MSNBC's Brewer cropped Dow to suggest current decline began on Election Day

Written by Tom Allison

Published

On MSNBC Live, Contessa Brewer stated, “Since Election Day, the Dow Jones industrial average has dropped nearly 3,000 points. It's shed a quarter of its value in just the past two months.” But the Dow was on a downward trajectory months before the election, dropping 3,738 points from May 2, 2008, to November 3, 2008.

During the March 3 edition of MSNBC Live, anchor Contessa Brewer stated, “Since Election Day, the Dow Jones industrial average has dropped nearly 3,000 points. It's shed a quarter of its value in just the past two months.” But the Dow was on a downward trajectory months before the election, dropping 3,738 points from May 2, 2008, to November 3, 2008, and the drop did not start on Election Day, as MSNBC suggested.

During the segment, Brewer reported that CNBC's Jim Cramer “is sounding the alarm again. The host of Mad Money says investors are in for more days of gut-wrenching losses unless President Obama gives the markets a chance to recover.” Brewer continued: “The numbers are staggering. Since Election Day, the Dow Jones industrial average has dropped nearly 3,000 points. It's shed a quarter of its value in just the past two months. And Cramer says at this rate, there's no end in sight.”

Brewer also showed a graph of the Dow's decline since the beginning of November 2008. However, had Brewer extended the chart six months prior to Election Day, it would be evident that the current downward trend began well before November 3.

Chart showed by MSNBC:

msnbc chart

The Dow from May 2, 2008, to the present:

dow

From the 10 a.m. ET hour of MSNBC Live on March 3:

TAMRON HALL (co-anchor): CNBC's Jim Cramer says the White House needs to put its budget plans on hold. Contessa Brewer is live at the politics desk to explain more from Cramer.

BREWER: Yeah, Tamron, Cramer is sounding the alarm again. The host of Mad Money says investors are in for more days of gut-wrenching losses unless President Obama gives the markets a chance to recover. The numbers are staggering. Since Election Day, the Dow Jones industrial average has dropped nearly 3,000 points. It's shed a quarter of its value in just the past two months. And Cramer says at this rate, there's no end in sight.

CRAMER [video clip]: He won't stop until stocks reach absurd levels, and too many people do this. It won't stop until we get some recognition from the president that the agenda has caused some horrible reaction.