From Bloomberg:
You might put it as “what’s bad for General Motors is bad for the stock market.”
Recent history suggests American automobile sales indicate subsequent moves in U.S. equities. Declines in 2011 and 2012 were followed by a retreat in the S&P 500 index, and gains in the fall of 2015 came before a market rally. While the relationship isn’t exact, and correlation doesn’t equal causation, the surprising slump in vehicle sales last month comes just as investors are questioning how much to believe off-the-charts surveys of American confidence levels.