"Some folks are selling stocks..." and, according to The White House, President Obama is closely monitoring it. As The Hill reports [10], despite the meme that lower-oil-prices-are-unequivocally-good-news-for-Americans, the Obama administration is monitoring whether the fall in oil prices is affecting the US stock market. Just over 5 years ago, President Obama explained [11] to the American public that "profit and earning ratios are starting to get to the point where buying stocks is a potentially good deal," so we can rest assured that our leaders are (for now) "hesitant" to say whether the fall of the stock market, which came as crude oil trades briefly dipped below $50, was related to oil prices.. so blamed Europe.
As The Hill reports [10],
The Obama administration is monitoring whether the fall in oil prices is affecting the U.S. stock market, White House press secretary Josh Earnest said Monday as the Dow Jones Industrial Average plunged more than 300 points.
"We're always monitoring the impact that any sort of policy area would have on the economy," Earnest said. "So it's certainly something that we're watching."
But the spokesman said he was "hesitant" to say whether the fall of the stock market, which came as crude oil trades briefly dipped below $50, was related to oil prices. Oil prices have been nearly halved since the summer, and Monday represented the first time crude oil slipped below $50 since 2009.
"I'm always very hesitant to draw any conclusions or offer any analysis about movements in the stock market," Earnest said. "I know that there are some who have observed -- this is a little bit of a chicken and the egg thing, that some of the fall in energy prices is a direct response to a weakening of the economy and a fall in the stock market."
But, Earnest said, "as a general matter," falling energy prices have been "good for the U.S. economy."
* * *
Of course, later in the discussion, Josh Earnest explained that it was all Europe's fault...
Oh yeah makes perfect sense - it's totally Europe!!
[12]
* * *
How long before the Fed-Phone will be ringing off the hook, as we noted earlier...
Time for another "Fed bottom" pic.twitter.com/v6NkiUSNvW [13]
— zerohedge (@zerohedge) January 5, 2015 [14]
