DOW/TRUMP AS PRESIDENT: “For a connoisseur of cable news like Donald Trump, it was not a pretty picture. As the President touted his economic agenda in Ohio on Monday [2-5-18], his face stared out of millions of television screens next to blaring red graphics and yellow numbers whirling like the reels on a slot machine, telling the story of a full-bore stock market plunge.
For any president, the split screen moment showing an apparent disconnect between his message of a roaring economy and hemorrhaging equities would be a little embarrassing. But for Trump, who has constantly boasted about almost daily record highs on Wall Street since his election and told Americans that he alone is responsible for their healthy 401(k) balances, the mismatch was even more pronounced.
Even the President’s favorite news source, Fox News, was the bearer of bad tidings for Trump, with a banner reading ‘DOW, S&P turn negative for the year.’ One White House aide told CNN’s Jeff Zeleny that it was jarring to see Fox ditch the President’s speech when the market free-fall hit 1,000 points.
As Trump slammed Democrats in Blue Ash, Ohio, and celebrated robust job creation along with rising wages, the Dow Jones Industrial Average tanked 1,600 points at one point, before recovering on a volatile day to a record loss of a 1,175 point tumble, or 4.6%.
The Dow was already coming off its worst week in two years, taking the 401(k) retirement plans of millions of Americans down with it, after an era when most small scale investors have only known constantly rising balances.”
-Stephen Collinson, “Trump’s embarrassing split-screen moment on stocks,” CNN Politics, CNN.com, Feb. 5, 2018 05:09pm