A plan to have a plan is not an acceptable plan

Markets and businesses don’t like uncertainty. That's a blinding glimpse of the obvious that any corporate executive or investor relations officer knows all too well.

So why was it that Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner laid out a financial rescue plan that had about as much specificity as a sky full of cirrus clouds?

The NYT’s first news report on the secretary’s news conference “plan” announcement stated that “Mr. Geithner left major questions unanswered about the workings of many components of the new plan, and officials acknowledged that they had yet to decide many of the thorniest issues.”

MarketWatch quoted Ryan Larson, head equity trader at Voyageur Asset Management, as saying, “We’re not impressed, and I don’t think the market’s impressed either…. It’s clear the administration is still trying to work on something concrete. I think the market sensed that, too.”

The stock market started its nose dive almost as soon as Geithner began speaking. At its close the Dow was off 381.99 points, 4.6 percent, at 7,888.88.

As we have said in earlier posts, the Administration simply cannot jawbone success; it must have real, credible, immediately actionable plans. A plan to have a plan is not an actionable plan.