CBS This Morning journalists on Friday actually hyped the booming stock market, touting it breaking 25,000 as a “wow!” moment. Yet, while Congress, tax cuts and vague talk of deregulation got credit, Donald Trump’s name was never mentioned. Asked by co-host Norah O’Donnell for the cause, Hobson gushed, “Wow! That is all I can say. It’s quite a start! We broke through lots and lots of records last year. Started this year off strong.”
Going into specifics, she credited, “A lot of it has to do with the fact that corporate profits have been strong. Should only get better because of the recent tax cuts that Congress has delivered to them. Unemployment is really low.”
Surely, Congress passed the tax cuts, but did anyone else, like the President, have something to do with it? Hobson didn't say. Instead, she added, “Some of these deregulation efforts will push a lot of industries to have — to make it easier for them to do business.”
Summing up, the financial analyst for the network spread the praise around: “So there is a lot that is conspiring to push the stock market up.” Perhaps this spin isn't surprising as Hobson was a bundler for Barack Obama. She put together $131,200 for the Democrat in 2012 and personally donated $28,500 in 2008.
The CBS personality is married to George Lucas, a man who is worth $7 billion. Yet in 2014, she slammed rich CEOs as the problem.
In October, even the liberal journalists on NBC admitted that Trump has a “pro-business agenda.”
Later in the segment on Friday, Hobson said of wage growth: “I expect wage growth to really start to happen. I've been saying that for a while, but I really do think this is it.” The question is who will get the credit?
A transcript of the segment is below:
CBS This Morning
1/5/17
7:16:22 to 7:19:10NORAH O’DONNELL: Stocks opened this morning in record territory after passing another big milestone. For the first time, the Dow passed 25,000 mark on Thursday. That is the third record high in the first three trading days of the new year. CBS News Financial Contributor Mellody Hobson is in Chicago. Good morning. What a start to the new year. What's fueling this growth?
MELLODY HOBSON: Wow! That is all I can say. It’s quite a start! We broke through lots and lots of records last year. Started this year off strong. A lot of it has to do with the fact that corporate profits have been strong. Should only get better because of the recent tax cuts that Congress has delivered to them. Unemployment is really low. The economy, not just in America, but around the world is really strong. And not to mention the fact that some of these deregulation efforts will push a lot of industries to have — to make it easier for them to do business. So there is a lot that is conspiring to push the stock market up.
O’DONNELL: And yet I’m looking at the front page of The Wall Street Journal and they point out, though, that despite the surge, small investors have continued to yank their money out of funds that own U.S. stocks
HOBSON: Because they're suffering from what I call post-traumatic stress disorder from the financial crisis. Small investors have mostly sat on the sidelines because the financial crisis really scared them. And so, as a result, they've missed a lot of this run on the direct ownership of stocks but they indirectly own it through their retirement accounts, like their 401k plans and pensions that they’ve had. So a lot of workers have still benefitted.
ALEX WAGNER: Mellody, what about average Americans who don't own stocks and are looking to see economic increases in things like wages. Those have only increased less than three percent in the last year. How do you explain that discrepancy?
HOBSON: So, wage growth has been very, very slow, very low, and this is something that has confounded a lot of economists. A lot of this has to do with the fact, again, coming out of the financial crisis, unemployment surged, and people literally gave up looking for a job. They said, “I'm done.” As the economy started to come back, these people started entering the work force. They are willing to work for less. But now we have 18 states that have raised unemployment as of the first of this year. We have 13 states that have 40-year lows on unemployment. So in order to hire people, they are going to have to pay them more. I expect wage growth to really start to happen. I've been saying that for a while, but I really do think this is it.
WAGNER: It could also be a correction on the horizon somewhere down the line.
HOBSON: No one knows. This is the thing. I love when they say bull markets do not die of old age. That is not what happens. It’s something else. Everyone was pointing out it's the second largest bull market in stock market history and if we go another ten months, it would be the longest. But, who knows? I would not be time the market here.
WAGNER: Mellody Hobson, thanks for that.
