http://moneyfeatures.blogs.money.cnn.com/2009/05/18/obamas-favorite-mutual-fund/ That would mean he is bearish on the US economy, If he thought the economy was headed up then he could have parked his money on the S&P 500 index. This is an interesting tell.
Noob, it says more about his personality than it does about his views on the economy. Obama, Bernanke, etc... all have most of their money in mutual funds and treasuries, meaning that they're risk averse. Now the question is, is that a good thing or a bad thing?
The have 98-98.5% cash/treasuries. less than 1-1.5 in mutual funds/equities. To me it just says they do not have confidence enough that our economy will get better so they are not investing in our economy by putting money at risk buying a stake in American company equities or bonds. not even investment grade bonds. If they thought that the economy and GDP would grow they would figure that the S&P is trading at a discount and invest in the S&P 500 index fund or ETF. To me it says, no confidence yet in our economy.
I don't think Obama knows much about finance. He recently called the PE the Profit to Earnings Ratio. Until his book deals just a few years ago he didn't have much money so it stands to reason he never learned about investments. Also, I think he has to have his investments in a blind trust while he is President. It wouldn't look right if he shorted GM then fired the CEO the next day! :eek:
I agree with you on the risk averse comment. The fact that he has the majority of his funds in treasuries would speak to the fact that he's risk averse, not necessarily because he's bearish on equities.
I think the practical issue is that high government officials are not allowed to actively invest/trade the stocks market. The two choices are typically go all treasuries or put everything into a blind trust. I would have chosen treasuries, too.
Yah, it seems he is doing the honorable thing here. Sad to think of the beating he'll take as interest rates rise! But maybe he's got some sharp guys managing his account who have been shorting the hell out of treasuries.
I don't think the President or anyone else should have to invest in such a way to make you happy. Ya know?
If I was going to be able to pull in over $100k/speech for much of the rest of my life, I'm not sure I'd take on any risk with my savings, either. Why bother?
Why would what he invest in make me happy? But knowing what he is invested in does provide some kind of insight. When Bush/Cheney were in the white house they had lots of investments in oil and military industrial companies, ie HAL etc.. So they were bullish on that and those stocks seemed to do well during their presidency. Also when I went out this weekend I did not see many people shopping. I remember when the malls were jammed packed with customers and parking hard to find on weekends. So the president has a much better grasp than I do on where this country seems to be headed economic wise and it would seem like he does not consider to find any saftey of principal in any way if he invested in a total market portfolio, not even 10% Someone his age would have a bigger portion in equities and bonds.