and expensive renovation. 

· The Trading Post Depot opened at 401 Northampton St., Easton. The rustic furniture store makes custom tables for dining rooms, desktops, conference centers and more.

· The Easton area has a new gym: Homemade Fitness at 444 Cedarville Road in Williams Township.

· Il Gaetano Ristorante opened at its 665 Columbus Ave., Phillipsburg, location. 

· Ciao! Sandwich Shoppe to open second location on College Hill in Easton, replacing The Kettle Room

· Rene and Grisellies Benique have opened Ezekiel 47 Cafe at 10 S. Fifth Ave., off Fifth and Penn avenues, in West Reading. 

· Alter Ego Salon and Day Spa in Emmaus is holding a grand opening Sunday, May 22, from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m., with a ribbon cutting at noon. 

· Origen Latin Fusion has opened at the site of the former Tomcat Cafe in Sinking Spring, Berks County. 

· Sellersville Senior Residences will hold a ribbon-cutting ceremony May 24. The Bucks County affordable-housing community for adults 55 and older has 50 apartments, with eight allocated for people with behavioral health needs.

· The House and Barn in Emmaus has opened its Shed outdoor dining and cigar bar area. The House and Barn is at 1449 Chestnut St. in Emmaus.

· Realtor Amanda Vachris and the Schuylkill Chamber of Commerce will hold a ribbon cutting at Vachris’s new Keller Williams Real Estate office at 15 St. John St., Schuylkill Haven, at 4 p.m. on May 24.

· Il Gaetano Ristorante will hold a grand opening on Friday, May 20, at 5:30 p.m. The 665 Columbus Ave., Phillipsburg.

· First Commonwealth Federal Credit Union will hold a grand opening at its new headquarters in Trexlertown, 6126 Hamilton Blvd., on May 18.

· Vinyl Press Signs & Graphics has relocated within Emmaus. The new site is 15 S. Second St., not far from the former Sixth Street location.

· Pedro’s Cafe in Emmaus to close

· SV Sports (formerly Schuylkill Valley Sports) to close Quakertown location

· Flemington DIY will host a Grand Re-Opening on May 14 at 26 Stangl Road, Flemington. The celebration will kick off at 10 a.m. 

· Elpedio’s Ristorante at Seipsville opened at 2912 Old Nazareth Road in Easton. The restaurant is open Wednesday through Sunday.

· Uai Brazil opened at 315 Lehigh Ave, Palmerton, offering both a seated or buffet option. 

· Colombian Mex Restaurant opened at 107 E Union Blvd in Bethlehem, offering traditional Colombian cuisine. 

· Precision Ink opened at 161 W Berwick St. in Easton. 

· King Wing opened a location in Bethlehem at 129 E. Third St., serving wings and sandwiches.  

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Retirees, Take the Off Ramp to a New Career

Retirees, Take the Off Ramp to a New Career

Faye Fiore, 65, started working for a small newspaper right out of college, and 35 years later, she was a national correspondent at the Los Angeles Times, one of the largest newspapers in the country.

She loved her profession. But about a decade ago, while raising two boys and feeling torn between work and home, she left the news business to become a marriage and family therapist. “Everyone — my financial adviser, my brother — told me not to do this,” says Fiore, who lives in Arlington, Va. “We were not that far from the recession, and I had a well-paying, prestigious job.”

Still, she felt the time was right, so she embarked on a long journey to a new career. Studying for the GRE, which the graduate school she applied to required, and returning for a three-year master’s program were daunting. Looking back, she says, “part of me was confident and part of me was really, really scared.”

Little data exists on older workers changing careers. A 2015 survey, “New Careers for Older Workers,” by the American Institute for Economic Research found that anywhere from 16 million to 29 million people attempted a career change after age 45. Of those late-in-life career changers, the survey found that 82{1b90e59fe8a6c14b55fbbae1d9373c165823754d058ebf80beecafc6dee5063a} succeeded in making the shift, which came with a nice payoff. Most of the survey participants reported they were happy (87{1b90e59fe8a6c14b55fbbae1d9373c165823754d058ebf80beecafc6dee5063a}) and less stressed (65{1b90e59fe8a6c14b55fbbae1d9373c165823754d058ebf80beecafc6dee5063a}) after the change.

