Free Republic

What is the stock market telling us about the November election? Despite the fact that America currently has over 38 million unemployed workers, the market is down 8.5% this year, having gone up 32% since the late March low. Why is the stock market going up while our economy teeters on the edge of a Great Depression? There are several factors currently at work in the market with the most obvious being the extraordinary intervention by our leaders in Washington. Congress has authorized mind-boggling amounts of stimulus funds while the Fed has signaled that it is ready to purchase nearly...

The far-left Politico admitted Tuesday that Democrats are “dreading” the idea of a fast economic boom as America reopens, which explains the anti-science push among many Democrat governors to extend their pointless coronavirus lockdowns. Thanks to these lockdowns, some 40 million people are unemployed, some 40 million lives have been shattered; lines at food pantries seem to go on forever; countless small businesses are in danger of closing or already have… Nevertheless, what America’s oh-so compassionate Democrats dread most is a quick economic rebound that might undermine their grasping desire to hold on to and obtain power. “The general election...

Initial indicators show that Americans are very optimistic for an economic rebound in the short term. There are some good reasons for this optimism. Here are four reasons why Americans are ready for an economic rebound never seen before in world history:1. US optimism for an economic recovery is at an all-time high for most sectors. People are ready to begin making money again like never before: More & more sectors are showing record-breaking short term optimism.We previously noted this in tech, healthcare, small caps.Now, short term optimism for sectors like energy, retail, homebuilders, & materials are reaching *HISTORIC* and...

The Dow Jones Industrial Average Thursday midday was trading firmly higher, reversing a sharp drop that served as a gut-check to bullish investors amid the COVID-19 pandemic. The Dow DJIA, 1.46% was up 308 points, or 1.3%, at 23,562, following a skid that saw it lose as many as 458 points at its intraday nadir at 22,789.62. Gains were being driven by an advance in American Express Co. AXP, +7.42% and UnitedHealth Group Inc. UNH, +4.47%, which were helping to lead the charge. The S&P 500 index SPX, 0.99% was up 0.8% at 2,843, powered by a gain in the...

The new unemployment numbers are out and there's really no way to butter this biscuit, folks. Unless America's economic engine is restarted, we will be plunged into a Great Depression. Since the global pandemic hit our shores, more than 22 million Americans have filed for unemployment benefits. And the only way to stop this economic death spiral is for every freedom-loving citizen to embrace their constitutional rights, take to the streets and demand that their state leaders reopen this nation. As I wrote in "Culture Jihad: How to Stop the Left From Killing a Nation," the time has come for...

In his bitter, five-year battle with the media, I’m not sure President Trump has ever leveled a more serious charge than he is making right now. He’s turned “fake news” into an indelible slogan. He has called such news “the enemy of the people.” He has suggested that some journalists are traitors. And look, all kinds of media people have said all kinds of terrible things about the president, so there is deep hostility on both sides. But I was still taken aback, in the midst of this virus crisis, when Trump tweeted this the other day:

All eyes are on Congress closing in on a much-needed stimulus bill to rescue the economy from the coronavirus damage. The stock market staged a huge turnaround with the Dow posting its best day since 1933. Here’s what happened: 4:40 pm: Investors says one key piece is missing for a bottom Many on Wall Street believe absent a clear sign that the coronavirus is contained, rallies like the 10% violent upswing in the Dow Tuesday will come and go. “We’re going to need to have to see the infections pass an inflection point,” said Vincent Reinhart, chief economist at BNY...

Key Points Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said Tuesday that the Trump administration wants to get emergency funds in Americans’ pockets “immediately” amid the coronavirus crisis. The latest daily briefing came as stocks struggled to recover from one of the worst trading sessions ever. Markets have shed trillions of dollars amid the coronavirus spread, which has crippled major industries and forced governments around the world to take drastic steps to try to slow the spread of the disease. ==================================================================== Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said Tuesday that the Trump administration wants to get emergency funds in Americans’ pockets “immediately” amid the coronavirus...

utures contracts tied to the major U.S. stock indexes fell on Wednesday night after an address from President Donald Trump failed to quell concerns over the possible economic slowdown from the coronavirus. The move comes after the Dow Jones Industrial Average ended its historic 11-year bull market run by closing in a bear market. Dow futures were down 900 points, indicating a loss of about 860 points at Thursday’s open. S&P 500 and Nasdaq 100 futures were also sharply lower.

