“Stock market volatility nothing to worry about” (in the April 11 issue of The Sun) is true, but “Stock Market manipulation for personal gain” is everything to worry about, which accurately describes Donald Trump’s latest in-your-face crime. Move over, 34 felonies. Traditionally, in a fair market where all participants have equal information but use their unique interpretative gifts to act differently, winners and losers emerge with tomorrow’s results, today’s best guess. Market volatility can be caused by unpredictable happenings, unknown innovations, surprise scamming, natural disasters, emerging trends, etc. that no soothsayer can accurately predict, crystal ball or not. Rhode Island history: The Feb. 20, 2003, tragic West Warwick nightclub fire that killed 100 people, caused comparatively restrictive fire safety regulations that drove up housing costs that no one escaped from.
Additionally, if stock brokers were so smart knowing the markets, why haven’t they made a lot of money, retired and started leading the easy life? Markets have risk, are unpredictable and are not for the weak of heart. But when a president threatens tariff bombs on “Everything, Everywhere, All at Once,” which causes a sudden drop of nearly $10 trillion in stock market value, then a couple days later reconsiders, apparently thinking maybe this isn’t my best idea, and markets bounce back, recovering trillions of dollars in lost value, is this nothing to worry about? It is if you are Trump-pet Marjorie Taylor Greene, who’s now under investigation for buying at least tens of thousands in stock the day before and day of Trump’s tariff pause that sent both the market and her newly purchased portfolio soaring. Yes, market volatility is natural when unpredictability rules, but it’s not volatility, it’s corruption, when select individuals profit from inside information that’s not publicly available. Volatility defined: to change rapidly and unpredictably, especially for the worse. Corruption: dishonest or fraudulent conduct by those in power, typically involving bribery, which brings to mind payback.
I report, you decide, with outrage fatigue the new norm.
Jay Lustgarten
Westerly
