The lesson from this post isn't bias as much as it is making sure not to get taken in by Old Media overreactions.
Jim Cramer of CNBC's "Mad Money" went mad on Friday, declaring Armageddon in this video rant on Friday (watch the whole thing to see just how out-of-control he was; his declaration is at 1:40 in the vid -- "in the fixed-income markets, we have Armageddon.").
The first trading day after Cramer's declaration of Aramageddon went thusly (from a CNN e-mail after the markets' 4PM close):
Dow sees biggest point gain of year in early tallies, closing 284 points higher on surging financial stocks, falling oil prices.
Here are results at nasdaq.com as of 4:11 --
Of course, one day does not a market make, but you would have thought the equity markets would have at least gone down, at least a little, to justify Cramer's meltdown. But instead, the stock indices posted very decent gains.
Oh, and how about the fixed-income markets? From MarketWatch (after the 3PM close of the bond market; link requires free registration):
The benchmark 10-year Treasury note lately closed down 11/32 at 98- 7/32 with a yield ..... of 4.735%.
The 30-year bond fell 19/32 to 97-17/32 with a yield ..... of 4.909%.
The 2-year note ended off 4/32 at 100-8/32 with a yield of 4.500%.
These are hardly ginormous, let alone calamitous, changes.
While yours truly is in no way predicting the future direction of the markets, many of those who liquidated holdings earlier today as a result of Cramer's rant might have experienced a bit of seller's remorse at the close.
Cross-posted at BizzyBlog.com.
