Stock Market Suffers Record Losses Since Obama Victory

In the two days of trading on the NYSE since the presidential election, the Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJIA) has lost a record-breaking 929.49 points.  After the Dow closed at 9625.28 on Election Day, Barack Obama was declared the winner of the 2008 Presidential Election just a few hours later.  The Dow responded by closing at 9139.27 (486.01 point loss) on Wednesday, then 8695.79 (443.48 point loss) on Thursday.  As of today, November 7, 2008, The Dow has not had a bigger two-day point loss in its 80-year history.

How does the percentage loss compare with historical losses?  It's almost as bad.  The 9.657% decline is the 13th worst in history and the worst since the market crash of Oct. '87.  In fact, as you can see below, excluding the week of Black Monday, the Dow's 2-day losses were the worst since the Great Depression.

	Date	2-day point change	2-day % change
1)	10/19/1987	-616.35	-26.171%
2)	10/29/1929	-71.15	-23.621%
3)	10/20/1987	-405.72	-18.058%
4)	11/6/1929	-41.38	-15.129%
5)	7/21/1933	-14.87	-14.356%
6)	10/28/1929	-38.83	-12.966%
7)	10/10/1932	-7.81	-11.783%
8)	7/20/1933	-12.41	-11.420%
9)	5/14/1940	-16.50	-11.397%
10)	11/12/1929	-26.79	-11.326%
11)	5/31/1932	-5.25	-10.502%
12)	11/13/1929	-21.70	-9.846%
13)	11/6/2008	-929.49	-9.657%

Source:  Yahoo! Finance

It's curious that the Obama supporters have been claiming that only Obama can "fix" the economy when the stock market, the backbone of the U.S. economy, is clearly preparing for the complete opposite.  I wish that only the Obama voters would get what they deserve, but unfortunately, as demonstrated on Wall Street this week, they're going to drag the rest of us down with them.

For all of you greedy baby-boomers out there that were so worried about your retirement savings under Bush and have been clamoring for "change"?  Don't come running to the rest of us to bail you out when your president of "change" wipes out the rest of your retirement by destroying confidence, taxing you up the wazoo, and saving Social Security by raiding your 401k's and IRA's!

Obama's election victory hasn't even been validated by Congress yet, and history is already looking poorly upon his administration.  In the 2012 election, when the GOP gets an easy victory over Obama, the only question will be which president did more damage to the U.S. economy:  Barack Obama or Jimmy Carter?

Why is Mitt Romney endorsing John McCain?

Let me say that I have been a big supporter of Mitt Romney for years.  He's one of the best things going for conservative Republicans in a time when we desperately need something or someone to pull us through this Bush-led coup d'etat of the GOP.  Bush and his socialist wing of the party are slowly destroying any principles that the GOP has ever stood for.  McCain has more than aided the destruction - he's transparently befriended the mortal enemies of the party.

So while Romney has become more conservative with each passing year and is actively courting a slowly diminishing conservative bloc, why is he bothering to endorse a man with whom he has such obvious differences with?  I think a deal was made, and I have a theory as to what it might be.

Think back to Super Tuesday.  McCain swept the field and emerged as the clear front-runner.  Long-time GOPers and the entire Huckabee campaign staff were asking Romney to step aside for various reasons, but they were all pointing toward consolidated support for McCain.  But Romney refused and said he would remain in the race.  Only two days later, with the GOP delegate count remaining the same, Romney did a 180 and announced he was suspending his campaign.  Why the change of heart?

My best guess is that McCain and Romney made a deal.  McCain will be 72 years old next January when the next President takes office.  If McCain becomes our next president, after 4 years of failing health, anger management problems, and an awkward public personality, McCain will be a terrible candidate to run for re-election in 2012.  I think McCain and Romney made a deal that includes:

1. Romney must suspend his 2008 campaign for President
2. Romney will endorse McCain publicly
3. In 2012, McCain would not seek re-election
4. Romney will seek the 2012 GOP nomination with a crucial endorsement from President John McCain

Others are speculating that Romney may end up on the McCain ticket, but I doubt it.  McCain desperately needs to court Conservatives and the South, both of which Romney has not been a clear favorite.  More obvious VP candidates include Mike Huckabee, SC Senator Lindsey Graham, and Florida Governor Charlie Crist.  McCain's already received Graham and Crist endorsements, but I strongly believe that Lindsey Graham (an Air Force Colonel and Judge Advocate and an actual Iraq War Vet) has already made a deal with McCain to receive an appointment as U.S. Attorney General.  If Huckabee can work out a deal with McCain to leave the race, he will clearly be the favorite for VP.