NO. Obama isnt happy when the markets go up. He has systematically been hammering them down. At first I thought he was just an idiot. Now I think it’s on purpose. If your 401k is worthless, you lose your job and your health insurance then you surely need the govt to step in and take care of you. The 401k mess ( values dropping into the toilet) certainly takes away the idea of privatizing social security. Can’t trust the market. You have to trust SS to take care of you in retirement. Up markets don’t make Obama more powerful. Down markets do.
I’m not sure I understand you on this, jveritas. If the free market crash continues, Obama will use it to justify greater government action? If the free market improves, Obama will take credit for it to gain power and expand government? And, what does any of this have to do with “mark to market?”
As I understand it, mark to market is a recently changed accounting rule, and things worked reasonably well before it started.
Mark to market doesn’t even make sense to me. How does one accurately determine market price for something until it’s actually on the market? For example, I might own a stock that is presently selling for $10. If I sold at that precise instant, that stock might (or might not) sell for $10. A week later, it could be much higher or lower.
The true value of a share of stock doesn’t change simply because it’s down in price. Dividends, estimates of corporation’s future earning power, and tax rates may provide a means of estimating the true value of a stock, but the only accurate way to determine its worth (at a given point of time) is to try and sell it.