Markets plunge; China angst; Trump and the shutdown

``Weak economic data out of China has spoiled any hopes of a New Year rally for stocks. Global markets suffered steep declines on Wednesday after new data suggested that China's vast manufacturing sector contracted in December... The New Year losses follow a terrible year for US stocks. 2018 was the worst annual performance for stocks since 2008, and only the second year the Dow and S&P 500 fell in the past decade.''