I listened to the President's talk about a stimulus package and it sounded a little too much of the "my way or the highway" tone to it. The market must have felt the same and the nice gain in the morning headed south of Crawford. Why can't he pick up the phone and have the Europeans, Brits and the US Central Bank all notch a point off the interest rates? That would neutralize the currency swing and put some juice into the economy.
A stimulus package will end up being a pig's breakfast. It is also time to start getting tough with the Gulf OPEC cartel. They get all that free US protection. Maybe two or three aircraft carriers returning to California would give them something to think about.
U.S. stock rally fades as financials lead slump
President Bush's talk of fiscal stimulus fails to cheer investors
By Kate Gibson, MarketWatch
Jan. 18, 2008
NEW YORK (MarketWatch) -- U.S. stocks on Friday erased early gains, with financials weighing on the market as new concerns about bond insurers overtook cheer that came with solid quarterly results from International Business Machines Corp. and General Electric Co.
Talk from President Bush on the need for a fiscal stimulus package failed to bolster sentiment. See full story.
"Most people know this is just political noise; our problems are a lot bigger than this," said Peter Boockvar, equity strategist at Miller Tabak.
