Finance

Trump is the most pro-stock market president in history, Wharton’s Jeremy Siegel

Published

6 months ago

November 11, 2024

President-elect Trump is the most pro-stock market president in history: Wharton's Jeremy Siegel

The stock market could enjoy a bigger boost from President-elect Donald Trump than any previous administration thanks to his pro-business policies, according to Jeremy Siegel, finance professor at the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania.

“President-elect Trump is the most pro-stock market president we have had in our history,” Siegel said on CNBC’s “Squawk Box” Monday. “He measured his success in his first term by how well the stock market did. You know, it seems to me very unlikely he’s going to implement policies that are going to be bad for the stock market.”

The market already reached new heights in reaction to Trump’s election win as investors bet that his promises of tax cuts and deregulation will propel growth and benefit risk assets.

The S&P 500 soared 4.66% last week for its best week since November 2023, trading above 6,000 for the first time ever. The blue-chip Dow Jones Industrial Average also climbed above a new milestone of 44,000 post election.

S&P 500

Investments seen as the biggest beneficiaries under a Trump presidency exploded during the week.

Tesla, whose CEO Elon Musk is a prominent backer of Trump, saw shares skyrocket 29% to return to a $1 trillion market cap. Bank stocks such as JPMorgan Chase and Wells Fargo also had big rallies. Bitcoin continued to hit record highs as traders see looser regulations under Trump.

Siegel believes that Trump’s corporate tax cuts from his first term in 2017 are mostly likely to be extended.

“I think the extension of his 2017 tax cuts, looks pretty much like a slam dunk, but the expansion to all his other tax cuts is certainly going to be much more difficult,” Siegel said.

Still, the president-elect’s trade policy, including his vow to slap steep tariffs on trading partners, could hurt growth and inflame inflationary pressures at a time when the Federal Reserve has spent more than two years raising interest rates to bring down price increases.

Finance

Insiders at UnitedHealth are scooping up tarnished shares

Published

20 hours ago

May 16, 2025

Business Finance News

Key Points

UnitedHealth Group saw some of its insiders step in and purchase declining shares this week.
Kristen Gil, a director at the firm, bought 3,700 shares worth roughly $1 million on Thursday.
Shares of UnitedHealth plunged nearly 11% to $274.35 on Thursday following a report in The Wall Street Journal that the Department of Justice is conducting a criminal investigation into possible Medicare fraud.

Finance

Federal Reserve will reduce staff by 10% in coming years, Powell memo says

Published

21 hours ago

May 16, 2025

Business Finance News

U.S. Federal Reserve in Washington, DC, on January 30, 2024.

Mandel Ngan | Afp | Getty Images

The Federal Reserve will look to reduce its headcount by 10% over the next couple of years, including offering deferred resignation to some older employees, central bank chair Jerome Powell said in a memo.

“Experience here and elsewhere shows that it is healthy for any organization to periodically take a fresh look at its staffing and resources. The Fed has done that from time to time as our work, priorities, or external environment have changed,” Powell said in a memo obtained by CNBC.

The central bank chief added that he has instructed leaders throughout the Fed “to find incremental ways to consolidate functions where appropriate, modernize some business practices, and ensure that we are right-sized and able to meet our statutory mission.” One method for shrinking the staff will be to offer a voluntary deferred resignation program to employees of the Federal Reserve Board who would be fully eligible to retire at the end of 2027.

The central bank said in its 2023 annual report that it had just under 24,000 employees. A 10% reduction would bring that number below 22,000.

The memo comes as the Trump administration has pushed for cost cuts across civil service agencies, spearheaded by Elon Musk and the so-called Department of Government Efficiency. Musk has previously called the Fed “absurdly overstaffed.” Powell’s memo did not mention Musk or DOGE as a factor in the decision to shrink headcount.

The planned staff cuts were first reported by Bloomberg News.

— CNBC’s Matt Cuddy contributed reporting.