The Treasury Secretary causes the Dow to plunge.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average opened sharply lower Monday after U.S. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin shocked investors worldwide over the weekend by tweeting that he had spoken to the CEOs of the six largest U.S. banks to ensure they were liquid.

He really did – he tweeted it.

Today I convened individual calls with the CEOs of the nation's six largest banks. See attached statement. pic.twitter.com/YzuSamMyeT

— Steven Mnuchin (@stevenmnuchin1) December 23, 2018

The Post was predicting it last night.

Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin startled financial analysts, bankers and economists on Sunday by issuing an unusual statement declaring that the nation’s six largest banks had ample credit to extend to American businesses and households.

…

Several analysts said Sunday night that his outreach to the banks and subsequent statement were likely to backfire and drive even more concern.

“Panic feeds panic and this looks like panic in the administration,” said Diane Swonk, chief economist at Grant Thornton. “Suggesting you might know something that no one else is worried about creates more unease.”

Panic in the administration? Surely not!

The message came after a week in which many U.S. stock market sectors were down 20 percent from their peak. The market decline has raised concerns about whether the economy is slowing faster than widely appreciated, and Trump has put enormous pressure on Mnuchin to try to stop the slide, people briefed on the discussions said, speaking on the condition of anonymity because of the topic’s sensitivity.

Trump’s anger at the stock market’s sharp drop has been directed at numerous people. The Washington Post and other outlets reported Saturday that Trump has discussed whether he could fire Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome H. Powell, who has steadily raised interest rates this year despite howls from the president.

Astute observers have been pointing out that increases in interest rates mean Trump has to pay more on his his huge loans, so that’s a conflict of interest right there.

Mnuchin had enjoyed a relatively close relationship with Trump until recent months. Trump has blamed Mnuchin for recommending Powell to the Fed job, and Trump has also fumed at Mnuchin over the stock market’s poor performance this year.

Because Mnuchin has total control over the stock market and he’s making it fall out of sheer spite.