During the June 19 edition of Fox News' Your World with Neil Cavuto, Jonathan Hoenig, managing member of Capitalistpig Asset Management LLC, suggested that the United States should attack North Korea in order to prevent “a major sell-off on Wall Street.” Hoenig asserted: “We should take preventative action here and take out their capacity to threaten us. I think that's when you are going to see this market take the North Korean threat off the table. Right now, I'm scared that this could become a real threat and a catalyst for a major sell-off on Wall Street.”

Hoenig made his comments during a discussion led by host Neil Cavuto, who, commenting on recent reports that North Korea is ready to test a long-range missile, asserted: “Well, a North Korean missile that could reach the United States -- think about that.” He then asked: “Now, if that turns out in fact to be a fact, will it bomb America's stock market?”

As Media Matters for America has noted, Hoenig, a frequent guest on Your World, has said that bombing Iran would raise the Dow Jones industrial average and that the U.S. economy would be unable to “thrive” in the event that convicted September 11 conspirator Zacarias Moussaoui is not summarily executed.

From the June 19 edition of Fox News' Your World with Neil Cavuto:

CAVUTO: Well, a North Korean missile that could reach the United States -- think about that. Now, if that turns out in fact to be a fact, will it bomb America's stock market?

[...]

TERRY KEENAN (Fox News anchor): The Koreans shot that missile over Japan in '98; we just appeased the Koreans. We didn't do anything. This president is not going to allow that to happen. He also can't allow it to happen given what's going on with Iran, which is a very similar situation, you know, just a few years behind the North Korean situation. But, I think the real axis of evil for the stock market right now is [Federal Reserve Board chairman Ben S.] Bernanke, the housing market, and the hedge funds that have, I think, been rocking this market a lot in the last couple of weeks.

CAVUTO: Jonathan?

HOENIG: Well, I disagree with Terry that it's the hedge funds. Terry, I think, to be honest, North Korea is having a much bigger effect in terms of lowering the stock market right now. Of course, I run a hedge fund, but the truth is, to your point, we've been appeasing the North Koreans since the 1980s. I mean, they -- they -- they threaten us and we give them billions of dollars in food aid, and what worries me is that we're going to -- you know, to be honest, sanctions is not -- are not going to be enough. We should take preventative action here and take out their capacity to threaten us. I think that's when you are going to see this market take the North Korean threat off the table. Right now, I'm scared that this could become a real threat and a catalyst for a major sell-off on Wall Street.