The pro-Biden media, which gleefully trumpet so much as the slightest glimmer of positive economic news and cast it in a light most favorable to the reelection prospects of President Joe Biden, lost their collective tongues when it came time to report a grim day on Wall Street.
The only national network newscast to discuss the Dow’s ugly close was ABC World News Tonight, and even then, could devote no more than a measly 14 seconds to the story. Here is the briefest of briefs, as aired on Thursday, May 23rd, 2024:
DAVID MUIR: Back here in the U.S., to the economy, a tough day for the stock market amid concerns over interest rates. The Dow suffering its worst loss of the year, dropping 605 points, closing at 39,065 just days after surpassing the 40,000 mark for the first time.
Not much there in 14 seconds, except Muir’s dashed hopes for a Fed rate cut. There were supposed to be three this year, but that scenario is no longer likely.
And why is it exactly, that the Dow dropped so sharply? Several factors not listed in the report. Nvidia had a good day, but Boeing did not. And there was more. Much more, per CNN:
The selloff came after the Purchasing Managers Index for May, expected to fall slightly, came in 3.5 percentage points higher, the highest level since last June. That’s an indication that the economy is not being held back by inflation, even though price hikes have started to ease once more.
Then, what’s holding the economy back? Part of it is reduced consumer confidence as reflected in the reduced number of new home starts:
April new home sales missed estimates on Thursday, coming in at an annualized rate of 634,000 versus 678,000 expected. Fewer homes being built indicates that there’s less economic confidence on the part of builders and that they’re having more difficulty borrowing the money to build them.
But what really spooked the market was the release of the minutes of the Fed’s last policy meeting:
The minutes showed that “various” officials said they would be willing to raise interest rates if necessary and that there were doubts as to whether financial conditions are restrictive enough to keep inflation from resurging.
…
Those central bank worries have pushed investors to slash their expectations for interest rate cuts from the Fed. They’re now anticipating just one cut this year, in December, according to the CME FedWatch tool. That’s down from six at the beginning of the year.
Not only is inflation not abating, but some in the Fed are willing to consider rate INCREASES. That’s the “concern over interest rates” that Muir alludes to.
ABC’s scant 14 seconds are the entirety of the record on the stock market, as CBS and NBC avoided the subject altogether- a periodic reminder that if it weren’t for Regime Media, we’d have no media at all.
