Facing criticism about the pace of the economic recovery, President Barack Obama has stepped forward and outlined his “Roadmap to Recovery” that, if successful, will build momentum over the next 100 days. What will the stimulus mean for exchange traded funds (ETFs) and the economy at large?
Agencies are required to present specific spending plans for the stimulus money and exactly how it will be spent over the next several months. The goal of the money is to create jobs and get the citizens of the United States back to work, explains Ashley Milne-Tyte for Marketplace. The unemployment rate has come in at 9.4%.
Over the summer, an additional 600,000 jobs should be created, as the stimulus money is pumped into the economy and every effort is made to to get on the way to recovery. A web page has been posted to track the spending which will also track people affected by stimulus spending and trace their stories, report Kate Phillips and Ashley Southall for The New York Times.
The $787 billion in economic stimulus money is set to go to Federal agencies such as Department of Health and Human Services to the Department of the Interior, which is intended to accelerate spending on 10 major projects this summer, according to Reuters. Ron Scherer for The Christian Science Monitor reports that spending the stimulus money will not prove to be either easy or quick. Rather, there are competitive bidding rules, and provisions within legislation that are causing confusion and delay.
Some of these 10 projects include infrastructure improvements. Keep an eye on infrastructure funds and watch the trend lines to see if signs of improvement materialize. Companies such as Caterpiallar (CAT) and Deere & Co. (DE) could benefit from the federal contracts.
- iShares S&P Global Infrastructure (IGF): down 1.8% year-to-date
- SPDR FTSE/Macquarie GI 100 ETF (GII): down 7.3% year-to-date
The opinions and forecasts expressed herein are solely those of Tom Lydon, and may not actually come to pass. Information on this site should not be used or construed as an offer to sell, a solicitation of an offer to buy, or a recommendation for any product.