U.S. Attorney General Bondi is dismissed. His comment that "the Dow Jones has broken 50,000 points" caused the U.S. stock market to suffer?

Ask AI · How her Dow Jones remarks evolved from a joke to a market omen?

Source: Global Market Report

Seven weeks before U.S. President Donald Trump announced via social media that Attorney General Pam Bondi would leave the Department of Justice, Bondi made a remark about the Dow Jones Industrial Average at a tense hearing before the House Judiciary Committee. The comment not only drew loud laughter from Democrats but also sparked online discussions and turned into various memes.

While clashing with Democratic members of the House, such as Maryland Representative Jamie Raskin, over how the Department of Justice handled Jeffrey Epstein’s files and investigations, Bondi suddenly shifted the topic to the performance of the U.S. stock market.

“Because Donald Trump… Dow Jones, the Dow now, has exceeded… the Dow now exceeds 50,000 points… I don’t know what you’re laughing at, I heard you’re a very skilled stock trader, Raskin, the Dow now exceeds 50,000 points, the S&P 500 is approaching 7,000 points, and the Nasdaq ( index is also hitting new records. Americans’ 401(k)s and retirement savings are surging,” Bondi said, adding, “That’s the topic we should be talking about.”

At the time, many speculated whether Bondi unintentionally called the market top. Looking back, her remarks on February 11th marked, at least according to a Wall Street professional, a “phase top.” According to Dow Jones Market Data, since that day’s close, the Dow has fallen 7.5% to 46,370 points as of this Thursday. The blue-chip index hit a record closing high of 50,188.14 points on February 10th, the day before Bondi testified.

Joseph Saluzzi, co-head of stock trading at Themis Trading, said that once the comment was made, people immediately started debating whether Bondi had brought “bad luck” to the market.

“This has nothing to do with market sell-offs—if you want to call it that, it’s just the crow’s mouth effect,” Saluzzi said. “It’s like the ‘magazine cover curse’—once that phrase is out, everyone thinks ‘oh no, it’s going to be bad,’ and sure enough, the market starts to decline from there.”

At the time, Bondi apparently aimed to shift the focus of questioning from a congressional panel responsible for overseeing the Department of Justice to the U.S. stock market. The Dow was indeed climbing at that moment. Funds were flowing out of previously soaring tech stocks like Broadcom, Nvidia, and Microsoft, and into “old economy” blue chips such as Caterpillar and McDonald’s.

Since then, the outbreak of war with Iran has caused global stock markets to stumble and decline sharply. Although the S&P 500 performed better in March than many international indices, it still posted its worst monthly performance in a year. Other major indices, including the Dow, also underperformed.

On Thursday, U.S. stock markets fluctuated, with the S&P 500 and Nasdaq Composite rising slightly, while the Dow closed lower. Nonetheless, all three major indices ended a five-week losing streak. The U.S. stock market was closed on Friday.