Remember all the doom and gloom warnings that if the $700 billion bailout bill did not pass yesterday that we would be facing an immediate financial collapse? Well, the bailout bill didn't pass yesterday thanks in large part to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's partisan rantings in that chamber. So today comes and instead of financial collapse and panic, the stocks surge as you can see in this Associated Press story. However, the fact that the economic sky did not fall hasn't kept the AP Chicken Littles from continuing to plug for that bailout bill (emphasis mine):
NEW YORK (Sept. 30) - Wall Street snapped back Tuesday after its biggest sell-off in years amid growing expectations that lawmakers will salvage a $700 billion rescue plan for the financial sector. But the seized-up credit markets where businesses turn to raise money showed no sign of relief.One day after the biggest point drop in its history, the Dow Jones industrial average rose 485 points, or more than 4.5 percent - the latest in a string of extraordinarily volatile days in the stock market. It was third-biggest point gain in the Dow's history and the biggest percentage climb in the Dow in six years.
Or maybe the stock market surged because the highly unpopular bailout bill failed to pass. That is an interpretation that AP doesn't seem to even consider.
The recovery in stocks wasn't unexpected as carnage on Wall Street often attracts bargain hunters, though questions remain about how investors will proceed. Without a bailout plan in place to absorb soured mortgage debt and other bad loans from battered banks, investors are left wondering what might restore confidence in lending.
Anybody out there notice a certain trend in this story like continuing to plug for the bailout plan?
Traders on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange, still stunned from Monday's 778-point rout in the Dow, warned that the government needs to approve a plan that will sweep away the fears that hobbled the credit markets. While U.S. political leaders have vowed to revisit the issue, the House isn't slated to meet again until Thursday.
They try. Oh how they try.
"If it doesn't pass, then look out below," said Jason Weisberg, an NYSE trader for Seaport Securities. "It could get ugly."
So were there any quotes from traders who opposed the bailout bill? You won't find them in this AP story. However, they do provide one line that there just might be opposition to the bailout bill:
Critics of the bailout package believe that it was too costly and wouldn't have done enough to jump-start lending.
Following that brief acknowledgement that there are opponents to the bailout bill, the AP quickly returns to form:
"I'm not getting the sense that investors are going to be jumping in with both feet until there is some kind of resolution on the plan," said James Maguire, an NYSE floor trader with Christopher J. Forbes. "If there's a no vote, we're going to see a lower overall drift in stocks. It will be a slow bleed."
Perhaps, as Rush Limbaugh has said, this crises is overblown. We now sign off with this quote from El Rushbo today:
...consumer confidence is up, unexpectedly. The Dow Jones Industrial Average is up 270. How does this happen? How can this possibly be after yesterday's near crash? Would it be, ladies and gentlemen, that people actually do believe in the fundamentals of the United States economy, hmm?
Actually, Rush, the stock market ended up over 200 points above when you made this statement. Which proves that even when Rush is wrong, he is right as he often reminds us correctly.
