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Published January 26, 2017
Neil Cavuto was joined by Jim Rogers, author of Adventure Capitalist; Ben Stein, author of Yes, You Can Time the Market; Gregg Hymowitz, founder of Entrust Capital; Lt. Col. Bill Cowan, FOX News military analyst; Rear Adm. Michael Nowakowski, U.S. Navy.
Neil Cavuto: We're aboard the USS Philippine Sea with the brave sailors who risk their lives everyday to make sure our lives, our loved ones and our economy are safe and sound! We saw our terror alert raised here at home after a string of attacks linked to Al Qaeda overseas. Colonel, winning this war on terror is certainly linked to the performance of the stock market and economy. Are we winning?
Colonel: I think we are. People around the world are alert and they know we have a terror alert. Our Federal Department and Homeland Security are working hard. But we have a long way to go. Also, our Federal, State and Local guys are much more prepared than they were.
Jim Rogers: Consolidating the government agencies is a nightmare. Unfortunately, every time we put four or five of these terrorist guys out of business, there's more of them being recruited. So this is not as simple as it sounds.
Ben Stein: I'm worried about these attacks in terms of loss of innocent life. I'm worried about sluggish corporate profits growth. Gregg mentions that profits are recovering, but they're recovering slowly. Oddly enough, dividend growth is very rapid.
Neil Cavuto: The American people seem to be very resilient. I don't think I hear much panic. What do you think Gregg?
Gregg Hymowitz: I don't think you're seeing much panic in the equity markets. But I think it's too early to claim that we've been victorious on terrorism. Saddam Hussein is hiding in Baghdad. Usama bin Laden is still out there somewhere. You had the bombings in Saudi Arabia and you had the bombings in Morocco. I think Americans need to see that there's other ways of handling terrorism besides basically invading other countries.
Neil Cavuto: But Gregg, you will acknowledge that we're safer now than we were on September 11th, right?
Gregg Hymowitz: Sure, but we need to do more and have more solutions than we currently have. I don't think our government has provided the funds to allow our first respondents to be more effective in potential terrorist attacks.
Colonel: Even the Israelis, with the best security in the world, still have terrorist attacks on their land. And a given is that we are going to see more terrorist attacks here in the United States or abroad. At the end of the day though, we are doing better than we did on September 10th.
Neil Cavuto: Gregg, do you think all the progress we've made on terror is maybe washed out by these recent events?
Gregg Hymowitz: The market depends on earnings. But the more anxiety there is in the system, the more friction we have in corporate profits. I think the market has been somewhat immune to the recent attacks, but there is an impact there.
Ben Stein: All we need is one atom bomb attack, here or abroad, and there will be panic. Israel experiences many falls and rallies after their many terror attacks. We will feel them too. Only corporate profits will make the market go up.
Jim Rogers: The markets have been very complacent lately. Corporate profits are up, like Gregg and Ben said, but not as high as they should be.
Neil Cavuto: But when you look at those corporate profits, you should also notice that more Americans are upbeat and they feel more safe.
More For Your Money
Neil Cavuto: Cities nationwide shell out $70 million dollars a week on Homeland Security. Not to mention the billions being spent on our troops fighting in Iraq and Afghanistan. Are all those tax dollars keeping us safe and helping you get more for your money?
Ben Stein: America has to be militarily secure. It's money well spent. I don't there's any such thing as spending too much on defense.
Jim Rogers: I'm for defense spending, don't get me wrong, but the best way to defend ourselves would be to not make so many enemies.
Ben Stein: We didn't make North Korea an enemy. North Korea is an enemy because it's run by a psychopath.
Gregg Hymowitz: There's not enough money in the world to make ourselves perfectly safe. We need to do more than spend this money arming ourselves. There's more we can be doing with this money. Most of the danger is from pipe bombs, and yet we're spending our money on untested, unproven missile defense. It's ludicrous.
Neil Cavuto: People want advice on how to invest in an environment like this. What advice do you have Jim Rogers?
Jim Rogers: I'm starting to sell stocks like iShares S&P 400 (IJJ) and iShares Russell 2000 (IWN). I do not own any defense stocks. I would however, buy defense stocks in Europe because you're seeing that they're just now beginning to process.
Ben Stein: What I love is Washington Real Estate Investment Trust (WRE). They own a lot of office space that is going to be rented out to the office of Homeland Security. This company benefits from the defense and security buildup.
Gregg Hymowitz: I think long term, some of the interesting companies will be the alternative energy companies. This country is going to be determined to remove our alliance on Middle Eastern oil.
Jim Rogers: I'm starting to sell. This may be another time where you sell in May and go away.
Heroe$
Neil sat down with U.S. Navy Rear Adm. Michael Nowakowski to discuss paying the ultimate price for freedom and America's changing attitude toward our Armed Forces.
FOX on the Spot
Colonel: Syria will refuse to hand over Saddam thugs.
Ben Stein: U.S. may invade Iran over nukes and terrorists.
Jim Rogers: Trade wars erupt between U.S. and Mexico.
Gregg Hymowitz: Tax cut bill will ruin economy!
Neil Cavuto: Get ready to be simulated. With tax cuts coming and interest rates going lower, we're off to races!
https://www.foxnews.com/transcript/recap-of-may-24-aving-america