While mainstream media have been touting the economic "doomsday" that President-elect Donald Trump would supposedly usher in even before taking office, it turns out the markets are doing just fine. In fact, they're better than fine -- the markets are soaring to all-time highs, up nearly 3 percent since Trump's election.
Even CNN's financial-section Monday featured the lead: "The post-election euphoria on Wall Street continues to grow."
The S&P 500 "climbed to all-time highs on Monday, notching its first record close since August," CNN reports. What's more, the U.S. dollar has also reached a 13-year high.
On Monday both the Dow and Nasdaq, respectively, hit record highs as well. Then CNN begrudgingly ceded:
Many predicted stocks would plunge, or even crash, should Trump upset Hillary Clinton. Yet that freakout proved short-lived, with stocks racing higher on Election Day. Instead of focusing on fears that Trump could start a trade war, investors are hoping the president-elect will unleash the U.S. economy by cutting taxes, rolling back regulation and ramping up infrastructure spending.
"The basis for the rally is optimism about reversing Obama-nomics -- raising taxes and increasing regulation," market analyst Peter Boockvar said in an interview.
Gee, you think?
The Associated Press' market summary adds:
Major U.S. stock indexes rose to record highs on Monday, led by big gains in energy companies as the price of crude oil moved sharply higher, which is positive news for the long-struggling energy sector.
Stocks reached all-time highs over the summer and have built on those gains since the election. On Monday the Dow Jones industrial average, Standard & Poor's 500, and Nasdaq composite all set records. So did the Russell 2000, an index of smaller companies, and the S&P's small- and mid-size company indexes.
The last time each of the indexes set a record high on the same day was December 31, 1999, according to Ryan Detrick, senior market strategist for LPL Financial.
The Dow rose 88.76 points, or 0.5 percent, to 18,956.69. The S&P 500 climbed 16.28 points, or 0.7 percent, to 2,198.18. The Nasdaq composite jumped 47.35 points, or 0.9 percent, to 5,368.86.
Benchmark U.S. crude oil rose to its highest price this month. ... That led to gains for energy companies. Marathon Oil added 86 cents, or 5.5 percent, to $16.48 and Exxon Mobil added $1.21, or 1.4 percent, to $86.49.
Noting the impressive financial gains, Boockvar said, "one has to wonder how long this euphoria will continue."
From economic catastrophe to market "euphoria." My how the media got that one completely wrong, too.