For some people, pursuing another profession is a long-held dream; for others, it’s an unexpected leap into the unknown when a job disappears. Sometimes, boredom motivates a retiree to explore a new occupation. Whatever the scenario, before changing your life and livelihood around, think about why you want to take this step and what the driving force is behind it, says Toni Frana, career services manager at FlexJobs, a website for flexible and remote jobs. Do you need a new career or just a new job? FlexJobs’s website has a four-step assessment to help you decide which one it is. “It’s amazing how many people grow disenchanted with their jobs because of their colleagues or managers,” says Nancy Collamer, a retirement coach in Langhorne, Pa. If you like what you do but dislike the people you work with, it’s probably time to leave your job but not necessarily your field.

If you know a career change is right for you but don’t know exactly what you want, you’ll need to do more soul-searching. For instance, do you want to work for someone else or run your own business? Remote or in person? Full-time or part-time? Once you know what you want, here’s the most important question you’ll need to answer: Just how do you plan to launch a new career? One way or another, you’re going to need a roadmap to navigate this journey.

Financial Realities

You can blue-sky the next possibilities all you want but your dream job will remain a dream if you can’t earn enough to survive. You may not have to earn more or even as much as you did in your past career, but be realistic about the lifestyle you expect to maintain and how much it will cost. According to the survey by the American Institute for Economic Research, half of respondents earned more in their new career, 31{1b90e59fe8a6c14b55fbbae1d9373c165823754d058ebf80beecafc6dee5063a} earned less, and the rest made about the same.

There are also the costs, both time and money, associated with transitioning to a new profession, such as enrolling in school, finding investors or building up a clientele. “We say a job search can take three to six months, but a career change can take much longer than that depending on where you’re starting from and what is required in the field in terms of certifications,” Frana says.

Research has shown that people with extra financial resources during the transition usually felt better about their new career than those who made the switch without those resources. “People do read stories about the person who goes from accountant to owning a vineyard, and it sounds really attractive. But the reality is it’s hard to do,” Collamer says. For radical shifts, you’ll need “financial flexibility, because it’s generally going to be some time before you can generate income.”

That proved true for Cathy Miller, 57, of Ontario, who worked for 22 years in marketing and public relations for the home décor store Crate and Barrel in Canada and the U.S. She was laid off during a downsizing in 2016, and although she was upset about losing her job, she didn’t want to do the same thing. A small family inheritance allowed her to hit the pause button before jumping into another career. After mulling it over, she went back to school for a nursing degree. “I was interested in it, but it was also a practical decision,” she says. “There are lots of jobs for nurses and should be for a while. I knew I would be able to find work.”

Paying for four years of college, however, was out of the question. Miller found a two-and-a-half-year degree program and is now a nurse. She credits that financial cushion for letting her take so much time off.

Fiore and her husband, who worked full-time as a journalist until retiring this year, took out a home equity loan to pay for her three years of tuition and cut back on everything else. “I started clipping coupons. I canceled the house cleaner, and we didn’t take any trips,” she says. “We got rid of anything we didn’t need. We eked it out.”

A Good Match for a Lifetime of Skills

A career shift doesn’t have to be radical. When coaching people who are considering a different career, Collamer asks them about their work history and meaningful volunteer experiences. “What are the skills and projects and accomplishments that you are happiest doing, that you find most meaningful, that you really value?” she says. “When people have an opportunity to sort of step away from the anxiety and the frustration that they have with the job and really begin to analyze, they often discover there was a lot about the work that they enjoyed.” Build on those parts and pieces you enjoy, she says, to find the path forward.

John Myers, 65, of Albuquerque, N.M., a former vice president at a utility, was already accustomed to thinking this way. “I started off as an engineer, but every time I was promoted, I would think, what skill sets can I bring to this job and what are the skills I need to be successful?” he says. “I would acquire the skills I didn’t have, monitor my own progress and make adjustments.”

He just hadn’t planned on needing any special skills when at age 53 he retired from the utility company. It was a short retirement. “After three months of playing golf with my buddies, I needed something to challenge my brain.”

