Why Obama Can't Win on Wall Street

Here's a president who bailed out the big banks, protected their pay, and helped hold them together—yet "Wall Street hates Barack Obama," writes Annie Lowrey at Slate. Why? It's simple: "Wall Street is doing terribly," and in a bad economy, "everybody blames the incumbent." Sure, banks are more than surviving, "but they are not thriving in the way they were a year or even six months ago," Lowrey notes.

Corporate profits approached "an all-time peak" last year, while this year, reports suggest the banks are making just a third of their 2010 profits. Banks' stocks have dropped 30% this year, according to one index. There are a range of reasons for this, from Europe's debt to consumer spending, Lowrey observes. But what investors are "most worried" about is "government policy missteps." In short, "Wall Street is, all of a sudden, suffering a bit, and like so many Americans, they blame the president." (More President Obama stories.)