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Published January 23, 2017
DISCLAIMER: THE FOLLOWING "Cost of Freedom Recap" CONTAINS STRONG OPINIONS WHICH ARE NOT A REFLECTION OF THE OPINIONS OF FOX NEWS AND SHOULD NOT BE RELIED UPON AS INVESTMENT ADVICE WHEN MAKING PERSONAL INVESTMENT DECISIONS. IT IS FOX NEWS' POLICY THAT CONTRIBUTORS DISCLOSE POSITIONS THEY HOLD IN STOCKS THEY DISCUSS, THOUGH POSITIONS MAY CHANGE. READERS OF "Cost of Freedom Recap" MUST TAKE RESPONSIBILITY FOR THEIR OWN INVESTMENT DECISIONS.
Wild Market Swings Spark New Recession Fears
Gary B. Smith: I think we are every single sign I look at, whether you look at macro signs of GDP growth, household income, demand for oil, whether you are looking at the financial sector, the charts, I can't see one positive sign out there. Normally getting brief pullbacks, you see, well the tech sector is strong or Netflix is still doing well. I go through every single indicator I look at. I can't find one that's positive. I think the market is hurting. I definitely think we are headed to a recession. We are probably long overdue. I think this could be a painful one.
John Layfield: We're the tallest leprechaun. That's not saying a lot. There aren't many good signs out there. The Middle East is in crisis. More important than the Middle East being at war. You have countries like Qatar, Saudi Arabia for the first time they can't fund their own government so they're selling a lot of their stocks, it's killing European banks, so you see a lot of negatives going forward. Most of the signs I don't think we are headed for a consumer recession. We are certainly in a corporate recession. We had three straight quarters of declining profit t. Capex is the lowest spending we had in five years. We are seeing a lot of bad signs. I think we will be a growth but a meager growth going forward.
Chuck Rocha: I blamed it on Donald Trump. I was watching him. He said he will make everything great again. I'm sure everything will be fine. I was looking, car sales are up. We are creating jobs; oil is at an all-time low. We have slow GDP growth, I sound like Gary B, I'm not coming on this show anymore. I would say it is slow growth. The funneling of Bernie Sanders is going to millionaires and billionaires. People like me being left out. I think that's the problem.
Suzy Welch: If there even was a recovery, you can make the argument there wasn't a full recovery. One number that has me worried, the number that has me worried is venture capital spending in Silicon Valley. It was 19 billion in the fourth quarter of 2015, down to 9 billion the first quarter of this year. That's scary the tech sector was like the last bulletproof sector. If you look at analyst reports, you average them out. They'll tell you there is a 25 to 35 percent chance there is going to be a recession in the next 18 months. Okay. That's, you know, that's not the preponderance of it. That's sort of like a weather forecaster saying, go outside, there is only a 25 to 35 percent chance you will get frost bite. That's not 100 percent chance. It will be nasty out. I think it will be nasty going forward. If are you a consumer or somebody who works. You got to batten down the hatches. When you vote, you have to think jobs, jobs, jobs, that's the thing that will get hit.
Jonas Max Ferris: If you don't look abroad; it's hard to say things are falling apart here. There is serious recessions in the emerging market to some extent in Europe they have a banking crisis. For us, I say we can dodge it. It's been a long time. I still think the consumer at home has seen the benefits of the world's problem. Car sales were brought up. Mortgage rates are staying low, gas is pushing a dollar in some places because of a huge foreign problem hopefully won't spread and destroy America. So at this point I think you can sit tied and enjoy the benefits of a collapsing world.
New Wage Rage Protesters Target Democratic Presidential Candidates
John Layfield: It's an arbitrary number they have chosen. I'm fixing it long term and take unions and politics out of it. I was in Seattle. I paid $50 bucks for parking. I asked, Why is it so much? He said with the new minimum wage we had to raise everything in Seattle. You are seeing it hurting the rental car business, the parking business. It's going to technology, which is what will happen with these jobs, it's going to technology where there is not a minimum wage.