Myers took a one-year job in Florida for a company that built wind farms, but he didn’t love it and returned to New Mexico. By then, the country was in the midst of the Great Recession, and Myers knew what he didn’t want — to work for a corporation. His strategy for finding a new line of work was unusual to say the least: He considered which businesses getting crushed by the recession would probably bounce back.

Even though real estate was tanking, Myers had found his new career: buying and selling properties. “The market was horrible, and everyone thought I was an idiot,” he says. “But people always have to have a place to live. I jumped in with both feet.”

He earned his real estate license and purchased bank-owned properties and turned them into rental property. He flipped homes. He took a class to learn how to do short sales, and when the real estate market recovered, he started Myers and Myers Real Estate (there is no second Myers; he just thought it sounded classier that way).

His wife worked, but if the housing market had continued its downward spiral, they could have faced serious financial hardship, says Myers, who often put in 80 to 90 hours a week at the time. To learn what he needed to thrive in real estate, he turned to everything he could find — books, webinars, videos and podcasts. He invited everyone he could think of to lunch or coffee for their advice. “Most people are happy to share information,” he says. “Now I share as much as I can.”

When figuring out the talents you bring to a new career, think beyond specific, concrete skills to broader abilities, such as relationship-building, leadership and time management. “One thing everyone is looking for is adaptability and flexibility to deal with disruption,” says Marc Miller, founder of Career Pivot, in Austin, Texas. “Reflect back on your career and how you’ve dealt with disruption,” he says. Then ask yourself how you might apply that resilience in a new profession.

Test Drives and Footholds

Learning new skills or boosting existing ones is much easier now than in the past when that training often involved returning to school for two or four years to earn a degree. Community colleges, online education providers such as Coursera and industry groups offer in-person or virtual short-term courses that lead to certificates.

It’s also simpler to test drive a new line of work. For example, one of Collamer’s clients, a retired executive, wanted to bring in some income and loved walking his dogs. He read that dogwalkers can make pretty decent money, so he went on rover.com — a website that offers all types of pet services — put up a profile and started getting gigs walking dogs. “It was an easy way to test out doing it,” Collamer says. “He did end up starting his own dog walking business.” Websites built around the gig economy, such as flexjobs.com, fiverr.com and taskrabbit.com, are great places to try a new occupation without a long-term commitment, and sidehusl.com reviews and rates these gig economy sites. For other jobs for retirees, see our Great Jobs for Retirees.

Of course, not all fields make it easy for newcomers without experience to get a foot in the door. If that’s the case for you, consider offering your services free for a short time. You may also need to be creative about getting some experience. For instance, someone who wants to become a professional photographer might ask a friend who is getting married if it’s OK to supplement the professional photographer by taking pictures at no charge, suggests Collamer. That can help build a portfolio. But move away from freebies as soon as you can. Too often, career changers “end up working for very little money and feel taken advantage of,” says Career Pivot’s Marc Miller.

The transition from being an expert in your old field to a novice in a new one can also be rough on the ego. “I was so nervous the first few weeks in school. I wondered if I could do it,” says Cathy Miller, who went back to school for a nursing degree. “I had been a great student, but it had been years since I was in a university. You really have to be humble and ask for help, and that’s not easy.”

At one job, the learning curve was so steep that she wasn’t sure she could do it. What she discovered, though, is that while not all nursing positions are to her liking — she doesn’t want to work in a hospital, for example — there are others she is great at and loves. “I’m so glad I did this,” she says. “Stepping out of your comfort zone is so rewarding.”

Finding Fulfillment

For some people, a career change is not about seeking a challenge, but a more satisfying life outside of work. Lisa DeMers spent two decades working in the financial service industry for major banks in California. In November 2020, with the pandemic roiling employment everywhere, she was laid off. DeMers, then 57, knew she didn’t want a job with as much responsibility and stress. She wanted to leave work behind when she left the office for the day. “I was more interested in time off and schedule flexibility than salary,” she says.

Her husband, who is retired, had been wanting to move to Boise, Idaho, for years, so they decided to take the plunge. DeMers started looking on job websites and applied for a number of positions in Boise, but nothing was clicking until she found one that seemed to check all the boxes: client experience coordinator for an accounting firm.

