News Stock Market Panic Stories

[heybro]

Why does the news report stock market panic stories?

Just a few days ago, this December was 'the worst since the great depression.'  Ok, what specific crazy number did they dig up to claim that?

They also use the NASDAQ more frequently than other measures to report wild swings.

Do you notice any other tactics to watch out for?  Why do they do this!

[reeshau]

They do it, of course, to get people to watch...relentlessly.  forget the general public; I am amazed at how many executives seem to work with a business channel as some sort of background music.  I do not see what it adds to their day.

Another tactic, of course, is to quote nominal changes.  I sometimes wish the indexes themselves would do a 50-for-1 reverse split, so we could go back to single digit moves.

Sometimes I also amuse myself by thinking of a cross between a market report and a weather report:

"Panic today as New York City plunged by more than 2%, from 74 degrees down to 72 degrees.  Analysts we spoke with cited either the government shutdown or reversal of climate change to global cooling, after the temperature completed a head-and-shoulders pattern last week.  Winter coats are flying off the shelves in anticipation that this is The Big One, and we should all just take shelter now."

[ILikeDividends]

Why does the news report stock market panic stories?

People do what they are incentivized to do.  It really is as simple as that.  These journalists aren't paid to be right or dispense sound advice.  They are paid to attract eyeballs, and nothing more than that.  The better they are at doing that, the more they will be paid to keep doing it.

[LAGuy]

I think my favorite was CNBC, after the Christmas Eve drop:

"WORST CHRISTMAS EVER!"

[AccidentalMiser]

I think my favorite was CNBC, after the Christmas Eve drop:

"WORST CHRISTMAS EVER!"

NOT IF YOU’RE BUYING INSTEAD OF PANIC SELLING!

[Frankies Girl]

You must not be familiar with the concept of: gory makes the story, or if it bleeds, it leads news reporting.

Drama, death, bad stuff - all guaranteed to titilate and excite the masses - and sell time slots. More attention, more gossip mean more advertising, more money, more prestige for the reporters, all that jazz.

Heartwarming, happy feel-good things aren't fun for the reporters and generally aren't as fun to watch. So they're considered boring and don't get the news traction they should.

[gpyros85]

I think my favorite was CNBC, after the Christmas Eve drop:

"WORST CHRISTMAS EVER!"

NOT IF YOU’RE BUYING INSTEAD OF PANIC SELLING!

Exactly! Already made 20% from "THE WORST CHRISTMAS EVER" to me it was a very good christmas!!

[Indexer]

They also use the NASDAQ more frequently than other measures to report wild swings.

Or the DOW. Both of which are inferior benchmarks to the SP500, Wilshire 5000, or Dow Total Market. But the "DOW DROPPED 700 POINTS!!!" sounds so much more exciting than the S&P 500 was down 2.5% today.