(Money and Markets) Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross said recently that the stock market will pretty much go down the toilet if the Democrat-controlled House of Representatives follows through with impeaching President Donald Trump, which seems likely to happen at this point.
“It’s 100% true,” Ross warned Neil Cavuto during an interview on Fox Business’ “Mornings with Maria” program. “Look what the market has done since he came in. Now sure, there are occasional glitches in it, but that’s the way markets are.”
Since Trump’s election on Nov. 8, 2016, the S&P 500 has rocketed up nearly 43%. The S&P and Dow have both hit record highs this week but all that’s at risk, according to Ross and Trump himself, who has tweeted similar comments.
And again on Oct. 16, Trump predicted a crash “just like in 1929” if one of the many Democratic candidates were to unseat him in the 2020 election.
The Democrats announced last week they will set procedures for the new public phase of their inquiry after a 232-196 vote in favor of moving forward with impeachment proceedings. The markets dipped slightly upon hearing the news but have since rebounded to new record highs.
A salesman at heart, Trump is known for his unceasing hyperbole. Nearly everything he talks about is either the “greatest ever” or a “total disaster” in his eyes, so the real answer is likely somewhere in the middle.
But there’s one Wall Street heavyweight — who predicted Trump would win in 2016 and is a big supporter of the president — in “Bond King” Jeffrey Gundlach, who doesn’t see things the way Trump or Ross do.
“I don’t think it’s a real major market issue,” the DoubleLine Capital CEO said, calling the impeachment inquiry “more theatrics than anything else” in a recent interview on Fox Business. “When it comes to politics, the outcome of the 2020 election is far more important than what will be an unsuccessful and probably not even fully realized impeachment sort of action.”
In fact, looking at historical records, the stock market actually rallied 31% from the day Bill Clinton’s affair with Monica Lewinsky first became public to the day he was acquitted of perjury and obstruction of justice by the Senate after being impeached by the House.
According to Gundlach, the Democratic nominee heading into 2020 is of utmost importance.
“If you look at the betting markets, (Elizabeth) Warren has by far the greatest chance for the nomination,” he said. “There’s no way Joe Biden is going to be the nominee, there’s just no way. I’ve been asking people, ‘Do you know anybody that really supports Joe Biden?’ and I haven’t met a single person that says they know anybody that truly supports Joe Biden.”