One of the things I noticed today (more on listservs than the open blogosphere) is a genuine petulance and disgruntlement over the fact that Wall Street responded to Geithner’s Plan by boosting its own value by seven percent. It was taken as a sure sign that the plan was bad or evil that investors liked it. A lot of people complained that it is stupid to judge a plan by how it is received in the markets on the day of announcement. That’s undoubtedly true, although that didn’t stop people from blasting Geithner when his first effort to introduce a toxic assets plan was greeted by a stock-market plunge.
Just by way of an aside, if you have $20,000 dollars stocked away in a mutual fund that is pegged to the Standard & Poor 500, you made $1,400 today. That’s the equivalent of the annual income tax on your first $21,000 of earnings.
I don’t think it matters a whole lot either way how Wall Street responds to a proposal. You might take comfort that Wall Street has confidence in the proposal or you might take it as evidence that the plan will only serve their interests and not the rest of America’s interests.
I just find it interesting that Left Blogistan is so defensive and upset that the market liked the plan.
