Caveat - I know nothing about the market ... or Bush ... but I had to read this for a class ... and it seemed interesting. The article is typed out word for word. Oh- and if Joe decides to add my picture, it obviously isn't the one that originally accompanied the article ... but it's pretty darn close ... imagine the big dots as the days when Bush gives a speech ...
This has been a dreadful year for the stock market. The Dow Jones industrial average, for example, is down 17 percent since January 1st. The reasons given for such dismal performance are familiar by now: terrorism, corporate and Wall Street corruption, the business cycle, which demanded a downturn after the long years of growth.
But what if there's another, real, reason? What if there is a curse of the Dubya? Wall Street practitioners -- who need a fall guy -- note that President Bush's big addresses to the nation this year have been largely greeted by market drops. It's true. Sort of. But not entirely.
By market measures, last week was a bad one for Mr. Bush. The president's powerful indictment of Iraq in the United Nations may have converted some to his cause, but was followed by a 202 point drop in the Dow. The White House shrugged it off, pointing out that the real measure of success is whether allies who have been skeptical of confronting Saddam Hussein are now re-thinking their position.
"The real question," one administration official said, trying his best not to sound defensive, "is how did the Iraqi market do?" After Mr. Bush's last big speech, about corporate conduct, the Dow dropped 179 points. And after the one at the Reichstag in Berlin it fell 112 points.
True, the year started well: the State of the Union speech, in which Iraq, Iran, and North Korea were famously described as an "Axis of Evil," led to a rally the next day of 144 points. But then again, on the day of the speech the market opened at 9,618, a level investors would be happy to see today.
It closed Friday at 8312.69 and this is only September. More presidential speeches loom, mostly about nuclear disarmament and the prospect of war, subjects the market never like -- no matter who is speaking about them.