Bounce
April 1st, 2008 at 11:03pm Matt Margolis
The same day that The Independent (UK) pretty much claimed that our economy was heading for another Great Depression, stocks rallied significantly and the dollar rose.
In an election year you can expect plenty of doom and gloom rhetoric about the economy from the Democrats, who have a political interest in the economy doing poorly. But I heard a few forecasts on the radio which said the economic slowdown may be very short-lived. Still, it’s time for Congress to do its part to keep the economy strong by making the Bush tax cuts permanent.
UPDATE: Bernanke: Economy NOT in a recession.
Entry Filed under: Economy
31 Comments
1. Freedom1 | April 1st, 2008 at 11:13 pm
LOL! The DowJones jumped up almost 400 points! Heh. Heh.
On a more serious note, we need to prioritize strenghtening the dollar. Immediately.
2. js | April 1st, 2008 at 11:17 pm
so many doom sayers, so little patience
3. js | April 1st, 2008 at 11:19 pm
actually, if we would let the banks fold, up would sprout the honest ones to carry on the business and we would have been rid of the rot on top
instead, we try to rescue them…
pretty dumb
4. Some Assembly Required | April 1st, 2008 at 11:22 pm
When they cut interest rates 0.75% the markets went up… the very next day they dropped to all time lows. My point, To claim the economy is turning around because of a temporary rise during a credit crunch and a mortgage crisis is ridiculous. It’s like claiming victory in battle for securing one block. Thing is, the next day you lose that block and are right back where you were. That being said, I think I’ll wait a week before I form an opinion about these recent rises.
One more thing… 6 months from now they’ll look back and say we are/were in a recession. Deny all you want.
js, I agree with you there… that money should go to helping people from foreclosing on their homes. Not helping two companies merge when ones stock is selling dirt cheap.
5. Arctic Fox | April 1st, 2008 at 11:23 pm
And yet… On the same day:
(emphasis mine)
Source: BBC News
When stocks rally you are shouting the news from the rooftops. When they fall you are completely silent.
There’s still a LOT of work to do to stabilize the economy. It isn’t all a garden of roses yet.
6. Freedom1 | April 2nd, 2008 at 12:08 am
3. js | April 1st, 2008 at 11:19 pm
Agreed, JS. This is socialism-type engineering and it’s bad in the short-term and especially bad in the long-term. President Bush is a big spender and big government “Republican”. Ack.
7. capJ | April 2nd, 2008 at 12:32 am
right Mark. One day means its not a recession. One day means its a liberal conspiracy - and by liberal you mean Alan Greenspan who says its a recession.
God - can you stop being so rediculously wrong for just one day..
8. Kahn | April 2nd, 2008 at 12:35 am
S.A.R. “the very next day they dropped to all time lows.” That is the stupidest thing you’ve ever posted here. Clearly you don’t understand stocks or actually know what the market did.
All time lows, give me a break.
9. Carlton Pryor, Lead Economist, TED-OG | April 2nd, 2008 at 8:58 am
As a free market capitalist with the distinct advantage of a gold standard currency I think both the major lending organizations [mortgage cos, financial institutions and commercial banks], the media companies who made big bucks from advertising and homebuyers who 1) could not afford the homes they desired 2) did not read the fine print 3) used their new leveraged homes as ATMs, are to blame for this housing bubble.
Once again looking at a single day at the NYSE is like being happy about fresh apples for sale in 1930. The real writedown/loss number is 1.2 trillion, the banks and mortgage cos have only admitted to around 400 billion of that in losses and writedowns and this goes far beyond just sub prime commercial paper. When they begin to talk about Alt-A commercial paper writedowns and stress on A-paper mortgages you’ll know that the bottom is close. Gold is a good buy gentlemen if it dips below the year start level of US 840/ troy oz
10. InDaVa | April 2nd, 2008 at 9:41 am
The Economy is great guys! Look, stocks rallied significantly! Also, Bush’s tax cuts, if made permanent, will end this recession that we are not in and any future recessions!! Nothing to see here, the economy is great!!
Right wing lies! Baaaaa! Right Wing Lies! Baaaaa!
11. sam | April 2nd, 2008 at 9:53 am
http://money.cnn.com/2008/04/02/news/economy/bernanke_testimony/index.htm?postversion=2008040209
this is the FED chairman Bernanke saying that the economy might actually SHRINK!! and here we have matt and mark saying its liberal lies…..hmmmmm…must be nice to wake up under a rock each day.
12. Capitalist Infidel | April 2nd, 2008 at 10:43 am
it’s sad to see the economic ignorance here. A recession is 2 consecutive quarters of negative growth. For the economic ignorant liberals out there that would be gdp. Since we don’t even have one quarter of negative growth yet can you all stop lying please?
