Neil Cavuto was joined by Gregg Hymowitz, founder of Entrust Capital; Jim Rogers, president of JimRogers.com; Mansoor Ijaz, chairman of Crescent Partnerships and a FOX News Foreign Affairs Analyst; Jason Calacanis, CEO of Venture Reporter and Bob Sellers, host of FOX News Live.
Attack Iraq Alone?
Neil Cavuto: Everyone's asking, did Colin Powell's case on Iraq persuade more U.N. members to back the U.S.? But is a better question: Who cares? Would our safety and your stocks be better off if we kick Hussein out of Iraq without international support, or at least French, German, or maybe even Chinese and Russian support?
Mansoor Ijaz: There's no question we need to take firm military action against Iraq to get Hussein out. The United Nations has made itself irrelevant and I don't think Bush will go back to the U.N again unless he knows two things. One is that France will abstain from voting against it and the other is that he's going to win the vote and get the authorization.
Jim Rogers: To go into Iraq without U.N. support is madness. I don't like the U.N., and don't think we should give as much money as we do, but going into Iraq without U.N. support would be wrong.
Gregg Hymowitz: In the short run, the equity markets take going in unilaterally as very negative. On the longer run, the economy in general will take it negatively too.
Bob Sellers: This is something positive we can do by going in there and setting something up that's positive and good for Iraq. But it's this uncertainty that's hurting us.
Mansoor Ijaz: Whether we remove Hussein or not, we won't be able to stop bin Laden and the people who follow him. Hussein is the chief enabler of Al Qaeda in the world today.
Gregg Hymowitz: We need a great alliance if we want this done right. Bush said in his State of the Union that great alliances brought down dictators like Hitler. We need that now in order to bring down Hussein.
Neil Cavuto: If we don't go in without France or Germany's support, is there financial hell to pay?
Jim Rogers: No. I'm investing as if the market is going to go up when this war begins. But this is different than the Gulf War. Last time we went to war, everyone was bearish and the markets sprung up. This time everyone is bullish. It's not the same situation.
Gregg Hymowitz: Eighty-three percent of Europeans think that next year the most dangerous country will be America. Long-term this will have a huge negative effect on the markets.
Mansoor Ijaz: The risk is not whether the U.N. will be with us or against us. The risk is some sort of chemical weapons attack against oil producers in the region.
More for Your Money
Neil Cavuto: Nobody wants war, but if we do have to attack Iraq, should you buy stocks before the first bomb drops in order to get more for your money? Stocks stumbled the month leading up to the last Gulf War. Then 30 days after we started kicking Iraq out of Kuwait, the market was up more than 10 percent. Fast forward to today, and you see stocks are down again as war worries heat up. So, is now the time to buy?
Jason Calacanis: I think the market will go down when the first bombs start hitting. The difference between this war and the last is since that time, we've been attacked on our own soil. We had the Sept. 11 attack.
Gregg Hymowitz: I don't think that will make a difference. People now are no longer surprised about the attack on our soil. That has already been factored into the market.
Neil Cavuto: Take a look at this. One year after the Gulf War began, the Dow was up 24 percent. One year after the Vietnam War began, the Dow went up 5 percent. And one year after the Korean War, it went up 15 percent.
Jim Rogers: I think these gains are short-lived. If you remember, the market went down 20 percent and then came back up 20 percent during the last war. So it was basically a wash.
Gregg Hymowitz: I'm prepared to buy stocks here in advance of the bombs dropping.
Bob Sellers: I don't like to buy stocks based on P.E.'s because when you look at the highs and the lows, they're never in sink with the long term. I think initially we can be up 20 percent, but not a year out. I think we'll go down after a year.
Jason Calacanis: I'd buy companies with a lot of cash like Cisco (CSCO) and Dell (DELL).
Gregg Hymowitz: I like Comcast (CMCSK). They're in 22 million homes and have nine times cash flow.
Head to Head
David Batstone, author and professor at University of San Francisco, says funding to NASA should to be re-directed somewhere else. Neil and David debate: Is space travel worth the risk and the money?
FOX on the Spot
Bob Sellers: Deficits and inflation are good. Stocks rise next time fed hikes rates!
Jim Rogers: Invest in China! Take advantage of world's new No. 1 consumer
Gregg Hymowitz: Stocks rise after war begins and uncertainty fades
Jason Calacanis: France and Germany continue selling out the U.S.
Neil Cavuto: The French will go along, but Germany will not. And we'll know who are true friends are in the end.
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