The markets closed out their worst quarter in two years on Thursday. Two years ago the markets tanked due to COVID. This year the markets were down due to Biden.
According to the star advertiser:
A late burst of selling left stocks broadly lower on Wall Street today, as the market closed out its worst quarter since the pandemic broke out two years ago.
Despite posting a 3.6% gain for March, a dismal January and February left U.S. indexes lower for the year to date. The S&P 500 ended the day 1.6% lower, bringing its loss since the beginning of the year to 4.9%.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 1.6%, while the Nasdaq composite fell 1.5%. Both indexes also notched gains for March, thanks largely to a market rally in the two weeks heading into this week.
Oil prices fell as President Joe Biden ordered the release of up to 1 million barrels of oil per day from the nation’s strategic petroleum reserve. The move to pump more oil into the market is part of an effort to control energy prices, which are up nearly 40% globally this year.
Wall Street’s downbeat finish to March comes as investors try to navigate the market risks amid surging inflation, geopolitical instability and uncertainty over how aggressively the Federal Reserve will raise interest rates to quash inflation.
Not only are the markets down but so are real wages when compared to inflation. CNBC reports:
The latest inflation reading from the Consumer Price Index came in at 6.8%, the highest year-over-year increase since 1982. While the fourth quarter CPI reading could mark an inflation peak, projected pay increases from employers for next year are only about half the current level of price increases.
During the Trump Administration inflation was low at around 1% and wages were growing at around 3%, so individiual incomes were increasing when factoring in inflation. Now with Biden’s record setting inflation, companies are unable to keep up and real salaries are going down as a result.
Just ask any family who dines out on a Friday night. The cost of a meal at the local restaurant is about twice what it was a year ago. Unfortunately salaries are not twice as much as a year ago as well.
Americans are now facing the frightening reality of a Biden economy which will only get worse until inflation is addressed and it doesn’t appear that Biden or the Fed want to deal with the mess they created.
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