All I'm trying to point to is that the psychological factor is very real. A President can't control the markets (maybe he can, I really don't care to start a tin foil hat conversation right now), but his actions and words can have a major effect on it in the short term. If he shows little faith or optimism, why should anyone else? Do we all really want the negativity to trickle into our own lives and cost us our jobs? I don't think so.
The markets have been in free-fall ever since the new Congress was seated after the first of the year and the inauguration on Jan. 20.
People are looking for some sort of positive signs from new leadership and have had little to go on for a month now.
Finally this afternoon, the WH released a statement (I'll let Clinton take credit, not my ranting [
] )
"Fears that some major banks could be taken over by the government had driven the S&P 500 close to a 12-year low before the White House issued its most direct statement yet on banks.
But even though the comments erased a sharp sell-off in bank stocks, the White House statement failed to address persistent uncertainty about how the government will rescue ailing banks.
"We have had a loss in confidence because the government keeps changing its playbook, and when that happens investors don't want to put any capital into the market," said James Paulsen, chief investment strategist at Wells Capital Management in Minneapolis."
http://biz.yahoo.com/rb/090220/business_us_markets_stocks.html