The Boehner Dip

The Boehner Dip

As the media continues to bury Obama, it is high time that the reality of what Speaker Boehner has wrought upon the economy gain emphasis. I am on the road at my folks in Chicago and I don't want to take the time to develop this too far, but simply consider these two excerpts from the same news source, Zacks Investment Research.

Two weeks ago this was the daily market report: "The Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJIA) gained 152 points or 1.2% to settle at 12,724.41. The blue-chip index fell short of the year’s intra-day high by less than 100 points. The Standard & Poor 500 (S&P 500) surged 1.4% to finish the day at 1,343.80. The tech-laden Nasdaq Composite Index was up 0.7% and closed at 2,834.43…The markets had been anxiously awaiting a resolution to the issue of raising the debt-ceiling, which will take the country’s rating down from the current ‘AAA’ rating if negotiations fail. Thankfully, there were hints of progress being made between the White House and the Republicans about sealing the deal that would slash the government’s deficit and lift the debt ceiling. This immediately led the markets higher after an impasse over the debt-ceiling talks had dampened the mood since last week." [emphasis added]

This was today's report two weeks later: "Uncertainty over economic growth kept investors jittery, though the benchmarks escaped recording their longest losing streak since Jimmy Carter’s days in the White House…[9 days]As the day began, investors were once again bogged down by concerns about the economy and the markets opened with steep losses. The Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJIA) dipped 166 points before recouping its losses to settle at 11,896.21, up 0.3%. The Standard & Poor 500 (S&P 500) added 0.5% to finish the day at 1,260.36. The Nasdaq Composite Index closed with gains of 0.9% at 2,693.07…Traders opined that a report in the Wall Street Journal had sparked the rally, as the website stated the last three directors of the Fed’s monetary affairs division, Donald Kohn, Vincent Reinhart and Brian Madigan supported a new stimulus plan which the Federal Reserve might consider implementing." [emphasis added]

This is the report published Friday, about Thursday's free fall: "The broad sell-off in the market and resulting panic led to the Dow, Standard & Poor 500 (S&P) 500 and the Nasdaq plunging 4.3%, 4.8% and 5.1%, respectively. Each benchmark posted its share of records, though none of these brought any cheer to investors. The Dow settled at 11,383.83, losing 512 points, the steepest such decline since Dec. 1, 2008... In one of its worst sessions since February 2009, the S&P 500 settled at 1,200.24. The Nasdaq suffered its worst session since January 2009 and closed at 2,556.39. "