DeMers landed the job. Her colleagues are pleasant, the work environment positive and her schedule as flexible as she had hoped. She did take a large pay cut, making one-third of her former salary, which even with the lower cost of living in Idaho is a lot. “I had to really adjust what I was willing to settle for,” DeMers says, but she likes where she ended up.

So does Fiore, the journalist turned therapist. Although she misses aspects of her old job, she now has a successful practice, is her own boss and makes more money while working three-and-a half days a week. “I know I will be able to do this work, barring health problems, until I’m 90,” she says. “I really love it, and that makes the risk worth it.”

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Stocks renew declines as Russia-Ukraine tensions ramp

Stocks renew declines as Russia-Ukraine tensions ramp

Stocks extended declines Friday to close a second straight week in negative territory with geopolitical tensions intensifying to contribute to a further risk-off tone in markets.

The S&P 500 fell 0.71{1b90e59fe8a6c14b55fbbae1d9373c165823754d058ebf80beecafc6dee5063a} to 4,348.97, building on a 2{1b90e59fe8a6c14b55fbbae1d9373c165823754d058ebf80beecafc6dee5063a} loss in the previous session, while the Dow Jones index closed down 0.68{1b90e59fe8a6c14b55fbbae1d9373c165823754d058ebf80beecafc6dee5063a} to 34,079.12 after erasing 1.8{1b90e59fe8a6c14b55fbbae1d9373c165823754d058ebf80beecafc6dee5063a} Thursday for its worst day in nearly three months. The Dow also closed at its lowest level since September. The Nasdaq Composite shed 1.23{1b90e59fe8a6c14b55fbbae1d9373c165823754d058ebf80beecafc6dee5063a} to 13,548.07 — its lowest level since January. Meanwhile, the CBOE Volatility Index (VIX), or “fear gauge,” spiked back to hover near 28 Friday.

The souring in sentiment came after U.S. officials said they estimated Russia had built up around 190,000 military personnel near Ukraine, raising the specter of a near-term attack. And this came a day after President Joe Biden told reporters on Thursday that the threat of a Russian invasion of Ukraine was “very high” in the coming days. Crude oil prices fell Friday morning to pause a recent run-up even as Russia-Ukraine tensions resurged.

“The two things we’re most concerned about right now in terms of headwinds for the market and causes for volatility, are clearly tensions with Russia-Ukraine … and then clearly, our concern over not just inflation but what the monetary policy response to that inflation is going to be,” Art Hogan, National chief market strategist, told Yahoo Finance Live on Thursday. “And those headlines have changed quite a bit too.”

“We’ve gone from thinking the Fed would be very, very deliberate in their actions starting in March and telegraph everything … to having some outliers on the committee talking about being very aggressive, a lot more aggressive than what’s priced into the market,” he added. “Every day the story changes a bit.”

Treasury yields fell further after dropping across the curve on Thursday, with the 10-year yield holding back below 2{1b90e59fe8a6c14b55fbbae1d9373c165823754d058ebf80beecafc6dee5063a}. This came as markets priced in a lower probability of a front-loaded 50 basis-point interest rate hike from the Federal Reserve in March, with investors looking past hawkish commentary from St. Louis Fed President James Bullard calling for a more aggressive path on interest rates.

Other strategists also underscored the dual concerns around Russia and Ukraine and on the Fed for markets in the near-term.

“Really, it’s about Russia and Ukraine, and it’s about the Fed. And on the geopolitical side, I think the challenge for investors is that geopolitical risk is just really hard to weigh,” James Liu, Clearnomics founder and CEO, told Yahoo Finance Live on Thursday. “Our view is that we’re not yet in a situation where it makes sense to make any real portfolio moves based on this. I mean, first of all, diplomatic channels are still open, so the situation is still evolving on a regular basis.”

“The challenge is that even if the worst case scenario were to happen, it’s hard to gauge exactly what the impact long-term would be on the markets,” he added.

