What happened After three consecutive days in the green, the stock market isn't exactly ending the week on a high note. The Dow Jones Industrial Average and S&P 500 are down by 3.7% and 3.3%, respectively, as of 11:50 a.m. EDT. As we've seen on several occasions recently, the financial sector is doing even worse, especially when it comes to companies involved in the credit card industry. Payment processing giants Visa (NYSE: V) and Mastercard (NYSE: MA) are down by 4% and 6%, respectively. Meanwhile, Discover (NYSE: DFS) and Capital One (NYSE: COF), which actually lend money to consumers, have fallen 9% and 7%, respectively. Image source: Getty Images. So what In a nutshell, it appears that coronavirus-fueled recession worries are overpowering the expected benefits of the stimulus package, at least in today's trading session. In recessions, consumers spend less, which hurts payment processors like Visa and Mastercard, as they get a percentage of the payment volume they process on their networks. Also, during tough times, consumers often have difficulties paying their bills, so companies like Capital One could see a rise in delinquencies and charge-offs. Discover acts as both a payment processor and a lender, so it could take a hit on both sides of the business, which could be why its stock down more than the other three companies' shares. Now what There are too many unanswered questions surrounding the COVID-19 pandemic, which is why we're seeing violent swings in the stock market. There's simply no way to know for sure how long the outbreak will last, how bad the resulting recession will be, or how much the stimulus will be able to help consumers weather the storm. 10 stocks we like better than VisaWhen investing geniuses David and Tom Gardner have a stock tip, it can pay to listen. After all, the newsletter they have run for over a decade, Motley Fool Stock Advisor, has tripled the market.* David and Tom just revealed what they believe are the ten best stocks for investors to buy right now... and Visa wasn't one of them! That's right -- they think these 10 stocks are even better buys. See the 10 stocks *Stock Advisor returns as of March 18, 2020 Matthew Frankel, CFP has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool owns shares of and recommends Mastercard and Visa. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.Source