Where are all the Political Cheerleaders today?

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The market got creamed today. Dow off triple digits, Nasdaq down almost 2%, S&P500 rocked.

So where are all the Political Cheerleaders? Where are all the people claiming the rally from August 13th to Spetmber 14th made the incumbent a lock?

Today is a perfect example why I find the connection between polling data and the markets so utterly tenuous: For those who mistakenly insist that the market is a political polling device — and not an economic discounting mechanism — pray tell: What does today’s market action mean for your candidate or his opponent? Obviously, it means doom for (insert your least favorite candidate here).

For all the idiots who think the market is predicting politics, this new excerpt is for you:

“Today’s market action indicates that Bob Yuldock, candidate for dog catcher, is inevitiably heading for double-digit defeat. Furthermore, the action in the bond market, where the 10 year broke below a 4% yield, unequivocally concludes that his wife is fat and his kids are ugly.

In other news . . . ”

It bears repeating: Your taxes are going higher, regardless of who wins on Nov. 2. Oil will be expensive. GDP will be modest. While different sectors may do better or worse under each candidate, Greenspan will still be Fed Chief. That matters a whole lot more than who is sitting in the Oval Office…

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  1. BOPnews commented on Sep 22

    Where are all the Political Cheerleaders today?

    The market got creamed today. Dow off triple digits, Nasdaq down almost 2%, S&P500 rocked. So where are all the Political Cheerleaders? Where are all the people claiming the rally from August 13th to Spetmber 14th made the incumbent a…

  2. BOPnews commented on Sep 22

    Where are all the Political Cheerleaders today?

    The market got creamed today. Dow off triple digits, Nasdaq down almost 2%, S&P500 rocked. So where are all the Political Cheerleaders? Where are all the people claiming the rally from August 13th to Spetmber 14th made the incumbent a…

  3. anne commented on Sep 22

    “Greenspan will still be Fed Chief. That matters a whole lot more than who is sitting in the Oval Office…”

    What an absurd statement!

  4. Speckled Trout commented on Sep 22

    No, not absurd. Kerry does not have the political fortitude to throw that jackass Greenspan out on his ass. Howard Dean was the only candidate that was directly quoted as saying that he would throw out Greenspan as the 1st order of business. Anyway Greenspan knows this thing is going to tank and he’s walking as soon as Nov 2 rolls. He’s just there to help Bush at this point(he would have sat around for either party). The next president has to work with this piss poor economy plus they are going to be broadsided with Peak Oil well within the first 2 years. I pity da fool.

  5. Karsten commented on Sep 23

    Greenspan will spend the rest of his term hoping that the sky doesn’t fall on his watch. The rote repitition of the the “soft patch” meme looks ever more like a mantra to ward off a loss of momentum in Q4.

    But we’re missing Barry’s point: any administration should be afraid of the (bond) market – not the other way ’round. To steal a quote from Niall Ferguson (The Cash Nexus):

    “Early in Bill Clinton’s first, unsteady hundred days as president, his campaign manager James Carville remarked that, if there was such a thing as reincarnation, he wanted to come back, not as the President or the Pope, but as the bond market – because that was what really ruled the world. ‘That way’, as he put it, ‘you can terrify everybody’.

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