December 4, 2018

The Stock Market Is Really Jittery Right Now

Yesterday the stock market surged, supposedly on news that a trade deal with China was in the works. Today, the stock market has plummeted, supposedly on news that Trump lied about how likely a deal really is. If all this is actually true, it means that Wall Street investors are idiots. They can’t possibly still be taking Trump’s tweets at face value, can they?

There’s no telling, really. In any case, explanations of why the market has gone up or down on any particular day should always be taken with a shaker of salt. The more likely explanation is shown in this chart:

The market has been volatile ever since October. If I knew why I’d be a billionaire, and for all you know, maybe I am. But I’m not. So I have no idea why everyone has gotten so jittery over the past couple of months. Whatever the reason, though, this week’s ups and downs are most likely just the same jitters that began in October. I doubt they really have anything to do with Trump’s Twitter idiocies at all.

Speaking of which, did you hear that Trump signed the new and improved NAFTA treaty while he was in Argentina? Unfortunately, our dealmaker-in-chief, who’s signed so many deals you wouldn’t believe it, couldn’t figure out where to sign this one.

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WE CAME UP SHORT.

We just wrapped up a shorter-than-normal, urgent-as-ever fundraising drive and we came up about $45,000 short of our $300,000 goal.

That means we're going to have upwards of $350,000, maybe more, to raise in online donations between now and June 30, when our fiscal year ends and we have to get to break-even. And even though there's zero cushion to miss the mark, we won't be all that in your face about our fundraising again until June.

So we urgently need this specific ask, what you're reading right now, to start bringing in more donations than it ever has. The reality, for these next few months and next few years, is that we have to start finding ways to grow our online supporter base in a big way—and we're optimistic we can keep making real headway by being real with you about this.

Because the bottom line: Corporations and powerful people with deep pockets will never sustain the type of journalism Mother Jones exists to do. The only investors who won’t let independent, investigative journalism down are the people who actually care about its future—you.

And we hope you might consider pitching in before moving on to whatever it is you're about to do next. We really need to see if we'll be able to raise more with this real estate on a daily basis than we have been, so we're hoping to see a promising start.

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