Grim Milestone: Dow 14,000

It's already hit it, retreated from it, and hit it again, establishing a new intraday record and blowing past a resistance point/psychological hurdle. The only question is whether it can finish at 14,000+ and then build from there to the big one (15,000).

I'm sure everyone will be shocked to learn that when the Dow established its new (now old) record a few days ago, the media played up the negative, once again forcing the country to pay the media-imposed "Republican tax."

It’s good news when stocks soar to new records. That means the economy is showing signs of strength and a stronger economy means a better standard of living for Americans, right?

You wouldn’t know that from watching the July 12 evening news, especially CBS “Evening News” and ABC “World News with Charles Gibson.” Instead, the networks served up “some dark clouds” and “some worries.”

“But, and there’s always a ‘but’ with the stock market,” said ABC correspondent Dan Harris. “If say gas goes to $4 a gallon or interest rates spike unexpectedly, all bets are off. As one investor today, the market is a lot like the weather in New England – if you don’t like it, just wait a day.”

On July 12, the Standard & Poor's 500 Index and the Dow Jones Industrial Average closed at record highs. The stock market saw its largest gain in nearly four years. But ABC and CBS placed the emphasis on negative symptoms of the economy, a “slumping” housing market and high gas prices.

“There are still some dark clouds looming over this market,” said Harris. “The housing market is in a slump, interest rates are rising and gas prices are ticking back up.”

There are always dark clouds on the economic horizon -- hell, we've had a growing trade deficit for six thousand years, just for one -- and yet the media always seemed able to look past such downers when reporting on the Clinton economy, every single report featuring the "Prosperity Montage" -- printing presses spitting out crisp new $100 bills, cash registers chirping as the rack up sales, cries of victory from the trading-pits and the NYSE clanged its closing bell. Powerful visual and auditory messaging that the economy was going gangbusters.

We, uh, haven't seen the Prosperity Montage in quite a while, have we?

posted by Ace at 01:50 PM

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