Lying is the new Normal

As many of my readers know, I occasionally write about the stock market. I have written about the myth of the black swan that was used to excuse the media for not seeing the stock crash coming and about how wall street thinks it's okay to steal from pension funds. I have also written about how the big banks have rigged all the markets. I think it is important to see how the media helps them in stealing from us.

I was watching the markets over the weekend (yes, limited trading goes on during the weekend). While most of us never see it, the trading companies know in advance what bets their customers are making for Monday during the weekend because many people place their bets from their computers during the weekend so they can get their first trade in when the market opens on Monday. You never hear the media talk about that little tidbit.

Anyways, by Sunday I was convinced that the markets would be down again on Monday, rather than pop back as they have in the past couple of years and believe me, this correction is not over. Most market corrections do not happen in one day, it is a long drawn out period with some good days in between. None of this is really the point of this post, just background.

So, with the beginning of the correction many stock analysts began bracing for it over the weekend in the financial media. Their basic statements repeated all over was that corrections are inevitable, people should not panic and that buying during a correction can be a smart move. They didn't blame any one thing for the downturn but instead said these things are to be expected. Monday came and suddenly the media began quoting people (politicians and zealots) blaming everything from Obama to China to Planned Parenthood (that one was from Pat Robertson). The reality is much more complex.

In todays world, unlike in the 1920s, we instantaneously get our news from around the world and trades are made in milliseconds by computers based on complex algorithms. In the past the financial markets were not as interconnected or controlled as they are today. What happens in the Asian or European markets is immediately felt in America and vice versa. The fact that the media would promote and repeat lies by people blaming these downturns on the bad guy of the day is the problem, the media should be explaining how the markets really work.