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4:00 p.m. ET: US stocks mark second straight losing week amid Russia-Ukraine turmoil

Here were the main moves in markets at the end of Friday’s session:

  • S&P 500 (^GSPC): -31.29 (-0.71{1b90e59fe8a6c14b55fbbae1d9373c165823754d058ebf80beecafc6dee5063a}) to 4,348.97

  • Dow (^DJI): -232.91 (-0.68{1b90e59fe8a6c14b55fbbae1d9373c165823754d058ebf80beecafc6dee5063a}) to 34,079.12

  • Nasdaq (^IXIC): -168.65 (-1.23{1b90e59fe8a6c14b55fbbae1d9373c165823754d058ebf80beecafc6dee5063a}) to 13,548.07

  • Crude (CL=F): -$0.18 (-0.20{1b90e59fe8a6c14b55fbbae1d9373c165823754d058ebf80beecafc6dee5063a}) to $91.58 a barrel

  • Gold (GC=F): -$4.70 (-0.25{1b90e59fe8a6c14b55fbbae1d9373c165823754d058ebf80beecafc6dee5063a}) to $1,897.30 per ounce

  • 10-year Treasury (^TNX): -4 bps to yield 1.9320{1b90e59fe8a6c14b55fbbae1d9373c165823754d058ebf80beecafc6dee5063a}

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10:52 a.m. ET: ‘Underlying inflation appears to be well-anchored’: Evans

Chicago Fed President Charles Evans suggested on Friday that absent pandemic and supply chain disruptions, underlying price pressures were still consistent with the Federal Reserve’s targets and did not warrant an extreme policy response.

“By my reading underlying inflation appears to still be well anchored at levels consistent with the Fed’s average 2{1b90e59fe8a6c14b55fbbae1d9373c165823754d058ebf80beecafc6dee5063a} objective,” Evans said during a University of Chicago Booth School of Business conference on Friday.

“I see our current policy situation as likely requiring less ultimate financial restrictiveness compared with past episodes and posing a smaller risk” to economic activity, he added.

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10:02 a.m. ET: Existing home sales post surprise jump in January, inventory sinks to record low

Sales of previously owned homes in the U.S. posted an unexpected jump at the beginning of 2022, reversing declines from the prior month.

Existing home sales rose at a seasonally adjusted annualized rate of 6.5 million in January, according to the National Association of Realtors (NAR). This represented a 6.7{1b90e59fe8a6c14b55fbbae1d9373c165823754d058ebf80beecafc6dee5063a} month-on-month increase, following a 3.8{1b90e59fe8a6c14b55fbbae1d9373c165823754d058ebf80beecafc6dee5063a} drop in December. Still, sales were down 2.3{1b90e59fe8a6c14b55fbbae1d9373c165823754d058ebf80beecafc6dee5063a} from the same month last year, when low interest rates stoked demand for purchases.

Housing inventory slid by 16.5{1b90e59fe8a6c14b55fbbae1d9373c165823754d058ebf80beecafc6dee5063a} over last year to 860,000, marking a record low since NAR began tracking the data in 1999. Tight supplies pushed prices higher, and the median existing-home price rose 15.4{1b90e59fe8a6c14b55fbbae1d9373c165823754d058ebf80beecafc6dee5063a} over last year to $350,300.

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10:46 a.m. ET: ‘Underlying inflation appears to still be well-anchored: Evans

Chicago Federal Reserve President Charles Evans suggested Friday that the Federal Reserve’s current monetary policy setting was “wrong-footed against the current, sharp increases in inflation,” and suggested price pressures would subside without extreme moves by the Fed.

“I see our current policy situation as likely requiring less ultimate financial restrictiveness compared with past episodes and posing a smaller risk” to economic growth, Evans said during a University of Chicago Booth School of Business conference. He noted that in absence of pandemic and supply chain impacts, “underlying inflation appears to still be well-anchored at levels consistent with the Fed’s average 2{1b90e59fe8a6c14b55fbbae1d9373c165823754d058ebf80beecafc6dee5063a} objective.”

