Nordstrom broke the curse of the Trump tweet

By Danielle Paquette February 8

A Trump tweet can move markets. ... After President Trump slammed Lockheed Martin on Dec. 23 for the “tremendous cost” of its fighter jets, the company’s stock price dropped $2.75 (2 percent). Less than two weeks later, he blasted General Motors for assembling cars in Mexico, and the automaker’s share value fell 24 cents (.7 percent). Then he took aim at Toyota for building a new Mexican plant, delivering an apparent 64-cent blow (.07 percent).

But Nordstrom, Trump's latest Twitter target, seems largely immune to the president’s public bashing. On Wednesday morning, he criticized the retailer for dropping Ivanka Trump products — and its stock value climbed.
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So, is the Trump tweet losing its power? Not necessarily, said Kimberly Whitler, a marketing professor at the University of Virginia. .... “Over time, consumers become numb to a message,” she said. “At some point, with the velocity of Trump’s tweets, it’s likely that investors may become more ‘numb’ to his tweets and react in a more muted fashion.”
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Mary Embry, a retail merchandising professor at Indiana University, said investors who understand Nordstrom probably sense a Trump tweet wouldn’t deter the company’s consumer base. ... “Politics certainly do matter in fashion,” she said, “but the strength of the Nordstrom stock validates the strength of the decision making of that retailer that is based on absolutely knowing its customer.” ... Also, she said: “The president is not seen as having any particular expertise on fashion.”
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Danielle Paquette is a reporter covering the intersection of people and policy. She’s from Indianapolis and previously worked for the Tampa Bay Times. Follow @dpaqreport