Obama Urges Americans to Buy Stock, Not to Worry

The Dow slouched to its lowest point since 1997 yesterday, but President Obama says that's a good thing if you've got some money to play around with on the stock market. While answering reporters' questions today during a photo opportunity with British Prime Minister Gordon Brown, Obama took the opportunity to hand out some investment tips based on the old 'buy low, sell high' maxim: "What you're now seeing is... profit and earning ratios are starting to get to the point where buying stocks is a potentially good deal if you've got a long-term perspective on it." The President also admitted he doesn't get too upset over the "day-to-day gyrations of the stock market," because he's focused on "the long-term ability for the United States and the entire world economy to regain its footing." Comparing the market to political tracking polls, Obama told reporters, "You know, it bobs up and down day to day. And if you spend all your time worrying about that, then you're probably going to get the long-term strategy wrong." So buy stock everybody, but don't blame the vicissitudes on Obama; he has his eyes fixed on some distant spot on the horizon—inscrutable to the untrained eye—when the economy will take its finger out of the light socket and report back to work.

Contact the author of this article or email tips@gothamist.com with further questions, comments or tips.

By John Del Signore in News on March 3, 2009 2:57 PM

barack obama

Comments [rss]

meechybee

The basic rule is that you should NEVER buy stock unless you have the money to lose (in case it is lost) and a long-term perspective.

I think it is a great idea to buy now and have done so myself. The down-side is that you may buy something that might end up in bankruptcy (which makes any common share stocks worthless, as I found out with Kmart). The up-side is that if you lose your money, it might not be a lot of money to worry about.

Either way, 100 shares of Ford is a lot cheaper than it was five years ago. If you have the extra cash and patience, it's worth a try. $100 spent on stocks will most likely appreciate, while the same amount spent on shoes, electronic gadgets, etc. is guaranteed to depreciate.

matty

You may as well buy. Some blue chip stocks are at 2 bucks. I'll take a hundred for 50, Alex.

I mean, that's more or less a no-risk investment.

TKaisen

You mean a projected trillion dollar deficit doesn't fire people up to throw their money in the market?!

nivek

Perhaps people have been too willing to ignore the cold hard fact that the American way of life is unsustainable in almost every respect. The market collapsing thus far is only the tip of the iceberg. A trillion dollar deficit is nothing considering how much damage (and even lack of hindsight over what) we've done since the end of WWII.

I'm waiting for a quadrillion dollar deficit. Considering the CDS market is $70 trillion, it makes the US deficit seem tiny.

blablanyc

The Obamunist needs to play nice with investors and financiers. He has no choice.

But the Obamunist is only repeating what Buffet said last October.

http://www.usatoday.com/money/markets/2008-10-17-buffett-buying-stocks_N.htm

Bottomless Chips

What's a profit/earning ratio?

Ugh, he doesn't even know the valuation metrics and he's going to tell us to buy stocks? Plenty of S&P and DJIA stocks aren't back at their 52-week (November '08) lows, yet, and that's probably coming.

adeez

Did he really "urge" Americans to buy stock? I read the ABC article, and it didn't give any direct quotes to that effect.

It DID quote him on how buying stock may be a good investment, but that is a far stretch from telling us all to go out and buy some.

Felix Hoenikker

Bah. The floor is 3-4000.

NYCSniper

"LET THEM EAT STOCK"

Gothampc

I'm gathering up all my gold and sending it to the cash4gold people that I see advertised on tv. You just put all your gold in an envelope and mail it away to strangers and they send you lots of money.

You know the commercial:

Woman: "I took the vaction of a lifetime".

Man: "I got $240. That's a lot of gas money".

babyhitler

omg! me too. I got me 30 dollars for my dad's guido rope.

Shinobi Shaw

People should invest in real hard assets, stock market will be worthless over the years.

whitecastlerock

go on plan a vacation...

verbal

in over his head

Ared

This from a man who before becoming President had less than 3% of his total net worth in the stock market?

Once again, Obama shows he's more than willing to be reckless with other people's money.

SP

Really? Shows to me that he's pretty damn smart actually. You have better odds putting your money down on a blackjack table than in the stock market.

cucarachita

Exactly. I think it's pretty smart to have less than 3% of his wealth in the stock market. I'm sure he thinks so too, right now. If everyone were that smart, there would be less people crying over their stocks right now, and the low returns would only be an inconvenience to them, rather than a major setback. That said, I think they totally deserve what they got, risking their money that way for a quick buck.

My former accountant constantly tried to get me to get and apartment through a subprime mortgage and encouraged me to get an aggressive investment type of IRA. Ha. I was suspicious and declined, wondering what his delusions were. Now, I'm pretty freakin' pleased I ignored his advice, obviously.

If I had spare money, I'd invest right now, too. Absolutely. Those who do, should invest. But you know what I'd invest in? War. Because that's the only thing that will never ever go away. War and killing. As long as there are humans, there will be war.

Think2wice

Don't know where to really begin investing again and yet his words are reassuring.

Shinobi Shaw

I rather invest in commodities (including gold and silver, copper, sugar, etc).

Gothamist_Cynic

It's about the long term. People are so short sighted.

Not Your Sweetie

Then you put your money where his mouth is.

Shinobi Shaw

Buy stock? Tell me you were just joking Mr. Obama?

Smitty025

Why not? Sure, if you a looking to make a quick buck you'll be disappointed, but what about 5 years from now? 10? 20? If you invest in companies that don't go bankrupt and aren't nationalized, you can make some good money. Right now many stocks are nice and cheap.

Even still, some people are worried things may become so bad confidence is lost in the dollar. Well, what does it matter if your money becomes worthless as pieces of paper that are stock in a company or as pieces of paper with dead presidents on them? I suppose you could invest in commodities to try and avoid that if you were so inclined.