Investors shrug off latest Trump tweet targeting 'terrible' Nordstrom

Investors didn't have much of a reaction to the U.S. president's latest Twitter tirade on Wednesday, as shares of Nordstrom barely budged after Donald Trump accused the retailer of treating his daughter unfairly.

"My daughter Ivanka has been treated so unfairly by @Nordstrom. She is a great person — always pushing me to do the right thing! Terrible," Trump said.

The president appeared to be reacting to the retailer's recent decision to stop selling Ivanka Trump products. 

In the wake of her father taking over the White House, Ivanka Trump has said she would take a leave of absence from her clothing and accessories business as well as the Trump organization.

Rosemary K. Young, senior director of marketing at Ivanka Trump, said last week that the brand is expanding and saw "significant" revenue growth last year compared to the previous year.

Nordstrom, meanwhile, insists the decision was not politically motivated and solely due to declining sales.

"Over the past year, and particularly in the last half of 2016, sales of the brand have steadily declined to the point 
where it didn't make good business sense for us to continue with the line for now," the company told Reuters.

Nordstrom apparently informed Ivanka Trump of its decision in early January.

This isn't the first time Donald Trump has taken aim at a corporation he has issues with, but it's one of the few documented instances in which he's picked a target specifically because he has a personal vested interest among his myriad of potential conflicts of interest.

In the past, Trump has targeted aerospace giants Lockheed-Martin and Boeing for "gouging" taxpayers, and has repeatedly called out American automakers for not building enough cars in the country.

Normally the targeted firms see their stock prices take a dive. But that didn't happen Wednesday as Nordstrom traders largely shrugged off the news. Although there was a brief blip of less than one per cent, Nordstrom shares closed up sharply on Wednesday, gaining more than four per cent to $44.53 US per share on the NYSE.

That's in contrast to Lockheed-Martin, whose shares dove as much as five per cent after the president complained about the soaring costs of the F-35 fighter jet program. And Boeing shares lost more than one per cent after the president complained how expensive it would be to build a new Air Force One jet.

At his daily press conference, White House press secretary Sean Spicer suggested the president's daughter was being "maligned" by the retailer because Nordstrom disagrees with the Trump administration's policies.

"This is a direct attack on his policies and her name," Spicer said.