The last two days on Wall Street “were the worst in the American stock market since 1987.” The Dow Jones industrial average lost nearly 1,000 points and the S&P; 500 “a broader measure of stocks, lost nearly 10 percent of its value.”
Fox News seized the opportunity. Many of its pundits and hosts have suggested, or even claimed outright, that the stock market plunge is the direct result of Barack Obama’s presidential election victory:
— Gretchen Carlson: “There’s a lot of feeling in the market not reacting very well to the election of Barack Obama.”
— Fred Barnes: “We have seen the stock market go down over 800 points the last two days. There is great uncertainty out there about [Obama’s] policies.”
— Dick Morris: “Now the other thing that I predicted in “Fleeced” is that the stock market would go crazy after he was elected. Not just because he’s a radical, not just because he’s a Democrat, but because he’s going to raise the capital gains tax. […] Its going to continue to tank.”
Even Fox News’s business guru Neil Cavuto chimed in, wondering if “there is a connection” between the falling market and the Obama election. However, minutes later, he said, “You don’t want to glean too much politically into it.” Watch the compilation:
In fact, the recent market plunge has absolutely nothing to do with Obama. As The New York Times noted, “There were no clear catalysts that spurred the sell-off…beyond the regular drumbeat of poor earnings from the corporate sector and bleak data on the economy.” Moreover, “[s]lumping retail sales and weakness in the auto sector” also helped send stocks plummeting. One market expert noted that “regardless of who won, there is no quick-term solution to the global economic crisis.”
The Wall Street Journal is reporting that stocks have rebounded this morning. Perhaps we should expect then that Fox News will give the credit to Obama.