U.S. stocks fell sharply once again on Thursday after an address from President Donald Trump failed to quell concerns over the possible economic slowdown from the coronavirus.The S&P 500 dropped 7% shortly after the open, triggering a 15-minute “circuit breaker,” which temporarily halts trading at the New York Stock Exchange. The broad index also joined the  Dow Jones Industrial Average in bear market territory. The 30-stock Dow slid more than 1,600 points, or 7.%. The Nasdaq Composite dropped 7%.  Before the open, futures contracts tied to the major indexes fell to their so-called limit down thresholds, sliding 5%. These limit down levels act as a as...

Some financial writers have claimed that stock market crashes such as followed the 2007 Bubble are unpredictable and rare, calling them “Black Swan” events. More recently, the Covid-19 health threat has been described as a “Black Swan” event. Making the two together about as “Black Swanny” as it gets. However, a review of history suggests that severe financial crashes have always followed great financial bubbles. The transitions to busts have had much in common and the methodical pattern strongly suggests that even the greatest of crashes since the first in 1720 have predictable characteristics. Therefore, severe financial panics cannot be...

Looks like another blood bath today.  The Coronavirus hysteria in the media is drving the market down. https://www.cnbc.com/pre-markets/   

President Donald Trump proposed eliminating federal payroll taxes altogether for the rest of the year, according to a report from CNBC Tuesday. The proposal would include eliminating both the employer and employee payroll taxes on Social Security and Medicare, according to the report. “There was also discussion of making the payroll tax rollback permanent,” CNBC reported.

Video at link Cramer's not the biggest Trump fan. Apparently doesn't like the current health system. But he does offer advice that is probably correct in this scenario.

Stocks tumbled on Monday as investors braced for the economic fallout from the spreading coronavirus, while a shocking all-out oil price war added to the anxiety. The Dow Jones Industrial Average tanked more than 1,800 points at the open, while the S&P 500 dropped 7%. The massive sell-off triggered a key market circuit breaker in morning trading. Trading was halted for 15 minutes until 9:49 a.m. ET.

Stocks fell sharply in volatile trading on Tuesday as an emergency rate cut by the Federal Reserve failed to assuage concerns of slower economic growth due to the coronavirus outbreak. The decision to cut rates by half a percentage point came two weeks before the Fed’s scheduled meeting as the central bank felt it was necessary to act quickly to combat the effect of the virus spreading worldwide. It’s the first such emergency action coming in between scheduled meetings since the financial crisis. The Dow Jones Industrial Average closed 785.91 points lower, or nearly 3%, to 25,917.41; it rose more...

Strategists at Goldman Sachs just reminded investors why they are dumping stocks hand over fist right now. The coronavirus may wipe out corporate growth in 2020, perhaps completely. Goldman Sachs said Thursday in a note U.S. companies will generate no earnings growth in 2020. Underlying the call is Goldman’s view that the coronavirus is expected to spread around the globe and severely harm economic activity. For 2020, Goldman slashed its S&P 500 earnings estimate by $9 and expects no earnings growth. Looking out into 2021, Goldman now sees $8 less in S&P 500 earnings and a modest 6% growth rate....

It's hard to tell if the superheated response by the Left (the media) to the coronavirus outbreak from China is due to there being a slow news cycle (which is hard to believe), a legitimate news story with U.S. ramifications, or as something to tattoo Donald Trump with a 'Hurricane Katrina' moment. As the media have amply shown, their zeal to tag President Trump with the most cockamamie accusations knows no bounds. Remember, some of these people still cling to the fiction that Trump is a Russian agent. They won't take "no" and multiple exhaustive investigations for an answer. As...

The mainstream media will never admit it, but Donald Trump is responsible for the most remarkable economic boom that Black America has ever seen.  For the past three years, this president has worked to ensure that America’s strong and growing economy works for all Americans, not just corporations and wealthy investors — and his efforts are already paying major dividends in our community.  I’ve said this before and I will say it again — the best social program in the world is a good-paying job, not a welfare handout. Thanks to President Trump’s policies — including massive tax cuts...

A majority of Americans in a new poll say they are better off now than they were three years ago. Just over six in ten Americans, 61 percent, told Gallup pollsters that they are decidedly in better shape than they were shortly after President Trump took office in 2017, a sign of a recovering U.S. economy. A little more than a third, 36 percent, said they are definitely not better off than they were in early 2017, while just 3 percent said their prospects remain the same. In early 2012, months before former President Obama won reelection over now-Sen. Mitt...