Internet Trolls, Anonymous Sources, Political Rumours: Their Effect On Markets
Candy Matheson | Sep 24, 2018 02:29AM ET
There are a number of definitions of an internet troll...a couple of them are as follows...
Trolls are anonymous . It seems to me that any news article that contains the use of anonymous sources would be akin to using trolls for information...or, rather, dis-information.
The most egregious example is this September 5 New York Times op-ed , which is actually authored by an anonymous source...hence, a troll. One of the paragraphs in this article (excerpt below) is especially troubling in that it hints of a nefarious outcome for President Trump, or, even, poses a threat of some kind (the highlights are mine).
This letter to the editor of the New York Times by Kevin McCarthy, Congressional House Majority Leader, says, in part, that, "The anonymous official's essay is shocking. He should be exposed and fired." "Whatever else the anonymous essay accomplishes, its ultimate effect will be to erode the legitimate authority of the president, in this and subsequent administrations."
The problem with trolls is that they cannot be identified, their credentials and information challenged, and, thus, be held fully accountable for their accusations. This will continue until and unless trolls step forward and properly identify themselves. In the meantime, their words are simply empty, inflammatory, confusing, meaningless, and without validity. They deserve to be ignored.
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For readers to decide what is truth or fiction in order to formulate an appropriate response and action, they should be given provable, reliable facts, not innuendos, and not have the truth hidden from them, as seems to be the case with the long-standing quest by Congress to determine the legal basis for Deputy Attorney General, Rod Rosenstein's special counsel (Robert Mueller) investigation, as described in former Chief Assistant U.S. Attorney, Andrew McCarthy's article .
Is the reason for Mr. Rosenstein's appointment of Mr. Mueller contained in this September 21 New York Times article (a piece which references claims made by anonymous sources and where impeachment is also mentioned, supposedly by Mr. Rosenstein)?...or, is it just another hit job against the Trump administration?...or does it explain Mr. Rosenstein's reluctance to release details of Mr. Mueller's mandate to Congress, as well as to declassify and release all the documents that Congress has been seeking for the past year and as was directed by the President this week, but which was bounced back to the President and delayed, yet again, as shown in the following tweets?
So far, these rumours of impeachment by unnamed sources, as well as threats of impeachment -- of, not only the President, but also of Judge Kavanaugh if he's confirmed to the Supreme Court by the Senate -- by some Democrats if they retake the House and Senate, seem not to have impacted the U.S. equity markets, as they continue to march to new highs (FACT: 36 of 49 Democratic Senators had already said they'd vote against Judge Kavanaugh even before Ms. Ford's allegations against him were made public. And, it's interesting that all four of her alleged witnesses have failed to corroborate her story in their sworn statements to the Senate Judiciary Chairman. By the way, I guarantee that, no matter the outcome of the confirmation vote in the Senate, the process, itself, leading up to it will be demeaned, denigrated and smeared by Democrats and the media...how can I be so sure?...because it already is and they look foolish to the rest of the world).
We'll see how much longer the equity buying continues, and whether any of these rumours and innuendos turn into facts anytime soon, particularly as the November 6th mid-term elections are fast approaching, as the political rhetoric and media attacks, including vile male-bashing remarks, are becoming increasingly unseemly and vicious.
Furthermore, Democrats are pushing an increasingly far left-leaning, anti-economic, socialist, open-border agenda, replete with fear-mongering tactics (gobbledygook), as their platform leading into the elections, which threatens to derail market gains and investment in the U.S. by both domestic and foreign investors, alike. The fallout from this could cause a negative impact on other world markets and economies.
It's noteworthy that U.S. markets have seen a $9.3 Trillion growth in value since President Trump began fulfilling his 2016 campaign promises immediately following the November 8th election. It seems that investors have had confidence in the President and are supportive of his policies, rather than thinking he is unfit for office to warrant impeachment.
Percentage Gains made in the U.S. Major Indices since the 2016 Presidential Election
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