Below are quotes from Fox News Channel’s interview with US President Barack Obama.
ON THE ECONOMY:
“There may be some tax provisions that can encourage businesses to hire sooner rather than sitting on the sidelines. So we’re taking a look at those.”
“I think it is important though to recognize that if we keep on adding to the debt, even in the midst of this recovery, that at some point, people could lose confidence in the US economy in a way that could actually lead to a double-dip recession.”
“[O]ne of the trickiest things we’re doing right now, is to on the one hand make sure the recovery is supported and not withdraw a lot of money either with tax increases or big spending … at the same time, making sure that we’re setting up a pathway long term for deficit reduction. It’s about as hard of a play as there is.”
President Obama seems to be more in tune with the fragility of the economic recovery than the stock market. Unfortunately his policies take us down the path of more taxes, more spending, and more debt. If that is indeed the case, it is hard to see the robust earnings growth expected by the market which is why we are playing defense. Stick with reasonable-priced, high-quality, dividend-paying multinational corporations.