For general discussion and debate. Possible talking point: Is negative talk by politicians hurting stocks?
[W]hen Senate Banking Committee Chairman Chris Dodd went on Bloomberg TV Friday and mused about the possibility of bank nationalization, panicked investors sent the Dow plummeting a hundred points in the next hour...Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner laid an egg earlier this month when his public rollout of a bank-rescue plan was deemed too vague by the markets, and the Dow Jones Industrial Average slid a harrowing 382 points. Last summer, Sen. Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.) faced criticism that his high-profile criticism of IndyMac’s precarious financial condition caused a run on that bank, which failed days later.
How much of the market's decline since Lehman Brothers declared bankruptcy on September 15, 2008, is directly attributable to foolish, irresponsible comments by politicians? If their contribution to this rout and decline in confidence is considerable, should these people just shut the heck up unless they actually have something constructive to say?
