The stock market had two back-to-back days with the Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJIA) up over 200 points. On Monday the market was reacting to the first round of elections in France.
The French election for President is often a two step process. If a candidate gets over 50% of the vote in the first round of voting he or she is declared the winner and becomes President. If no one gets to 50%, the two top vote getters face a run-off election which decides the Presidency.
In the first round that just ended, the candidates of the major French parties that had run the country for decades did not make it to the run-off. Instead, Marine Le Pen (usually described as “Far Right”) and Emmanuel Macron (usually described as a “centrist”) were the two top vote getters. They will face off on May 7th with the winner becoming President of France.
Macron, age 39, received 23.8% of the vote while Le Pen scooped up 21.4%. Macron formed his own party, splitting off from the Socialists. Macron is best known for marrying his teacher, a woman 25 years his senior.
It is generally assumed that Macron will win the next round with the French establishment uniting against Le Pen who wants to stop immigration and wants France to pull out of the EU. The results of the balloting caused a relief rally in expectation that France will stay the current course and remain in the EU.
The Tuesday market action was driven by exuberance over the Trump administration announcement that they were proposing a reduction in the corporate tax rate from 35% to 15%. If this passes, next year’s corporate earnings would be higher.
On the earnings front some of the big names in the DJIA reported better-than-expected earnings. Caterpillar, McDonald, Du Pont and Goldman Sachs were the biggest beneficiaries.
Stay tuned.
Investment Views 
Market reacts to French election, tax cuts and earnings
The stock market had two back-to-back days with the Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJIA) up over 200 points. On Monday the market was reacting to the first round of elections in France.
The French election for President is often a two step process. If a candidate gets over 50% of the vote in the first round of voting he or she is declared the winner and becomes President. If no one gets to 50%, the two top vote getters face a run-off election which decides the Presidency.
In the first round that just ended, the candidates of the major French parties that had run the country for decades did not make it to the run-off. Instead, Marine Le Pen (usually described as “Far Right”) and Emmanuel Macron (usually described as a “centrist”) were the two top vote getters. They will face off on May 7th with the winner becoming President of France.
Macron, age 39, received 23.8% of the vote while Le Pen scooped up 21.4%. Macron formed his own party, splitting off from the Socialists. Macron is best known for marrying his teacher, a woman 25 years his senior.
It is generally assumed that Macron will win the next round with the French establishment uniting against Le Pen who wants to stop immigration and wants France to pull out of the EU. The results of the balloting caused a relief rally in expectation that France will stay the current course and remain in the EU.
The Tuesday market action was driven by exuberance over the Trump administration announcement that they were proposing a reduction in the corporate tax rate from 35% to 15%. If this passes, next year’s corporate earnings would be higher.
On the earnings front some of the big names in the DJIA reported better-than-expected earnings. Caterpillar, McDonald, Du Pont and Goldman Sachs were the biggest beneficiaries.
Stay tuned.
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