The stock market and 9/11

News is everywhere that the Dow has passed the 11,000, and most news organizations note it's the first time since 9/11 that this has occurred. Essentially, that's true. But the market actually fell under 11,000 on June 8th, 2001, a full three months before the terror attacks occurred. The Dow was at 9,605.85 on September 10th, 2001, which suggests that there was much weakness already inherent in the market before the attacks, and that the market stagnated around 10,000 in the months that followed (numbers found here).

Why do I bring this up? Well, that so-called liberal media seems to think that the only thing that served as a drag on the market was 9/11:

The Dow last closed above 11,000 on June 7, 2001. Later that year, stocks were battered by the Sept. 11 terror attacks and lost ground for months, with the Dow falling to 7,286.27 on Oct. 9, 2002.

But the market actually crested after the 9/11 attacks at 10353.08 on May 23, 2002, a full eight months later. It was then the market began it's plunge into the 7000's that the Times notes.

As to the causes of the stock market fall, I'd guess it was the lack of job creation combined with massive deficit spending. But that's just me. Here's more from the BLS on the weakness in 2002.