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News In Brief

Thornburg: The stock market is a drama queen

Paddy Hirsch Aug 11, 2011

We wanted to know what you’re thinking about all this market madness, but you’re really hard to get on the phone!

So we decided to get you to call us instead. On Wednesday, Marketplace Money host Tess Vigeland sat down with a trio of experts to take your questions. Economist Chris Thornberg of Beacon Economics, Ron Lieber of The New York Times and Carl Richards from Prasada Capital Management joined Tess for an hour of light interrogation that covered everything from refinancing your home to investing on gold.

Perhaps the most oft-asked question was the most immediate: What the heck is going on in the markets? Chris Thornberg had a quick answer to that one.

The stock market is the 13-year old daughter of the world economy. It’s the ultimate drama queen… whatever news come out, it overreacts on the up and on the down, and that’s what we’re going through right now.

Well, I don’t have kids, so I don’t know if Chris is on the money there. But I suspect that if he has a 13-year-old daughter, that remark might make his life a wee bit more difficult! You can hear more of Chris’ advice and insight, as well as that of Ron, Carl and Tess by clicking here.

In the coming weeks, Marketplace will examine the disconnect between the markets and the economy, between Wall Street and Main Street. We’ll work to help you understand how this situation came about, and what’s being done about it. Follow our up-to-the-minute coverage of the markets and economy in our special section and blog Market Mayhem/Economic Standstill.

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