In this instance though, there was plenty of reason to bail.
It was pretty clear the market was in store for a big adjustment.
Our economy was coming to a screeching halt.
So while I am sympathetic to the idea of instigated down side, I'm
not sure I could fault anyone for what happened here.
The way the media had hyped this up, there was no way this crash
wasn't going to take place, hating Trump or not.
Now we can take a sharp look at the media, and I think that's
no only called for, but way overdue.
Some numbers for Italy. Where the Doomers claim every other person is dropping dead.
Population: 60.48 million
Number of total cases to date: 41,035
That works out to 1 infection per 1500 people. Of those 41 thousand, 3405 have died, and 4400 have recovered.
Yours is a voice of sanity on this issue. People need to make the distinction between acting on knowledge that you come across in the course of briefings, etc. and buying or dumping stocks based on a bill you’ve helped to negotiate.
In this instance, Senators gained information based on being briefed on the matter. They were not active participants in creating the situation. What’s a person to do in such a situation? Wait till the market starts heading south, and then, how much of a hit should they be required to take before bailing out?
I get that it leaves a sour taste in some people’s mouths that they reassured the public about the coronavirus threat as they were selling their stocks, but these kinds of things will continue to happen, as Congress members will always be in a position to learn information before the public does, as a routine consequence of their jobs. The only solution I can think of is to require Congress critters to divest all their stock holdings when taking office, which wouldn’t be a bad idea. But if they’re allowed to own stocks, this sort of thing will continue to arise.