In a speech to the Economic Club of New York on Tuesday, U.S. President Donald Trump didn’t mince words when it came to his feelings on the Federal Reserve. The president said that the major indexes could be performing better it weren’t for the Fed’s initial reluctance to cut interest rates.
After four straight interest rate hikes in 2018, the central bank reversed course this year, instituting its third straight rate cut recently. Per a CNBC report, President Trump “noted that since his election, the S&P 500 is up more than 45%, the Dow Jones Industrial Average is up over 50% and the Nasdaq Composite is up 60%. But those numbers could be way higher, Trump said, if it weren’t for the reluctance of the Fed.”
“And if we had a Federal Reserve that worked with us, you could have added another 25% to each of those numbers, I guarantee you that,” Trump said.
“But we all make mistakes, don’t we?” the president added. “Not too often. We do make them on occasion.”
Furthermore, President Trump reiterated the need for the Fed to cut rates in order for the U.S. to remain competitive with the rest of the world.
“We are actively competing with nations who openly cut interest rates so that now many are actually getting paid when they pay off their loan, known as negative interest,” Trump said. “Who ever heard of such a thing? Give me some of that. Give me some of that money. I want some of that money.”
Data firm Moody’s Analytics used three different models to determine the results of the 2020 election and thus far, they are predicting that U.S. President Donald Trump will cruise to a second term. The projections are based on the gains in the stock market and the unemployment rate, which, if they remain static, will seal a victory for Trump.
All three models used by Moody’s shows that Trump will receive 289 electoral votes based on average voter turnout. Based on the “pocketbook” version of their model, which measures how Americans feel about their finances, Trump’s path to a second term is almost certain.
“Our ‘pocket¬book’ model is the most economically driven of the three. If voters were to vote primarily on the basis of their pocketbooks, the president would steamroll the competition,” the report said. “This shows the importance that prevailing economic sentiment at the household level could hold in the next election.
For more market trends, visit ETF Trends.
