Transcription
Take a look at April, the best month for stocks in years. The S&P 500 and the Nasdaq clocking in the best month in six years. Here's a look at where markets ended this week after we saw largely better-than-expected quarterly earnings once again from big tech and major oil companies. Also, first quarter GDP, better-than-expected economic growth rebounding to 2% as the first reading for the first quarter. Joining the now former Trump economic advisor and the founder of Unleash Prosperity, cofounder Steve Moore is with us. Great to see you. Thank you for being with us. What resiliency in this market and in this economy? We're in the middle of a war and yet stocks, economic growth, consumer spending all climbing despite $100 a barrel oil and inflation expecting to take higher. To what do you attribute the strength and how would you assess the economy right now?
I love that word that you used, resiliency. I've been using that word. We're so resilient. We have an amazing economy. And you're right, the tech companies are doing amazing and they've invested hundreds and hundreds of billions of dollars. One of the things that I really loved in the GDP report for the first quarter was powered by an incredible burst of capital investment spending throughout the economy, especially in the areas of AI, robotics, our tech industry, Microsoft, Amazon, Google, NVIDIA. Huge amount of spending. That's rocket fuel for a growing economy in the future. Although the thing that I was concerned about was the GDP report on the federal level. We do what is he that we want to keep draining the swamp. The $100 a barrel, these are very fine numbers.
You saw the big tech earnings this week from Meta, Alphabet, and Amazon and Apple. And with the earnings reports also came huge spending. And what really gets me, the fact that you are talking about $700 billion of new spending in front of the group this year alone in the data centers haven't even been built yet. There is a runway for the construction and electrician job creation. Do you expect the economy stays elevated and strong or do you think oil prices get people to slow down on their spending at some point? So far, consumer spending is staying strong and healthy.
Let's talk about the tech industry. The big issue going forward for America and the global economy. We have to ensure that justice. The U.S. economy dominated, totally dominated the internet age. We need to make sure that we're going to dominate the AI and robotics age. So far, so good. When you see these companies that I just mentioned that are spending so much money, investing in their making earnings is a great sign that we can dominate technologically. $100 a barrel of oil is attacks on the economy. We have to get that oil price down. If we can get the oil price down to $80 or $70 a barrel, I'm with you. I think there are no limits to how fast this economy could grow starting early the summer.
Maria: President Trump is expanding retirement savings with the new executive order this week. It gives Americans who don't have employer-provided 401(k) plans access to low-cost IRA accounts, the same type that federal employees have. Low-income workers can also be eligible for a $1,000 match for their savings. This could impact 41 million Americans. Most people know how I feel on the subject. It's so important for everybody to have a retirement account and the government take make it easy is a great thing and much more savings than you actually expected.
Chuck Schwab and I wrote a piece yesterday on how important this is for the economy. He is one of the greatest investors of the last 100 years and expanded so many accounts for millions of people. This is for people who do not have 401(k) plans through their employer. You have to have an income limit of $40-$50,000. That's a lot of people. That's about 40-50 million workers who will not have access to owning stock and having a piece of the rocket America. This is a great idea. If these young workers are putting money in these accounts at the $1,000 that the worker present in the government matches it with $500, by the time they retire at age 65, they could have one, two, three or $4 million in those accounts.
Exactly. My 401(k) plan was the first step for me to make my first million and I'm proud of it. My mother told me a long time ago to make sure you put as much money the company will allow you to put in the 401(k) plan because they will match and that's what led to millionaire status. Please do it, everybody. Next topic, Jay Powell. He says he's going to stay as if the governor once he steps down as chairman. Thank you very much. Scott Bessent says this is an insult to other Fed governors. What kind of an impact do you expect here? What is the impact he's going to have on the Fed for the rest of the year? The governor as Kevin Warsh will be chairman.
It's a terrible decision. It's unfair to Kevin Warsh. When you resign as a CEO of a company or resign as chairman, you should not stay on. It's not fair to your successor. This is all about Jerome Powell, the most political director that I've seen in my lifetime in 40 years. And he's just doing this out of spite and he does not like Donald Trump's administration. He's doing everything he can to try to harm him. It's not good for the country. It's not good for monetary policy. It's one of the best people coming in to the Fed and Kevin Warsh that I've seen since Alan Greenspan. I think he'll be exceptional. I think he'll be an inflation hawk. I think he'll keep the dollar as good as gold. That's what you want monetary policy. But Jerome, go home.
We will be watching all of that. Great to see you this weekend. Thank you for joining us.
Thank you, Maria.
Steve Moore joining us. The space race was once about getting there.