Gary B. Smith: They're doing the opposite. They're not opening them, they're closing them in china town, in Los Angeles, the residents there were dying to have their Wal-Mart there. They love their Wal-Mart there because it provided a real need. It had to close because they couldn't afford the $15 minimum wage. You know, John talked about Seattle, of course one of those billionaires who can't afford $50 for parking. But somehow, the point is restaurant prices there have gone up 7 to 8 percent . Prices are passed onto the consumer. Whether you look at anecdotes or studies, $15 minimum wage, everything above mark will hurt the economy.
Chuck Rocha: You need to back up. I make these union signs. I make the TV ads for the politicians, it's called don't be hurting my job here. Back to this point, you can tie it to the other conversation we were having because of no real wage growth and a slow recovery, there's lots of people that have lots of minimum wage jobs. I say all for them. If you can demand and get more, if you get more money, you are going to spend more money. We can continue to have this debate. I think as long as working people are trying to demand it and let their voice be heard. It's a good thing. They may not always get it. I can call you a campaign sign. Call me up.
Suzy Welch: I agree with Gary and John. Let everybody raise the minimum wage. This is like letting your child have all the Halloween candy the night of Halloween, you say don't do it. Eventually, they have to learn the hard way it's bad for them. You let them eat the candy, it's not pretty. Let the wages go up and the jobs will vanish. There will be fewer jobs. Next time they'll protest for training, not for these low paying service jobs but higher paying high quality jobs. That's what they should be protesting about. More jobs, not higher minimum wage.
Jonas Max Ferris: Global wage stagnation is not going to be curable with a decree by the government on what the wages should be. That said, it is a good insurance policy against Bernie Sanders and that element. There is always a risk in capitalism that people will revolt. You will have more damages than a slightly artificially high wage. Which is what we are talking about here. I say, Bernie Sanders wouldn't be leading Hillary Clinton if Obama put this index into inflation years ago. It would have quitted that element of the debate down. I say you need it. Maybe not 15. A lot of companies cost high unemployment. It's better when other people revolt.
Facebook Stepping Up Efforts to Shutdown Profiles With Terror Links
Suzy Welch: I don't think we can throw enough money at this problem. I think it's a part of private efforts to do it. It's stupid money, nothing will happen. Fighting Isis messaging has gotten very sophisticated is not a job for bureaucrats or admin Madison Avenue. This is a gob for people who have been radicalized and left and people experts in at risk youth. Those are the people going to Isis. Hopeless young men who are being promised a future. The messaging has to be sophisticated in presenting another kind of future. I think Facebook and Twitter and the government all together wisely with smart and focused efforts.
Chuck Rocha: That's right. The FBI started this goat game. It shows young children not to go down the propaganda highway by destroying a goat. I think more so than that it should be a private public thing. I said this before. I went online last week and looked at peanut butter treats for the best bulldog. Which I have. Everywhere I turn I see the treats online, if they can track me getting dog treats. They should be able to track these people that want to destroy our country and get rid of them.
Gary B. Smith: It sounds like it's ripped from the page of the onion. One bill counter prevents online radicalization. First of all, they are just doing that now. Second of all, I bet Isis is scared of their planning session. The other one, Chuck's point, they will go to colleges and have the students develop counter-narratives for teenagers and young adults. Oh my gosh, I better that quaking in their boots. I'm not sure we're addressing the right problem. They sound like a wonky thing and which will get nothing done.
Jonas Max Ferris: The white house met in early January. It's a one of page request as Gary B was saying. I played the goat game. It made Donkey Kong look like World of Warcraft I'm sad at the final thing.
John Layfield: This is the same government that spent hundreds of thousands on the Obamacare website and had to fix it. Had officials with classified e-mails, they couldn't organize a rock fight much less something to do with computers. Put a bounty on it. Pay anonymous to do it.
Stock Picks
Gary B. Smith: (HSY) Hershey 20 percent gains in 1 year
John Layfield: (CVS) CVS up 20 percent in 1 year
Jonas Max Ferris: (FXE) up 15 percent in 1 year
https://www.foxnews.com/transcript/wild-market-swings-fuel-fears-of-another-deep-recession