I trade stocks therefore I listen to CNBC. More accurately, I can't stand listening to CNBC so I read the website. Before you start telling me to stop reading their crap, keep this in mind. These guys are apparently market movers. Every brokerage in the country has these guys on air in the office all day. The never ending doom-and-gloom is all these guys hear. Here is a typical comment from virtually every guest on the channel:
In the meantime, Keating said there needs to be changes in Washington’s policy in order for the economy to turn around.
“We need to send a message that big government spending, big taxes, big deficits, rule-making is not the way to grow the economy,” he said. “We have to elect people that will bring us back to a smaller-government, more incentive-driven policy.”
In other words, despite the fact that American corporations are sitting on a ton of cash and they could be hiring and growing this economy, they are not because they want a change in Washington. Even the most minor adult supervision (and I mean minor) has sent these guys around the bend. After 3 decades of Republican toadies deregulating, cutting taxes and generally turning the other cheek, it is not enough.
The last few weeks it's been like watching a cage match between Obama and the corporate hacks. CNBC does not book a guest unless he's willing to bash the Administration and complain about regulation and taxes. Every "debate" is between a corporate hack and an even more hacky corporate hack. There is no balance whatsoever. It appears that no Administration official ever appears on the channel anymore, even Jared Bernstein. Obama continues to maintain silence on the issue.
Think about what a big deal this is....this election is going to turn on the condition of the economy. The stock market is a totally rigged game. The quants and their computer algorithms can "flash crash" the stock market at will. The stock market is the MOST visible indicator of the viability of the economy. It's something the average person can understand. I (being a good conspiracy theorist) think the flash crash back in May was a shot across the bow to the Obama Administration.
I'd love to submit remedies for this problem but I got nothin'. I'd like to see the Dem's allow the Bush tax cuts to expire but I imagine they will cave fairly quickly after the break. What can they do? The stock market is crashing! Corporate America won't be happy until every last frigging tax dollar you pay for a civil society is emptied into their pockets. Draining the Treasury at the end of the Bush Administration wasn't enough. They want it all.
So September and October are going to have screaming headlines about the sky falling but do understand, come November, no matter who wins the elections, this market will climb again. I seriously think this current weakness is manufactured by Co-America in order to influence the elections. Just the thought of this should scare the heck out of you...how much power these guys have over your life. If they get their toadies back in charge....great for them. Even if they don't they gave it their best shot, forced retail investors out of the market, and made conditions ripe for picking up shares at even lower prices.
As I write, the market is sliding negative again. Never fear though, this game is so rigged this investor can make money as easily on the way down as on the way up. Isn't that delightful!