Do the latest stock market plunges mean anything ? Two 1,000 point drops in the DOW within four days. Even after a 500 point gain on the 7th the DOW is down 2,000 points in a week. But we’re assured the “fundamentals” are fine, nothing to worry about. It’s just a “correction” and so it’s “healthy”. In fact you should follow the supposed practice of Warren Buffet and buy stocks when everyone else is selling. “Buy the Dip!”
Since the “stock analysts” jobs depend on it, they always see nothing but a rosy tomorrow and they might be right in the short run. There’s been other big drops out of nowhere that meant nothing at all. (In October 1987 stocks lost 22% of their value in one day, but within a couple of weeks all was back in the black.)
Still another big shock is coming, maybe soon or maybe a bit further in the future. Capitalism booms and crashes. It’s the nature of the beast. We’ve been out of Great Recession for 9 years and in the last couple there’s been a boom. Even working people got a taste of it in the last couple years with wages actually rising a bit higher than prices. But we are coming to the top of a business cycle. Just like other highs things look great. The stock indexes hit record high one day after another. And Trump has put the economy on steroids, immense tax cuts, a war on regulations, cutting back the number of people who watch for tax cheats, etc. Unlike a typical Republican he doesn’t care a tinkers damn about running up the national debt. The deficit could grow to $1 trillion this year under Trump. So what. Stocks are up. Dig the Euphoria. What could go wrong?