The Robert Gibbs Dow Drop

I’ve started to notice that when White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs holds his daily press briefings the Dow drops while he’s talking.

Now it’s turned into an amusing little mid-afternoon game I play while working at my desk. I call it “How much will the Dow drop while Robert Gibbs is talking.” As soon as he begins his monotonous recitation of President Obama’s talking points I write down the DJIA at the moment. Today the Dow was at $7917 when Gibbs started talking. About 45 minutes later when he finished taking questions the Dow was down to $7877, or close to a loss of about a point a minute.

At least his press briefing ended in time for the Dow to gain a little ground, closing the day at $7936. Perhaps Mr. Gibbs can schedule future press briefings after the bell.