Even when the economy was gut shot and bleeding out during the Great Recession, this never happened.
The Dow lost ground today for its eighth straight session, and if it sinks again tomorrow it will have suffered its first nine-day losing streak since 1978.
From MarketWatch:
The index fell 0.8% on Thursday, a decline that marks the Dow’s eighth straight daily decline. This matches a stretch of losses that ended in March 2017. Should the index close lower on Friday, extending the streak to nine, that would mark the longest such stretch in just over 40 years.
According to the WSJ Market Data Group, the last time the Dow fell for nine straight trading days was a stretch that ended in February 1978, when the index traded at just under 750. It is at nearly 24,500 currently.
Going back to 1896, there have only been 10 instances when the average put together 9-day losing streaks. Should it do so again on Friday, it would mark the 11th. The Dow’s longest-ever losing streak was a 14-day stretch that ended in August 1941.
The reason for this is simple: Our president has the electrical brain activity of two balloons being rubbed together.
Losses in the Dow have been largely driven by rising trade tensions between the U.S. and China. Earlier this week, President Donald Trump threatened an additional $400 billion in tariffs against China. A spokesperson from China’s Ministry of Commerce said China would have no choice but to take comprehensive measures in response to the U.S.’s trade moves, the state-run Xinhua News Agency reported.
Of course, the stock market is not the economy, and the Dow isn’t even really the stock market (the S&P 500 is generally regarded as a more reliable gauge). That said, Trump is doing whatever he can to destroy it. And, unfortunately, when it comes to the economy, perception is often reality.
To be fair, the Dow is up considerably since Trump took office, but that’s largely due to global economic tailwinds and President Obama’s heroic repair work. For his part, Trump is doing everything he can to drive the stock market and the broader economy into the ditch — by enacting one of the few policies that’s just about guaranteed to create havoc.
So we’re left with essentially two possibilities: Trump is really a Russian agent or he’s dumber than Dubya’s asshole.
Does it really matter which of those is true?
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