The Dow Jones Industrial Average (^DJI) fell 537 points at one point on Friday before ending the day off 390. The first 10 trading days of the year saw a loss of over 1,400 points on the Dow, marking the worst two-week start to a year ever. Meanwhile, the broader S&P 500 (^GSPC) index is off almost 8% so far this year, with today’s slide bringing the and the Nasdaq (^IXIC) has dropped 10%. Europe’s Stoxx 600 Index (STXX) and China’s Shanghai Composite Index (000001.SS) both entered bear market territory, down 20% off their highs. Thursday’s rebound on Wall Street is proving to be short-lived, it seems, with significant downswings dominating trading to start the year, leaving investors scratching their heads and asking, “What the heck is going on?”
Thankfully, Obama assured us on Tuesday night that all was going swimmingly as far as the economy, terrorism and the general state of the world go. Heck, I’m surprised he didn’t guarantee a Powerball win for every citizen, he was so full of optimism.
The State of the Union speech was given Tuesday night and it is now Friday afternoon on the West Coast of the United States. In the less than three days since our reality-challenged leader insisted that all was going swimmingly there have been two international terror attacks and this thorough tanking of the stock market.
I think it’s safe to say that this last year of Hope and Change is going to be a you-know-what (rhymes with “itch”).
Keep your fingers crossed that whichever Cuban-American we elect in November has the time and temerity to pull us out of this progressive quicksand.
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