Does anyone know the current status of the stock market? I have been trying to find out how it is doing but none of the major media sources are covering it. Don’t know why, but I find it interesting.

Try watching CNBC it is all about the market or try reading the Wall Street Journal. Bottom line the bulls have been running.

The market continues to rise. Its a bit of a puzzle with the oils prices , inflation, housing starts and forclosures etc... all in a bad place or at least heading in that dirrection.

....what are your major media sources? don't think the sunday funnies carry much about the market.

The Wall Street Journal and Jim Cramer,BOO-YAA Boston Globe

Disagreed,

You bring up a very vailid point which, to me at least, demonstrates the "bias" of the main street media. During the President Clintons administration (no I am not going to "bash" president Clinton) any economic news that was in the slightest way positive was front page and prime fodder for all the "talking heads" TV news shows. Under this administration only negative economic news gets that type of coverage! Does anyone doubt that this administrations low poll numbers are significantly affected by this treatment!

Marklf

....again, who do you feel is not reporting this?

quote:

Originally posted by MarkLF:
Disagreed,

You bring up a very vailid point which, to me at least, demonstrates the "bias" of the main street media. During the President Clintons administration (no I am not going to "bash" president Clinton) any economic news that was in the slightest way positive was front page and prime fodder for all the "talking heads" TV news shows. Under this administration only negative economic news gets that type of coverage! Does anyone doubt that this administrations low poll numbers are significantly affected by this treatment!

Marklf

i'd have to counter that clinton didn't have a war as front page news to push other things off......

I see or read something about the market every day either in the paper or on TV. But I don't watch MTV or read Comic books. Guess if you have investments that the Market affects then you look where one will fing info.

"i'd have to counter that clinton didn't have a war as front page news to push other things off......"

Actually he had Somalia and Kosovo but during those conflict the main street media still place any good economic news on the front page and it was still the major talking point on their "news programs".

Marklf

" Guess if you have investments that the Market affects then you look where one will fing info."

The point is under the Clinton administration one did not have to "look" for any positive economic info because it was paraded out in the media, under this administration however it is one is forced to search for that news.

Marklf

My point was not that one cannot find stock market information but instead, how the market is covered depending upon whom is in office. If the market was to take a major dip with President Bush in office we would be inundated with ‘news’ on how terrible the market is, that the sky is falling and that he has no clue about what is going on. But instead, the market is up – up – up and the ‘news’ runs silent. Another example of “things that make you go ssshhhhh!”

PS – my hint that this was tongue-in-cheek was the little at the end of my original post.

MarkLF, you beat me to that punch. And let’s not forget about the terrorist actions perpetrated against this nation’s assets during the same time. There was plenty to report but the news remained the stock market.

it's one thing saying that all of clinton's economic news trumped somalia and bosnia (both U.N. actions i may add) it's another showing any stats or proof of it.......i guess in your memory not even monica moved stock market news from the front page......

quote:

But instead, the market is up – up – up and the ‘news’ runs silent.

how's that equate to the average american? are your profits/income up-up-up.....economics is more than a stock price....

The stock market should NOT be used as the soul tool to guage the economy as a whole, especially these days with the market indicators looking like a roller coaster at Six Flags. The ideal market graph would show slow, steady growth over a period not less than 3 quarters (9 months).

These days, you might see an increases of over 100 points, the next day, a dump of over 100 points, then a high increas the following day. That is definately not an indicator of a lot of long term investing but a very short term mentality. Stocks achieve an all time high value one day only to be sold off, causing the market to take a nose dive. The next day, investors buy up the lowered stocks at bargain basement prices driving the market up the following day.

Another factor that should make investors and anyone else thinking about the economy nervous is the amount of influence that one person, in this case, the Chairman of the Federal Reserve Bank - Ben Bernanke, has on the market. One negative comment from the Chairman can also either take the market to high points or make take a dive. No one person should have that much power.

To be sure, the DOW Jones Industrial Averages is at an all time historic high which might make one feel good about the economy. In October, 1929, the market was also at an all time historic high - just before the great crash that lead the "Roaring 20s to become the Great Depression of the 1930s.

Another similiarity taking place now that was observed in '29 was the demise of land and real estate speculation bringing property values down.

A good book to consider when thinking about these similiarities is THE GREAT CRASH 1929 by Economist John Kenneth Galbrath.

To be sure, there were certain economic and social safeguards put in place by the federal government during and following the Great Depression of the 1930s. A question that might be considered is how effective are those safeguards now in the 21st century. One of the goals of some of the "Neo-Conservative" organizations such as the Project for the New American Century has been to work to repeal some of the laws that established these economic safeguards.

All in all, the stock market should not be used as the only indicator for the health of the economy, either national or global. There are hundreds of factors that economists use including, GDP, price indexes, productivity, et all. Just because the market is at an all time high should give one the warm fuzzies about the economy.

dis maybe you're right, things like this should be moved to page 2 or 3 so we can feel good about the economy of our nation for a day instead of the affairs of the world.....

"....Almost half of the US's 277 warships are stationed close to Iran, including two aircraft carrier groups. The aircraft carrier USS Enterprise left Virginia last week for the Gulf. A Pentagon spokesman said it was to replace the USS Nimitz and there would be no overlap that would mean three carriers in Gulf at the same time."

Sac, unfortunately, you missed the point(it may have been disguised too well). If the market was going down as steadily as it is rising, the media would be all over it. But, since it is rising, there is a deafening silence about it. I was simply pointing out how – during the current administration - positive news takes a back seat to anything negative. But maybe it’s just because if it bleeds, it leads. Who knows?

There were further safe guards put in place after the crash in 1987.

quote:

I was simply pointing out how – during the current administration - positive news takes a back seat to anything negative. But maybe it’s just because if it bleeds, it leads. Who knows?

From the viewpoint of one trained in economics and a fiscal conservative, there is nothing really positive about such a seesaw stock market as is indicated these days.

To reinforce what I said about one person having too much power over the market, if you remember, in the late 1990s, then Fed Chairman Alan Greenspan made the comment that he though the prices of stocks at that time were "overheated". That drove the market into a downward spiral from which it took years to recover from and lead to the recession that many claimed that President Bush "inherited" from the Clinton Administration.

To be sure, the media does speak about market trends. You just need to take a closer look at the business pages, especially at long term trends. And unless Rupert Murdoch thoroughly trashes the Wall Street Journal & Barrons if and when he takes over DOW Jones, I'm sure you'll find that those two publications have someing important to say about economic trends.

Mark

quote:

Originally posted by disagreed:
Sac, unfortunately, you missed the point(it may have been disguised too well). If the market was going down as steadily as it is rising, the media would be all over it. But, since it is rising, there is a deafening silence about it. I was simply pointing out how – during the current administration - positive news takes a back seat to anything negative. But maybe it’s just because if it bleeds, it leads. Who knows?

i got your point, but again you originally said that there were outlets not reporting it....to which i asked.........who wasn't, where didn't you see it?