Topic: How To Invest

What is Pat’s commentary for the week of November 20, 2012

Article Excerpt

I’m pleased with the way that U.S. politicians and the U.S. stock market are acting. The worst short-term fear that investors now face is that the two U.S. political parties will refuse to compromise over terms of a deficit- and debt-reduction package. If the two fail to agree on a package by the end of the year, a drastic set of tax increases and spending cuts automatically goes into effect on January 2. This would mean we had gone over the much-discussed “fiscal cliff” and were headed for a resumption of the recent recession, if not a lot worse. Now, however, the two sides seem to be heading for a compromise. Now that the presidential election is over, they have nothing to gain by failing to work together. Neither party wants to get blamed for a slide back into recession. On the day after the presidential election, I wrote that when things settle down, we may see the start of a market rise…