[DarthVader]

Yes

[rb22982]

Stock market is down as portfolio managers and hedge funds are worried we are within 1 year or so of a downturn - we’re certainly due for one - already would have been in one under HRC.

[ifinnegan]

First time I ever heard of George Soros was decades ago during the Asian Financial Crisis when he was said to have caused it by manipulating the markets.

[Track9]

By every nefarious means possible.

[FlingWingFlyer]

According to the “experts” in the psychomedia, stocks continue to “plunge” for every reason you can think of but one. The commies and Marxist cocktail waitresses take over the House of Representatives. They threaten to end capitalism, impeach the president and take away the rights of every American and it has absolutely NO EFFECT on the stock market. Sorry but somebody B booschittin’.

[avital2]

the markets reflected nervousness about the direction of the economy before the mid-terms, and now are adjusting to an expected slower growth pattern going forward. many were invested in hypergrowth companies, necessitating some switching to more moderate growth situations. also there was concern that the Fed was being too agressive in its interest rate hikes, especially if future growth, while good, would not be as fast as we have experienced. this is normal shifting of gears - and understandable. things are somewhat aggravated by the fact that major investment banks and brokers can’t go in and do major buying in declines as they could pre-Dodd Frank. this is an artificial destabilizer.

[CatOwner]

Always. Never to the benefit of the small investor.

[SkyPilot]

Of course it is.

The Central Banks print money out of thin air, and then charge interest to borrow the money they 'printed.' The Stock Market is the world's biggest casino, that can be manipulated at will.

The proverbial Powers That Be will crash everything, when it is in their interest to do so. A new "Global Currency" and all that goes with it will emerge when everyone around the globe is panicked, desperate, and frightened.

Commodities, currency, and all other assets are also manipulated (including gold and silver).

It's just they way things are.

[foreverfree]

How *do* big time players manipulate the market beyond phone calls, texting, etc.?

ff

[irishjuggler]

Because of this behavior, there is no way in the world Social Security benefits should be tied to it.

Don't fall for the propaganda. I remember Newt Gingrich 25 years ago talking about allowing workers to set aside a portion of what they were paying into SS in an investment account similar to an IRA. I remember him basically saying, "Look, the long-term performance of the stock market is 7% on average. The money will do better there than with the government." Of course, the liberals and the media and the Clinton administration cried foul and Newt's proposal went nowhere. Twenty five years ago, the S&P 500 was at 472. It closed Friday at 2,633. That's 7.1% annual return, not even including dividends which add another 2-3% in annualized total return. The market has overperformed Newt's so-called "crazy" plan.

[proxy_user]

The stock market is too large, and there are too many buyers and sellers, for it to be manipulated. The volumes are massive.

The daily dollar volume on the NYSE is nearly $1 trillion, and the NASDAQ averages $150 billion.

[con-surf-ative]

The market has been floating on a sea of Fed funny money for a decade. They are starting to take away the punch bowl, so the market will be ugly for a while.

[sodpoodle]

Stocks were soaring up- so people sold and made a profit.

Stocks then went down and the folks who sold high are now buying low again.

That’s how it works. Much like climate change;)

[jjotto]

The market is always being manipulated. It’s what a whole class of traders does.

There was going to be an adjustment from when zero interest rates forced conservative money into the market. Rising interest rates subtract money from the market. It takes real economic growth to bring back stock prices. Uncertainty, like Dems in charge of the House, sends the market down as conservative money goes to the sidelines in anticipation of more Dem interference with business.

[zeestephen]

Ping.

[Rurudyne]

No. Can’t agree.

You see, all of Social Security is, besides being an unconstitutional program, unsecured debt. Nothing but making other citizens entirely bear the burden.

Every penny of extra money was always turned over to Congress and promptly spent. It was a feature from FDR onward. They used double books, an accounting trick that’s illegal if it’s not the government doing it, to pretend that there was a reserve. There never was.

So what about the stock market? Well, it’s never been zero, not once. But even if it completely evaporated a “zero” is still better than an unsecured debt.

To recap, the absolute worst the stock market could ever do is better than the best that could ever be expected from the system created by FDR and company.

But if the purpose for Social Security was really more money for Congress to spend and they just used it as a pretext for the additional taxes then the program has so far delivered on that.

Now, if you want a reason why the federal government shouldn’t be investing in the stock market you need only consider the long term effects of the vast piles of swag in the hands of insurance companies all seeking the best short term return ... something that can also be traced back to FDR. I’ll just throw a few things to consider: moving production out of the country (or: it’s sometimes more profitable to go out of business at home); helping to enrich a whole class of people who do nothing productive but live off of the churn (and their lawyers); the too common progressivism of said folks.

Aside from the whole it’s not a crime when Congress does insider trading thing, letting the federal be the major investor in the stock market would be that on steroids. At least the insurance companies can’t spend money into existence.

The real solution is to obey the Constitution and people to finally admit that just because they were defrauded of their earnings to provide illegitimate benefits to others that doesn’t mean it’s right for them to expect that others should be similarly defrauded in turn for their benefit.

End these unlawful federal programs. Nullify the associated intergovernmental “debt”. Screw everyone, everywhere equally. Save the country.

[Raycpa]

In the long run, the stock market has a proven track record of performance and volatility over long periods is almost nonexistent . Retirement benefits are accrued over 40 years and disbursed over 20 years. Small ups and downs are irrelevant to returns over a 60 year period.

[Jonty30]

Of course it is being manipulated. That’s what those with billions of dollars in the stock market tend to do. Drive down the price, so they can buy stocks on the cheap.

[rdcbn]

A lot of the spectacular rise in stock market valuations was optimism and anticipation of strong, long term economic growth under President Trump after the long economic downturn under Obama.

President Trump has delivered the goods and the economy is booming and set for long term growth

Unfortunately, the Democrats took control of the House and the Republicans are moving to force through legislation to lock in the the economic reforms during the lame duck session like the Democrats did to ram ObamaCare in the dead of night without even knowing what was in it when they lost the House.

Republicans really need to spend some time in the political wilderness to get their priorities straight and their heads screwed down

[Hot Tabasco]

Never had any faith in the market experts on TV who have to say something to substantiate their jobs.

I feel these so called financial experts hosted on TV are nothing more than puppets whose sole purpose is to influence the public sector trading by people like me who have no know knowledge of the market other than my since terminated contributions to my 401-K.

My primary example being New York Times financial expert extraordinaire Paul Krugman who after the jump in the stock market after Trump won the presidency predicted that it was short term and would ultimately crash and likely never recover.........

What do you want to bet that this charlatan made a fortune buying up all the stocks that sold short by the fools that listened to him?