Mirroring the tone-deaf slap-in-the-face optics of President Biden's celebration of the falsely named "Inflation Reduction Act" with James Taylor last week as stocks had their worst day in more than two years, markets tumbled ahead of the president's party with Elton John set for Friday evening at the White House.
By market close on Friday, stocks had tumbled to new 2022 lows, dipped into bear market territory, and ended a rough week for the economy after the Federal Reserve announced its third consecutive 75 basis point interest rate increase while saying more increases were yet to come, sparking greater fear of a worsening recession.
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— Investing.com (@Investingcom) September 23, 2022
*DOW TUMBLES 700 POINTS INTO BEAR MARKET TERRITORY pic.twitter.com/oqrSPdzrnn
The Dow Jones Industrial Average slid into bear market territory — defined as being 20 percent below its peak — for a time before recovering slightly to close down 486.27 (1.62 percent) while the S&P 500 slid nearly 65 as it lost 1.72 percent, near its 2022 low, and the Nasdaq shed almost 2 percent as it fell 198.88.
It's no surprise that Goldman Sachs this week slashed its year-end target for the S&P 500 — which slid into bear market territory in June — from 4,300 to 3,600. If the S&P 500 continues its current downward trajectory through the end of this month, it will mark the first time the index has recorded three consecutive quarters of losses since 2008.
Asked about the market dive on Friday, White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre tried again to brush off tumbling stocks as "just one measure of the economy that shows how the economy is doing," but she pledged that the Biden administration is "watching, always watching."
REPORTER: "Markets are falling, stock markets are falling."
— Townhall.com (@townhallcom) September 23, 2022
KJP: "We have one of the strongest job markets on record." pic.twitter.com/akBAWUGMwY
Not for nothing, Jean-Pierre said the opposite in a May press briefing when she explained that the stock market was "not something that we keep an eye on every day." Apparently things have changed, not that the White House now "always watching" the market has made things any better.
As Katie noted, the stock market is now worse than when President Biden took office less than two year ago, underscoring the damage his "Build Back Better" agenda has done by spurring inflation, failing to address supply chain issues, and bringing on a recession through the first two quarters of 2022.
On Friday, as he did last week, President Biden's reaction to yet more bad economic news is to continue fiddling while the country's economy burns.
As Townhall reported earlier this week, the Bidens are hosting Elton John for a televised party at the White House because nothing says "I understand Americans' struggles" like throwing an invite-only party on the White House grounds with a command performance by Elton John.
The event is called "A Night When Hope and History Rhyme" and the White House says the concert "will celebrate the healing and unifying power of music." The White House did not explain, however, what an Elton John concert at the White House will do in terms of "healing" the damage caused to everyday Americans by inflation, violent crime, broken supply chains, a recession, or a border crisis that have developed under the leadership of Joe Biden and congressional Democrats.
Meanwhile, the Federal Reserve continues to warn that Americans will feel more pain and economic hardship as a result of its interest rate hikes that the Fed predicts will continue through the end of 2022 and into 2023 as Chairman Jerome Powell seeks to bring 40-year-high inflation over 8 percent down to its goal of just 2 percent. That inflation, not to belabor the point, is due to President Biden and congressional Democrats' tax-and-spend policies that have done nothing but make inflation worse.
So, it's pain for Americans and parties with Elton John for Joe Biden. Quite the midterm message for Democrats less than 50 days before Americans determine the balance of power in Congress.
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