President Donald Trump delivered one of his trademark unhinged tweetstorms on Wednesday, accusing hedge fund bosses of trying to manipulate the stock market for their own gain.
This is extremely rich coming from a White House that does its best to pump the Dow Jones at every single opportunity.
Trump isn’t happy to see stocks a long way from record highs, but he’s probably a lot more sanguine about the Dow than he was in mid-March.
It’s obvious that he’s not eager to see stocks retest their March 23 lows, and he’s quickly growing tired of Wall Street analysts warning that the recovery has outpaced its fundamentals.
As with all the best deceptions, the U.S. president is not completely wrong. He typically sprinkles his often dubious comments with a garnish of truth.
Wall Street is a war-zone, and with everyone out for themselves, it’s safe to say that you should always be well informed about any advice you take.
Still, the “rich guys” are rich for a reason. You should listen to them – even if you should take their forecasts with a grain of salt.
Then again, Trump’s statements deserve a heavy dose of scrutiny too. And what’s most hilarious about this statement is that few people have sought to leverage more political gain from the stock market than the president himself.
Is it any surprise his attack on Wall Street bears came on a day with the Dow down 500 points?
With November quickly approaching, Trump knows it’s extremely difficult to lose as an incumbent presiding over a strong economy and soaring stock market.
That’s why we used to hear about it on an almost daily basis.
When the Dow is down, it’s someone else’s fault, and when it’s up, it’s all on him.
That was never more clear than when he sent an autographed Dow Jones chart to Fox Business Network host Lou Dobbs. (Then the DJIA plunged another 20% over the next six trading days.)
Even the Trump administration’s fiscal policy has been laser-focused on maximising stimulus for the stock market.
The president’s support base is largely spread throughout rural America, but he still pushed through a significant tax cut for corporations (that raised taxes for more than 10 million Americans ) to create the “Trump bump” that was mostly erased this year.
Perhaps the biggest takeaway from Trump’s tweets, or those of any member of his family – or even poor old Larry Kudlow – is that the White House absolutely has an agenda.
The administration has lots to gain (or lose) from the state of the country’s 401(k)s.
So do the hedge fund managers, of course.
But don’t let the politicians convince you they don’t have skin in the game as well.