Evans’. —

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9:30 a.m. ET: Stocks mixed amid mounting Russia-Ukraine concerns

Here’s where markets were trading shortly after the opening bell:

  • S&P 500 (^GSPC): +4.64 (+0.11{1b90e59fe8a6c14b55fbbae1d9373c165823754d058ebf80beecafc6dee5063a}) to 4,384.90

  • Dow (^DJI): -43.35 (-0.16{1b90e59fe8a6c14b55fbbae1d9373c165823754d058ebf80beecafc6dee5063a}) to 34,258.30

  • Nasdaq (^IXIC): +23.65 (+0.17{1b90e59fe8a6c14b55fbbae1d9373c165823754d058ebf80beecafc6dee5063a}) to 13,740.37

  • Crude (CL=F): -$2.53 (-2.76{1b90e59fe8a6c14b55fbbae1d9373c165823754d058ebf80beecafc6dee5063a}) to $89.23 a barrel

  • Gold (GC=F): -$3.20 (-0.17{1b90e59fe8a6c14b55fbbae1d9373c165823754d058ebf80beecafc6dee5063a}) to $1,898.80 per ounce

  • 10-year Treasury (^TNX): -3.2 bps to yield 1.942{1b90e59fe8a6c14b55fbbae1d9373c165823754d058ebf80beecafc6dee5063a}

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8:50 a.m. ET: Stocks turn negative as officials signal Russian military build near Ukraine

Stock futures erased earlier gains to trade in negative territory with just over 30 minutes until the opening bell.

Contracts on each of the S&P 500, Dow and Nasdaq turned lower. Investors turned into safe haven assets, and Treasury yields fell as prices were bid higher. The Vix spiked back above 28 after falling below 27 earlier Friday morning.

News that Russia had amassed some 190,000 military personnel near Ukraine contributed to the decline, erasing earlier optimism that diplomatic talks would lead to a deescalation of the tensions in the region. Earlier, the U.S. State Department had said Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken would meet next week.

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7:24 a.m. ET Friday: Stock futures point to a higher open

Here’s where markets were trading Friday morning:

  • S&P 500 futures (ES=F): +21 points (+0.48{1b90e59fe8a6c14b55fbbae1d9373c165823754d058ebf80beecafc6dee5063a}), to 4,395.50

  • Dow futures (YM=F): +124.00 points (+0.36{1b90e59fe8a6c14b55fbbae1d9373c165823754d058ebf80beecafc6dee5063a}), to 34,355.00

  • Nasdaq futures (NQ=F): +91 points (+0.64{1b90e59fe8a6c14b55fbbae1d9373c165823754d058ebf80beecafc6dee5063a}) to 14,255.75

  • Crude (CL=F): -$1.92 (-2.09{1b90e59fe8a6c14b55fbbae1d9373c165823754d058ebf80beecafc6dee5063a}) to $89.84 a barrel

  • Gold (GC=F): -$9.10 (-0.48{1b90e59fe8a6c14b55fbbae1d9373c165823754d058ebf80beecafc6dee5063a}) to $1,892.90 per ounce

  • 10-year Treasury (^TNX): -0.2 bps to yield 1.972{1b90e59fe8a6c14b55fbbae1d9373c165823754d058ebf80beecafc6dee5063a}

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6:10 p.m. ET Thursday: Stock futures extend declines after rout

Here were the main moves in markets Thursday evening:

  • S&P 500 futures (ES=F): -5.25 points (-0.12{1b90e59fe8a6c14b55fbbae1d9373c165823754d058ebf80beecafc6dee5063a}), to 4,369.25

  • Dow futures (YM=F): -24 points (-0.07{1b90e59fe8a6c14b55fbbae1d9373c165823754d058ebf80beecafc6dee5063a}), to 34,207.00

  • Nasdaq futures (NQ=F): -24.75 points (-0.17{1b90e59fe8a6c14b55fbbae1d9373c165823754d058ebf80beecafc6dee5063a}) to 14,140.00

Photo by: NDZ/STAR MAX/IPx 2022 2/11/22 People walk past the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) on Wall Street on February 11, 2022 in New York.

Photo by: NDZ/STAR MAX/IPx 2022 2/11/22 People walk past the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) on Wall Street on February 11, 2022 in New York.

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Emily McCormick is a reporter for Yahoo Finance. Follow her on Twitter

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