Pundits: A laugh a minute!

You have seen me write at least a dozen times that “pundits” are remarkably wrong every time they bash Trump. I even wrote a tongue in cheek post trying my own hand at “punditry.”

[Source: One Year in Office: Trump Keeps Defying His Critics, by Stephen Moore]

But before you read the “predictions” of “the pundits” we will take a brief look at reality.

The Dow Jones industrial average is up over 35% since Trump was elected (that’s $6 trillion in NEW WEALTH – again that is Trillion with a “T”). Do you know how many countries have a GDP of $6 trillion ? The answer is TWO – ONLY TWO! So President Trump gave America enough new wealth to exceed the GDP of every nation on Earth BUT TWO! It is approximately equal to the GDP of 80% of the land SURFACE OF PLANET EARTH! So, it’s a lot of wealth!

That makes the “Trump Bull Market” one of the greatest bull markets in the history of the US market. It is true that not every American owns stocks. If you listen to the leftist Democrat leadership you would estimate that only the “top one percent” own stocks (well, maybe 10% own stocks). But here are the actual statistics:

• 55 million Americans have a 401(k) plan
• An additional 25 million have an IRA
• Toss in another 20 million with company pension plans and/or employee stock ownership plans

That’s 100 million Americans benefitting from this run up in the market. It would not be fair to compare that total to the total of Americans (326 million) because many of those are the children, non-working wives, or other dependents of Americans who own stock. The best comparison in my opinion would be the number of individual tax filers (150,711,378, projected). Therefore, 2/3rds of American workers have benefitted from the stock market rally under Trump.

You might ask why I am so vehement in my disrespect for pundits. Here are 12 of the most flagrant reasons [from the Moore article]:

1) “Donald Trump’s first gift to the world will be another financial crisis.” Headline in the U.K. Independent. From the article: “He gives every impression that he will soon be hustling America — and possibly the entire world — in the direction of another catastrophic financial crisis.”

2) “I have no stocks. I advise people not to invest in the stock market, not now. Way too dangerous.” Filmmaker Michael Moore, August 2017. (Please, God, let that be the first true statement that A*hole has ever made – RF.)

3) “It really does now look like President Donald J. Trump, and markets are plunging. When might we expect them to recover? We are very probably looking at a global recession, with no end in sight.” Paul Krugman of The New York Times, the day after the election. (They gave that A*hole a Nobel Prize – RF.)

4) “If Trump wins we should expect a big markdown in expected future earnings for a wide range of stocks — and a likely crash in the broader market.” Eric Zitzewitz, former economist with the International Monetary Fund, November 2016.

5) “Under Trump, I would expect a protracted recession to begin... The damage would be felt far beyond the United States.” Larry Summers, former chief economist to Bill Clinton and Barack Obama, June 2016. (With this guy as his Chief Economist is it any wonder that Obama had the worst economic recovery from a recession… well, since ever – RF)

6) “If the unlikely event happens and Trump wins you will see a market crash of historic proportions, I think. … The markets are terrified of him.” Steve Rattner, MSNBC economic guru, October 2016. (MSNBC Guru????? Well, there’s an oxymoron if I ever heard one – RF.)

7) “Wall Street is set up for a major crash if Donald Trump shocks the world on Election Day and wins the White House. New research suggests that financial markets strongly prefer a Hillary Clinton presidency and could react with panicked selling should Trump deliver a shocking upset on Nov. 8.” Ben White, Politico, October 2016.

8) “Trump’s domestic policies would lead to recession.” Former GOP presidential candidate Mitt Romney, March 2016. (God, I voted for that guy! Of course he was running against Obama so what else could I do? – RF)

9) “Trump would likely cause the stock market to crash and plunge the world into recession.” Simon Johnson, MIT economics professor, in The New York Times, November 2016.

10) “Citigroup: A Trump Victory in November Could Cause a Global Recession,”  Bloomberg Financial News headline, August 2016. (Even Bloomberg?? – RF)

And the wildest of all:

11) “A President Trump Could Destroy the World Economy” Headline of a Washington Post editorial, October 2016.

Let’s move on to the person who will lead the US House of Representatives if the Democrats regain the majority this year. Nancy Pelosi warned of economic “Armageddon” under President Trump.

All I can say is NEVER LISTEN TO PUNDITS (unless, of course, it’s me).

Roy Filly