Just 20 days ago, the US stock market was sitting at all-time highs. The US economy appeared to be growing at a solid pace. And a recession was nowhere in sight.

U.S. stocks have suffered their sharpest selloff in months as investors have grown nervous that Trump will slow the economy with import duties.

The signs of a recession, how they affect the public and what you can do to prepare financially in case one comes.

Over the last year, while President Joe Biden was in office, Trump took credit for stock market rallies as a vote of confidence in his electoral prospects. When the market dipped, he blamed Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris. And he predicted that if Democrats won the 2024 presidential election, the stock market would have crashed.

When Donald Trump was reelected in November, many investors declared the so-called Trump Trade would spur US stocks to new highs. But markets are now spooked by fears the world's largest economy is close to recession.

Recession chatter is still making the rounds on Wall Street, but cooler inflation is quelling fears of a dire scenario for the Fed.

Against that backdrop, Wednesday’s consumer-price index report comes into sharp focus as investors hope for more clarity on whether recent fears of stagflation — a toxic mix of elevated inflation and a stumbling economy — appear justified.