13. Joe | April 2nd, 2008 at 10:49 am
Capitalist Infidel, would you be happier if we called it an extreme economic slowdown that is teetering on the brink of recession?
14. Almiranta | April 2nd, 2008 at 11:06 am
“…it’s time for Congress to do its part to keep the economy strong by making the Bush tax cuts permanent. ”
Yeah, fat chance, Matt—not when the majority party in Congress has a vested interest in seeing the economy tank.
It is fascinating to see a party trying to take control of the country while it illustrates at every opportunity the fact that what is good for the country is bad for the party.
One stat that caught my attention the other day was that “consumer confidence” was down. Gee, do ya think? I wonder why constant harping on a non-existent ‘recession’ might affect consumer confidence?
But it’s a great trick: Tell the consumer, day in and day out, via every medium avaliable, that the economy is going to hell in a handbasket and that we are teetering on the very brink of total economic disaster, then use the resulting decline in ‘consumer confidence’ to prove your point.
But wait—aren’t the footsoldiers of this same tactic the very ones who accuse CONSERVATIVES of “fear-mongering”?
Hmmmmm—quoting the words of people who say they intend to kill us all, who have already managed to kill thousands of us, is “fear-mongering” but falsely claiming a recession which does not exist and trumpeting every economic correction as proof of impending and imminent fiscal disaster is not?
It is truly fascinating to take a peek, every now and then, into the Pretzel Factory that is the rabid Left.
15. Joe | April 2nd, 2008 at 11:15 am
not when the majority party in Congress has a vested interest in seeing the economy tank.
Really???? We WANT the economy to tank? Are you freaking kidding me?? Do you think only Republicans take part in the economy?
“One stat that caught my attention the other day was that “consumer confidence” was down. Gee, do ya think? I wonder why constant harping on a non-existent ‘recession’ might affect consumer confidence?”
Of course. It is all that MSM that is causing the consumer confidence to drop. It has nothing to do with people paying $3.50 for a gallon of gas, their jobs going overseas, their credit card balances being huge and them being 2 months behind in their mortgage. It wouldn’t be that at all that lowers consumer confidence. It is those damn liberals that talk about it.
But wait—aren’t the footsoldiers of this same tactic the very ones who accuse CONSERVATIVES of “fear-mongering”?
There is a significant difference here.
GOP fear-mongering is saying that if we leave Iraq, that the terrorists will follow us home and attack us in malls.
Saying that people are struggling to make ends meet when they are actually having problems making ends meet is not fear mongering.
16. Some Assembly Required | April 2nd, 2008 at 11:28 am
8. Kahn | April 2nd, 2008 at 12:35 am
Your right. The markets that went up after the interest cut dropped the following day by more than what they rose. There was no ‘all time lows’ it was a misleading statement.
12. Capitalist Infidel | April 2nd, 2008 at 10:43 am
That is an accurate definition of a recession but what is interesting are the factors which contribute to a recession. These include but are no limited too…
Mishandling of the money supply
weather conditions
war
A decrease in value of a country’s currency
Housing Crisis
On there own they may not perpetuate a recession but when combined these factors would certainly create one. Which one of the above is the US currently not experiencing?
17. NeoClown | April 2nd, 2008 at 11:40 am
WASHINGTON (AP) — Orders to U.S. factories fell for a second straight month, a worse-than-expected performance that reinforced worries that the risk of recession is rising.
The Commerce Department reported Wednesday that factory orders dropped by 1.3 percent in February, about double the downturn that economists had been expecting. Orders had fallen an even bigger 2.3 percent in January, the largest decline in five months.
DOW JONES NEWSWIRES
Worries over the economy and pressure on the consumer led to poor U.S. auto sales in March
This year is expected to be the worst in a decade for light vehicle sales, and the first quarter closed out with little hope of a near-term recovery.
General Motors Corp. (GM) reported a 19% skid in sales.
Toyota Motor Corp. (TM) reported a 10% drop in U.S. sales.
Ford Motor Co. (F) reported a 14% sales drop.
Chrysler LLC posted a 19% decline.
WASHINGTON (AP) — Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke warned Wednesday the economy may shrink over the first half of this year and that “a recession is possible.” Yet, he didn’t offer any assurances of further interest rate cuts.
Bernanke’s testimony to the Joint Economic Committee was a much more pessimistic assessment of the economy’s immediate prospects amid a trio of crises — housing, credit and financial.
“It now appears likely that gross domestic product (GDP) will not grow much, if at all, over the first half of 2008 and could even contract slightly,” Bernanke told lawmakers. GDP measures the value of all goods and services produced within the United States and is the best barometer of the United States’ economic health. Under one rule, six straight months of declining GDP, would constitute a recession.
