Is Obama already a lame duck?
By Liz Skinner
Nov 10, 2013 @ 9:04 pm (Updated 9:32 pm) EST
WASHINGTON - Democrats are increasingly separating themselves from President Barack Obama and the damage from the debacle of the healthcare plan roll out negated all injury done to the Republicans from the government shutdown.
"I've never seen a president become a lame duck this early," Greg Valliere, the chief political strategist of Potomac Research Group, told a ballroom full of financial advisers at the opening of the 2013 Schwab Impact Conference. "The only thing he can get done now is through regulatory policy."
The earliest that Obamacare could possibly be killed is Spring 2017, he said. Although he said the health insurance program could be delayed if its computer systems still aren't working properly in a month.
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As for the economy, forecasters remained generally upbeat.
Stocks appear undervalued when looking at forward earnings, which will give U.S. markets breathing room in the face of slower earnings growth, Liz Ann Sonders, Charles Schwab's chief investment strategist said. She said long-term sentiment suggests that "we are not near the euphoria that tends to mark the end of a bull market."
One of her concerns, however, is near-term sentiment, "which is getting a little bit frothy" and could cause a small pullback at any time, she said at the pre-conference session Sunday. About 1,500 advisers are registered for the conference, which concludes on Wednesday.
U.S. manufacturing also looks increasingly attractive going forward because American wages have remained low, Ms. Sonders said. The U.S. is now fourth in terms of the "ease of doing busines," while China is No. 96 and India is No. 134.
"Things like this start to matter more" when U.S. wages are stagnant, she said. "A lot of jobs are coming back from China."
Overall, developed economies are trumping emerging markets and investors should carefully evaluate the fundamentals of specific countries when investing in emerging nations, she said.
Mr. Valliere told the advisers to "tell your clients not to watch CNBC quite so much," because he said the media is hyping the negative news when in reality "the big themes look just fine."
He predicted the U.S. government will not have another shutdown and will not have another debt ceiling crisis, based on talks that he's had with Republican and Democratic lawmakers.
"The markets this fall got used to the fact that Washington can cry wolf only so many times," Mr. Valliere said.
The U.S. budget deficit also will continue to fall as tax receipts continue to increase, new spending is blocked by the Republican-controlled House of Representatives and spending cuts continue, he said.
He doesn't expect any deal on taxes to be approved this year.
Neither speaker is worried about inflation and both expect Janet Yellen, President Obama's candidate for Federal Reserve chairman, will mostly continue the dovish stance of current chairman Ben Bernanke.
Liz Skinner covers practice management for InvestmentNews and wants to hear any tips or innovative approaches that have helped advisers improve their businesses.
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