Monday, June 12, 2006

Seeing red.

Seeing red. In the few weeks since Karl Rove said, "Bush's economic policies, particularly his tax cuts, helped cure what ailed us," the market in its infinite and allegedly impartial wisdom has proven otherwise.

"There's been nowhere to hide," says Jeffrey Saut, chief investment strategist at Raymond James. "This is one of the more deadly declines [in the Dow Jones Industrial Average, down 6% since May 10] I've seen in a while." [Ian McDonald, WSJ]

Aw, Jeffrey, don't be a gloomy Gus! Look at the bright side! Bush's economic policies are working, Rove said so! Didn't you hear his speech? And here's the proof — tax preparers, private prison operators, and funeral homes are all in the black...

"Other lower-growth, but stable businesses that have stayed out of the red over the past month are tax preparer H&R Block Inc. -- up 6% over the past month -- private prison operator Corrections Corp. of America -- up 6.7% -- and funeral-home operator Service Corp. International, whose stock is up nearly 1%."

All hail the Republican growth economy: death, taxes, and incarceration.