Posted by
voice_of_reason on Wednesday, February 25, 2009 12:43:22 PM
If it had been a GWB speech last night, CNN would've led with "Stocks tumble on Bush's proposals". MSNBC would've probably said "NYSE to GWB: Drop Dead!".
But, CNN led with "Stocks sputter after rally". The msg is - this ain't a big deal, folks, the market is not rendering its verdict on the policy proposals mentioned in BO's speech. The market just happened to give up some of its gains from the previous day. The 1st part of the story is an analysis of the gains of the previous day [carefully ignoring the big drop that preceeded those gains]. BO's speech is mentioned in part2, stressing only the lofty rhetoric, and not suggesting any linkage between the speech and the response. This is sharply in contrast with last year, when every dip in the stock market was blamed on the dastardly GWB and those Wascally Wepublicans.
The reality is that GWB's mistakes did cause gyrations in the market -- but so do BO's. Markets do react negatively when there is a perception that their leaders are making ill conceived (although well intentioned) decisions. But, news organizations should report honestly no matter who is in charge.