Jeremy Siegel is a Wharton finance professor and advisor to New York-based exchanged traded fund (ETF) provider WisdomTree . He is an optimist when it comes to the U.S. and global economic recovery and gives us his thoughts as to why he is bullish.
Siegel acknowledges that the euro is in deep trouble, reports Olivier Ludwig of Index Universe. However, he believes that some European stocks are a buy. According to Siegel, European companies that primarily export will be very competitive due to a lower euro.
In the United States, Siegel believes that a growth trajectory is firmly in place. He even goes so far as to say that growth could top 4% in the second quarter and the second half of the year. That is way above estimates in the low 3% range. The key, he says, is that the recovery is now self-sustaining, no longer dependent on tax cuts and cash for clunkers.
Siegel also notes that emerging markets are doing extremely well, especially in Asia. Emerging markets’ GDP is now above the peak of the previous economic expansion that ended in 2007. He thinks that overall growth in developing countries could be as high as 5 to 6 percent; in Asia, 7 to 8 percent; and in China, 9 percent.