The Dow increases for eighth straight day

[_cinepro]

For example:

http://www.npr.org/blogs/money/2013/03/ ... e-the-hype

Despite all the celebration, the Dow Jones industrial average has not hit record highs recently. If you adjust for inflation, the highs just aren't as high as they seem.

And even if it does hit a real, inflation-adjusted high in the next few weeks, it won't mean much. The Dow is a seriously flawed stock index, and it's certainly not a good way to measure what's going on in the overall economy.

On today's show, we rain on the Dow's parade and explain why a lot of very smart people say we should ignore the Dow.

[_Kevin Graham]

Were you referring to a specific time period? Fox News is a 24-hour channel, so exactly how long were you watching it before you determined they "had absolutely nothing to say about jobs".

OK you caught me in a bit of hyperbole, but the point still stands that FOX consciously over-hypes negative news and pounds the point relentlessly and then glosses over news that refutes their previous mantra. A great example of this is their inconsistent news reporting on the price of gasoline. When it is high, Obama is to blame and they'll host several "experts" who swear up and down that there is "no end in sight" as far as the price increase is concerned. But then when it drops dramatically, they avoid highlighting any of this news.

As far as the jobs report is concerned, last year instead of reporting on the "good news" about jobs, they chose toengage in a bunch of crazed conspiracy theories about how the government is really lying to us about the decrease in unemployment. Once all that nonsense was refuted, they never once apologized for misleading the public. Not once. But when the jobs report was released showing jobs had increased well above expectations, their coverage on the subject was cut in half.

"Despite the significance of this development in the labor market, Fox News has been noticeably quiet on the subject in their morning programs, especially when contrasted with how they have covered previous negative economic news. On September 2, 2011 when initial reports showed no net addition of jobs for the month of August, Fox discussed this negative news for roughly twice the amount of time as the positive news on March 8, when the February jobs report was released."



But keep in mind, this includes coverage of the positive jobs report that isn't necessarily "positive" in the eyes of FOX News hosts. They'll water it all down with negative connotations any way they can.

I don't have cable, so I haven't watched Fox News in years. But from what I remember, I wouldn't have expected you to be a viewer Kevin.

I click over to Fox every once in a while, usually to see the stark contrast between their reporting and what is reported by real news networks. Every day their appears to be a special about how immigrants are ruining the country, lower income people are just lazy takers, how Democrats hate the rich and it is all about wealth envy, etc etc etc. They haven't toned down the rhetoric in the slightest since the early 2000's.

[_Brackite]

Here is some more bad news for subgenius, but good news for America's economy:

Jobless claims data brightens labor market picture

[_cinepro]

I click over to Fox every once in a while, usually to see the stark contrast between their reporting and what is reported by real news networks. Every day their appears to be a special about how immigrants are ruining the country, lower income people are just lazy takers, how Democrats hate the rich and it is all about wealth envy, etc etc etc. They haven't toned down the rhetoric in the slightest since the early 2000's.

I think you may be right; Fox news does seem to have a conservative slant.

Does anybody else know about this? Should we get the word out?

[_Kevin Graham]

A slant?

That's the mother of all understatements.

FOX is essentially Republican headquarters.

[_cinepro]

To be fair, I have to admit that if Romney had won in November, then the exact same jobs report and Dow would probably make Republicans freak out with joy.

[_bcspace]

The Dow increases for eighth straight day

The economy is still strong enough to take hits. Obama's policies though have kept it down longer than it needs to just like FDR's prolonged the Great Depression. But don't let a minor economic rise fool you. Unemployment remains massive in terms of those who have stopped looking for work (no longer counting towards the unemployment figure). The numbers of people on entitlement programs like Food Stamps are at an all time high. The national debt was increased 33% in Obama's first four years. The rising economy is being hamstrung from floating all boats.

[_bcspace]

I think you may be right; Fox news does seem to have a conservative slant.

Does anybody else know about this? Should we get the word out?

Fox News is merely mainstream. MSNBC, on the other hand, spends 85% of it's time being the voice of the Obama Administration and only 15% reporting factual news.

[_Brackite]

Record-Smashing Quarter: S&P 500 Ends Above 2007’s Record Close, Dow Posts Best Q1 Since 1998