18. Kahn | April 2nd, 2008 at 1:52 pm
SAR, I came across unnecessarily harsh. Bad day. Sorry.
19. Rana Quijotesca | April 2nd, 2008 at 1:58 pm
Don’t you guys know that stagflation is the hallmark of a vibrant economy? Gosh!!
In all seriousness… some economists (one of which is from the Cato Institute…) are actually advising that college graduates wait tables for a while, since they won’t be able to find jobs…
20. Some Assembly Required | April 2nd, 2008 at 3:03 pm
Kahn, no worries mate, everyone has them.
21. Capitalist Infidel | April 2nd, 2008 at 4:37 pm
Joe, you can call it anything you want but calling it a recession is a flat out lie and most everyone knows that.
22. Joe | April 2nd, 2008 at 4:42 pm
Thanks for the update CI.
From now on, instead of “Recession”, I will call it an “Extreme slow down in the economy that is hurting middle and low income citizens that is teetering on the brink of recession”.
Will take a little longer to type, but that works for me and you will be happy.
23. Capitalist Infidel | April 2nd, 2008 at 5:14 pm
It’s better than lying, especially since the rest is nothing more than your poor thought out opinion. We expect the sky is falling opinion from the far left fanatical nut jobs. As long as we can try to make you stop lying that’s a small victory.
24. Freedom1 | April 2nd, 2008 at 10:43 pm
Joe, “There is a significant difference here. GOP fear-mongering is saying that if we leave Iraq, that the terrorists will follow us home and attack us in malls.”
That’s already happening, both here in the USA and around the world. Here’s just a few cases of Muslims killing people in MALLS.
Explosion at Philippines MALL kills 8. (Fri, Oct 19, 2007)
Muslim Sulejman Talovic, who killed five people and terrorized a Salt Lake City shopping MALL (Fri, Feb 16, 2007)
Video: SLC Killer’s Father Believes Son Was Trained (Sat, Feb 17, 2007)
Muslim Man Charged With Chicago Shopping MALL Bomb Plot (12/8/06)
Canada: Honor Killing in Ottawa MALL (Thu, Sep 21, 2006)
25. Freedom1 | April 2nd, 2008 at 11:03 pm
Joe, “There is a significant difference here. GOP fear-mongering is saying that if we leave Iraq, that the terrorists will follow us home and attack us in malls.”
That’s already happening, both here in the USA and around the world. Here’s just a few cases of Muslims killing people in MALLS:
“Explosion at Philippines MALL kills 8.” (Fri, Oct 19, 2007)
“Muslim Sulejman Talovic, who killed five people and terrorized a Salt Lake City shopping MALL” (Fri, Feb 16, 2007)
“Video: SLC Killer’s Father Believes Son Was Trained” (Sat, Feb 17, 2007)
“Muslim Man Charged With Chicago Shopping MALL Bomb Plot” (12/8/06)
“Canada: Honor Killing in Ottawa MALL” (Thu, Sep 21, 2006)
(link)
26. Joe | April 2nd, 2008 at 11:17 pm
Yeah yeah freedom. I understand you have ALL these links about how horible Islam is.
The point is not is they may or may not attack in a mall. The point is that your fear mongering is saying they will “follow us home”. Your fear mongering is to scare simpletons by telling them that Islam will attack us at home if we leave Iraq.
So keep spreading that hatred of all things Islam.
27. Freedom1 | April 2nd, 2008 at 11:24 pm
“There is a significant difference here. GOP fear-mongering is saying that if we leave Iraq, that the terrorists will follow us home and attack us in malls.” - Joe
“The point is not is they may or may not attack in a mall.” - Joe
Bwhaha!
28. Casper | April 2nd, 2008 at 11:29 pm
“That’s already happening, both here in the USA and around the world. Here’s just a few cases of Muslims killing people in MALLS:”
Maybe we should bring our troops home to protect our malls.
29. Freedom1 | April 2nd, 2008 at 11:37 pm
“Maybe we should bring our troops home to protect our malls.” - Casper
Are you advocating the creation of a police state, Casper? Talk about giving up our freedoms.
30. SteaM | April 2nd, 2008 at 11:40 pm
No Casper. We need to build malls in Iraq so that we can protect malls over there so we don’t have to protect them over here.
Hey, China will appreciate the business. Maybe we can relax some of our labor laws to allow children to work here in the US. We could even make some money selling cheap crap in Iraqi malls.
It’s a world market dangit. Gotta compete.
31. Casper | April 2nd, 2008 at 11:44 pm
“Are you advocating the creation of a police state, Casper? Talk about giving up our freedoms.”
No, I’m being sarcastic.