The Absurd Report

Last week on Friday the financial markets took a pretty good hit as the Dow tumbled 400 points as the cost of a barrel of oil spiked to near $140 and if you listened to the MSM (Why?) they gleefully reported financial Armageddon is upon us.

I have to pause here and ask, “How does one gleefully report and cheer for one’s own country financial demise????”

Instead an irresponsible media would do better to dig into why the markets reacted the way they did, but that would require a bit of responsibility of the part of a collective group of morons.

So since our collective group of morons don’t want to be bothered with doing a bit of research as to why the Dow slumped Friday I can give you a couple of good reasons.

First of all and this should be obvious to all, when the cost of a barrel of oil spikes the way it did most assuredly the Dow is in for a down slide. The cause for the spike can be directly attributed to statements made about war in the Middle East.

On Friday Israeli Deputy Prime Minister and Transportation Minister Shaul Mofaz, who has announced his candidacy to succeed the beleaguered Ehud Olmert as leader of the Jewish state’s government, he told a Hebrew-language tabloid:

“If Iran continues its nuclear weapons program, we will attack it.”

Ehud Olmert the present leader of Israel also rattled the war drums when he indicated military action against Iran.

As long as Uncle Sam remains dependent of Middle Eastern oil (and that is a mind blogging subject for another day) the price of oil will be subject to talk of war.

Secondly, the government released the May unemployment report and unemployment number rose to 5.5% but a closer look at this number indicated that the rise was mainly due to teenagers and those under the age of 24. School is out and kids who can not find a job are not a cause for panic. And I just have to wonder how much the great legislative accomplishment of our present Congress by raising the minimum wage comes into play here. This unemployment number has to be taken with a grain of salt.

The unemployment number is a lagging indicator of economic growth and is usually the last number which will indicate growth. We are in a period of minimal growth and in the long run I remain bullish on America. And by the way, what happened to the Recession that never was?

More on the Unemployment Numbers from the Heritage Foundation…

[…]
There are, however, two reasons why this large jump in the unemployment rate should not be extremely worrying. First, the unemployment rate increased because a large number of individuals entered the labor force. Actual labor force participation increased to its highest level in over a year. An increase in the participation rate is a good thing for the economy as it increases the number of workers who can contribute to economic growth. Many of these new entrants to the job market could not find work, however, and this increased the unemployment rate.

The other, very unusual aspect is that this monthly report has a large jump in the number of teenagers in the labor market. Teenagers, those ages 16 to 19, make up a very small percentage of the labor force, less than 5 percent. In this month, almost half of the new entrants to the job market were teenagers. Furthermore, the numbers of unemployed teenagers, who have a much higher unemployment rate than workers 20 and older, accounted for about a third of the total increase in unemployment. It appears that the increase in the labor force participation rate and the unemployment rate was affected by the disproportionate number of teenagers in this month’s survey.
Some Tidbits from last week…

John McCain, “I am told that this record jump in oil prices..”

SideBear: Do you have to be told, Senator? This shows a serious weakness in his knowledge about economic matters.

This quote has been circulating around and has been attributed to many different people, but Mark Steyn says it came to him from an e-mail by John Gross of Quebec.

“My friends, we live in the greatest nation in the history of the world. I hope you’ll join with me as we try to change it.”

The all-purpose bumper sticker for the 2008 campaign.

And this little tale best describes the Presidential Campaign…

Subject: Post Turtle

While suturing a cut on the hand of a 75 year old Texas rancher, whose hand was caught in a gate while working cattle, the doctor struck up a conversation with the old man. Eventually the topic got around to Obama and his bid to be our President.

The old rancher said, ‘Well, ya know, Obama is a ‘post turtle’.’

Not being familiar with the term, the doctor asked him what a ‘post turtle’ was.

The old rancher said, ‘When you’re driving down a country road and you come across a fence post with a turtle balanced on top, that’s a ‘post turtle’.

The old rancher saw a puzzled look on the doctor’s face, so he continued to explain. ‘You know he didn’t get up there by himself, he doesn’t belong up there, he doesn’t know what to do while he is up there, and you just wonder what kind of a dumb ass put him up there.’

Related

Voters Give Media Failing Grades in Objectivity for Election 2008

Just 17% of voters nationwide believe that most reporters try to offer unbiased coverage of election campaigns. A Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey found that four times as many—68%–believe most reporters try to help the candidate that they want to win.

Read more from Rasmussen Reports

Tags: Economy

Trackback URI | Comments RSS