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Alexandra & James Chief Investment Officer James B. Lebenthal on the economy’s outlook and why it’s a good time to invest in the markets.
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-- has a -- order couple of them actually he's got cash on hand he's ready to put it to work is James -- Paul Allen and James chief financial officer.
Is spending the last hour of trading with us and Fox Business exclusive that would be.
You know something that people want to hear from a guy like you put my question at the forefront of all of this is we've got a much better than expected Labor Department number.
Yet this market can't seem to seize on a gain and hold on to know it certainly can't and I think there's little spillover effect from yesterday.
There was a lot of talk yesterday and into today about margin calls and the potential that.
High frequency traders are getting this momentum going on the overall market and once it gets going it's hard to stop.
But -- we simplify this little bit you mentioned fundamentals just a minute ago.
We were in the middle of or at the end of a second quarter earnings season that's just been terrific and it's very clear that this year the S&P 500 will have earnings.
On the order of 97 dollars a share go back twelve years ago the S&P 500 was 10% higher.
And profits were one half the level of this year's I mean that's the kind of fundamental bargain that us value investors.
Love -- followed up for 12 the only reason you wouldn't -- it is if you thought profits were going to turn down and that would happen in a recession.
Liz were not getting a recession I haven't felt more convinced about -- -- like that.
In the last several months barely got any GDP growth OK that's true what are we basing -- OK well here's what I'm -- announce that simple.
Truth here that in order have a recession.
Forgive me the way I'm gonna put this but you have to have had an expansion to -- from.
Put another way you have to have had a bout of over investment of over building up over lending.
And we haven't had that in the last three years the financial imbalances are not there in the US mind you.
From which a recession would -- -- let's show gold behavior it's been down for part of today it happens to be up at the moment.
But yesterday the traders on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange were telling me the recent gold was selling off was that if you can't sell what you want to sell IE certain stocks -- maybe oil.
You sell what you can use of what people will buy on the market and that was gold right now this -- to you up two dollars -- down a couple of bucks earlier today.
Are you local buyer here I'm not a gold bug at all I'm not a rabid gold bear either but ultimately what I see there is a metal that has no intrinsic value.
It is basically a referendum of vote on the value of Paper currency and that's why it has gone up and pretty much doubled over the last couple of years.
The problem is as we still transact in Paper currency you're not gonna pay for gold to go get a candy bar or pay your rent in gold.
We use Paper currencies and the world use Paper currencies so it to me is just another metal it doesn't have any intrinsic value its Paper.
