Investors 'are really excited about the Donald Trump presidency continuing': top strategist
A big week of wins for President Trump could mean a big win for investors, one top strategist thinks.
“Donald Trump is helping the economy, he has helped the economy. Individuals who are really concerned about their investments are really excited about the Donald Trump presidency continuing,” Hercules Investment CEO James McDonald said on Yahoo Finance’s The First Trade. “Donald Trump is continuing to keep the market up. I think Donald Trump has something up his sleeves, and has a plan for keeping markets elevated.”
Trump’s latest win — following ones earlier this week in being acquitted of impeachment charges and the Iowa Democratic caucus debacle —came on Friday via the latest read on the U.S. job market. Not only did the January jobs report blow past the high-end of Wall Street’s estimates, but there were solid upward revisions to prior months.
Some top stats:
Change in nonfarm payrolls: +225,000 vs. +165,000 expected and +147,000 in December
Unemployment rate: 3.6% vs. 3.5% expected and 3.5% in December
Average hourly earnings month on month: +0.2% vs. +0.3% expected and +0.1% in December
Average hourly earnings year on year: +3.1% vs. +3.0% expected and +3.0% in December
While the market sold off on the jobs numbers amid fears it reduces the chances of another rate from the Federal Reserve, there is no denying the strength of the labor market entering Trump’s re-election bid. The jobs momentum suggests employment could bounce back sharply later this year once the effects of the coronavirus fade into the background.
“It’s a very good jobs number, and it really tells you the economy has momentum,” former JPMorgan Chase Chief economist Anthony Chan told Yahoo Finance.
Added McDonald, “Any risk of Trump losing is a risk to the market. Anyone who has bet against Trump — strictly speaking economically — has lost. They have lost big-time. This is not just the longest running bull market, but the acceleration of gains since November 2016 has been unprecedented.”
Brian Sozzi is an editor-at-large and co-anchor of The First Trade at Yahoo Finance. Watch The First Trade each day here at 9:00 a.m. ET or on Verizon FIOS channel 604. Follow Sozzi on Twitter @BrianSozzi and on LinkedIn.
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