After the U.S. stock market has hit a new record level, President Donald Trump is getting praise in Davos from an unlikely source. According to CNBC, Goldman Sachs CEO Lloyd Blankfein told an interviewer at the World Economic Forum in Davos that he “really liked” what the president has done with the economy. This comes just after GDP is posed to surpass the three percent mark for the third consecutive fiscal quarter, marking a resurgence in domestic production an investment resulting in record-breaking numbers.
Since President Trump’s 2016 presidential victory, the Dow Jones Industrial Average (Dow) has surged more than 40 percent, sitting above 26,500 points. Many cite the aggressive moves the real estate mogul has made in rolling back thousands of Obama-era regulations that stifled business and the Republican-led Tax Cut and Jobs Act.
Blankfein even told Squawk Box that economic conditions in the American market would have been far weaker had Hillary Clinton been elected. The Goldman Sachs CEO was an avid Clinton supporter during the 2016 presidential election and continually took shots at then-candidate Trump on Twitter and in public statements. “I think the market would be lower [under Clinton], I’d be dealing with more regulation,” Blankfein said.
Better-than-expected earnings have shocked the financial world in 2017 and 2018 after record highs have been seen in all three economic indices (Dow, S&P 500, and Nasdaq). According to a report from CNBC, 77 of indexed companies have surpassed earnings estimates and 80 percent have topped revenue expectations.
Hundreds of companies in the U.S. have announced employee raises and bonuses amid the aftermath of the widely-regarded Tax Cut and Jobs Act. The Seattle Times reports Starbucks will grant store employees $500 worth of company stock and $2,000 worth of stock grants to store managers of the coffeehouse chain.
The Wrap, a culture publication, reports The Walt Disney Company will give $1,000 cash bonuses to its 125,000 U.S.-based employees. Disney CEO Bob Iger, another former Trump opposition member, claims the bonuses come, “as a result of the recently enacted tax reform.”
The Trump tax plan is working – clearly.