Exactly 19 days ago, the Dow was trading at a new all-time high. So how did everything become unraveled in less than three weeks?
In my humble opinion, the complacency that was in most investors' minds was overcome with uncertainty and distrust.
It arrived in the form of three waves.
The first wave was ISIS and their rapid takeover of key areas in the Middle East. This uncertainty was exacerbated and emboldened ISIS further when the president of the United States stated on national TV that "we have no strategy" to deal with ISIS. It doesn't matter if you are a Democrat or a Republican - you do not expect to hear the president make a statement like that.
The second wave came with the news that Ebola had reached across West Africa to the shores of the United States. This scary news should not have been a problem, however it became a major problem with the conflicting stories about how a nurse who was in fully dressed in protected clothing contracted this deadly disease. To make matters worse, this morning we hear of another nurse who was diagnosed with Ebola. The Centers for Disease Control (CDC) so far seem ill-prepared. Not leveling with the American people about what is going on just adds another layer of uncertainty and distrust in government. Continue reading "Did ISIS, Ebola, And The White House Crash The Market?"