EDITOR'S NOTE
Two lessons from Wednesday's headlines: The trade war isn't weighing as heavily on consumers as once feared, and the market would still like to see some progress on a trade deal this year.
Target reported better-than-expected same-store sales for its third quarter — a period when fears of a protracted trade war, a recession and a weakening consumer swamped market sentiments.
To be sure, Target's sales increase may have come at the expense of other retailers, but CNBC's Jim Cramer says he's bullish on the optimism he's heard from the CEOs of Target and Walmart.
“Let’s just put to rest any notion that the tariffs are really hurting spending, that there is any real inflation, that the consumer is being hurt,” Cramer said. 
Nevertheless, the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell as much as 250 points at one point after the Senate's passage of a bill protecting human rights in Hong Kong, and then came a report that a trade deal may not happen this year.
Stocks recovered some of their losses, but still ended the day lower. Bond yields slipped only slightly. Major indexes still remain close to their all-time highs.
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