The Greatest Story Never Told

No time to do more than post this.  I think the word needs to be spread and Bush should receive credit where it is due.  Yesterday on The Corner, Larry Kudlow wrote:

It was truly an historic day on Wall Street yesterday as the Dow Jones Index rocketed to a record-breaking, first-ever, 13,000 close with a dramatic 136-point surge.

And the best part is that the gains extend beyond the Dow.

Stocks surged across the board with a 15-point gain by the S&P 500 and a 23-point gain in the Nasdaq. Record closings galore for transports, utilities, and the Wilshire 5000. The S&P 500 is nipping at the bit, just 30 points away from achieving its all-time high. Meanwhile, both the S&P 400 midcap index and the S&P 600 small cap index hit all-time highs. The New York Stock Exchange index is at an all time high, while stock-indexes in Germany, the UK, France and Italy are all approaching their own all time highs.

If I may, permit me to once again call this what it is—the greatest story never told.

We are in the midst of the longest uninterrupted bull market run in memory. We have record low tax rates on capital, a benign inflation rate, and recent economic releases suggesting the Goldilocks soft landing scenario remains very much in place.

But in the end, it all boils down to two simple things—two stock market locomotives that have created enormous, still untapped, value in equities. Viewers have heard talk about them night after night:

High earnings, low interest rates.

Mark my words, it ain't over yet.

Will George W. Bush ever get any credit for this?

Comments

[DRaftervoi]

Hey, Gail, have you set up ROTH IRAs for your elder larvae yet? Get 'em INVESTING (as opposed to speculating) early!

[AndyJ]

There will be many of Bush's successes that will slowly reveal themselves in hindsight over the years to come. He has had many opportunities to bedevil his enemies or do the right thing... I am pleased with most of his actions. Nobody can live in the past. We all must make decisions based upon imperfect data. He has done this and taken ownership of the results. When situations have changed he has changed his responses. Not running to get ahead of the polls has given the nation and the economy stability and predictability we did not have with Clinton of his father. When the taxes and law enforcement are predictable, people buy and invest. When we are uncertain of the future we hide and hold.

The Hate-Bush mentality is a sign of something quite perverse in our society. It is ugly. It is irrational. It afflicts so many of our "Thought Leaders"...artists, intellectuals, writers, publishers etc... Can their comforting sounds of praise for anyone in the future be trusted?

[alisa]

I agree with Andy though there will be naysayers that will swear it was someone else besides Bush. This reminded me of Chris Gardner (Pursuit of Happyness)--he spoke on campus yesterday and I went. So happY I did. Wonderful, gifted, unique man. Once his story came to light, he first refused to appear on 1st Baba WaWa and only agreed to any and all if the story was about a man who overcame circumstances---and not because of his race. He ended with I want to be remembered as a man who was a father first and foremost and that I used my success to teach other men the same. All that was paraphrased. As he signed my book (sorry, Gail, I should have thought faster and got you one!) I told him I'd not seen the movie yet, but was glad I had the opportunity to hear him first because he had a beautiful soul. Anyway, I think I may have digressed from your topic, but he made his fortune in the stock market! Oh one of the things he told young people, in his job, there was no black, there was no white, but there was lots of green!

[Gail]

Draftervoi: My husband is the one who handles investments - he knows much more about finance than I do. He has stock accounts set up for our kids, but I am not sure if they are in Roth IRAs or not. I'll ask him.

Andy: Thanks for sharing your thoughts. With Bush it's never been about the polls, and some fault for that and say he's not following the will of the people. But I think he is - people want a peaceful, safe world and a strong economy and that's what he's trying to get to.

Bush is in the driver's seat and has a better view of the road. Back seat drivers are distracting and can be dangerous.

Alisa: I haven't seen the movie yet either, but what you say about the man is very intriguing.