Government and politics Archives

Wealthy investors support Harris over Trump, new survey says

26 September 2024
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Vice President and Democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris speaks at the Philip Chosky Theatre during a campaign event in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, on September 25, 2024.

Jim Watson | AFP | Getty Images

A majority of millionaire investors said they plan to vote for Vice President Kamala Harris in November, even though they give former President Donald Trump a better grade on the economy, according to new survey.

According to a UBS survey of investors with at least $1 million of investible assets, 57% plan to vote for Harris and 43% plan to vote for Trump.

Harris wins 91% of Democratic millionaires surveyed, 12% of Republicans and 60% of independents. Trump wins 88% of Republican millionaires, 9% of Democrats and 40% of independents.

Like many voters, millionaire investors rated the economy as their No. 1 issue. Fully 84% said the economy is the top issue in the election, followed by Social Security (71%), then taxes (69%) and immigration.

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While they support Harris more broadly, the investors who were surveyed give Trump slightly higher marks on the economy and taxes. When asked “who is better equipped to address the economy,” 51% said Trump and 49% said Harris. Trump also edged out Harris on taxes, at 52% to 48%.

Trump has proposed extending the 2017 tax cuts entirely, while Harris wants them to apply only to those making less than $400,000. She has also proposed higher taxes on the wealthy and corporations.

Millionaire investors give Harris better grades on Social Security and health care.

Whoever wins, however, millionaire investors are bullish on the economy and markets. A majority (55%) said they are highly confident about the economy, up from 43% during the same period in the 2020 election cycle (which was during the Covid-19 pandemic). Three-quarters of investors are also “highly optimistic” about their portfolio returns in the next six months.

More than three-quarters of wealthy investors are also planning to make changes to their portfolios based on the election results. If Trump wins, they said defense and energy stocks look attractive, but if Harris wins, they said health-care, sustainable investing and tech names look best, according to the survey.

The survey polled 971 investors with at least $1 million in investible assets between Aug. 13 and Aug. 19.

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Science & Environment

U.S. will again offer free at-home Covid tests starting…

23 August 2024
by admin

Images By Tang Ming Tung | DigitalVision | Getty Images

The Biden administration on Friday said it will resume offering free at-home Covid-19 tests to American households in late September as the virus has gained a stronger foothold in the U.S. this summer.

Americans will soon be able to use COVIDtests.gov to request four free tests, administration officials told reporters during a briefing. The tests will be able to detect the Covid variants that are currently circulating, most of which are descendants of the highly contagious omicron variant JN.1.

“These tests will help keep families and their loved ones safe this fall and winter season,” Dawn O’Connell, an assistant secretary for preparedness and response at the Health and Human Services Department, said during the briefing. “This is the seventh time over the last three years that the Biden-Harris administration has given families the opportunity to order the over-the-counter Covid-19 tests for free” through the government’s website.

The government’s program has provided more than 1.8 billion free over-the-counter Covid tests to Americans since it started in 2021, according to O’Connell.

The government is relaunching the program amid a relatively large spike in Covid cases this summer, and ahead of the fall and winter, when the virus typically spreads at higher levels each year. There is a “high” or “very high” level of Covid being detected in wastewater in almost every U.S. state, according to data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

But the government decided to reopen the program in late September because it’s when more Americans begin to travel and gather indoors with loved ones.

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“As people start to travel, as they start to get together with friends and family through the holidays, we want them to have those four tests available to them at that time,” David Boucher, director of infectious disease preparedness and response at HHS, told reporters during the briefing.

By then, the latest round of Covid shots from Pfizer and Moderna will be available to most Americans in pharmacies, health clinics and other locations nationwide. The Food and Drug Administration approved those shots, which target a JN.1 offshoot called KP.2, on Thursday.

Testing is a critical tool for protection as Covid infections climb again. But lab PCR tests — the traditional method of detecting Covid — have become more expensive and less accessible for some Americans since the U.S. government ended the public health emergency in May last year.

Still, certain local health clinics and community sites offer at-home tests to the public at no cost.

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Science & Environment

Dimon and other Wall Street CEOs react to Trump…

15 July 2024
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JPMorgan Chase CEO and Chairman Jamie Dimon speaks during the U.S. Senate Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs Committee oversight hearing on Wall Street firms, on Capitol Hill in Washington, U.S., December 6, 2023.

Evelyn Hockstein | Reuters

The leaders of Wall Street’s most powerful firms are speaking out to condemn the attempted assassination of former President Donald Trump at a Pennsylvania rally over the weekend.

JPMorgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon told employees Sunday that he and his management team were “deeply saddened by the political violence” and attempt on Trump’s life. The shooting killed one bystander and injured two more.

“We must all stand firmly together against any acts of hate, intimidation or violence that seek to undermine our democracy or inflict harm,” Dimon said in the memo. “It is only through constructive dialogue that we can tackle our nation’s toughest challenges.”

Goldman Sachs CEO David Solomon addressed the matter at the start of an earnings call Monday morning, calling the attempted assassination a “horrible act of violence.”

“We are grateful that he is safe and also want to extend my sincere condolences to the families of those who were tragically killed and severely injured,” Solomon said. “It is a sad moment for our country. There’s no place in our politics for violence.”

The shooting on Saturday shocked a nation gearing up for a contentious November election. Wall Street firms don’t officially endorse political candidates since they have to deal with both Republican and Democrat officials, though their executives and employees often donate to campaigns.

Watch CNBC's full interview with BlackRock chairman and CEO Larry Fink

BlackRock CEO Larry Fink told CNBC’s “Squawk on the Street” on Monday that the weekend events were “a tragedy.”

“It is a statement of America today, though. We need to create hope. All of us have a responsibility, every political candidate, every leader, every pastor, minister, rabbi, we all have a responsibility of bringing our community together to bring hope,” Fink said.

BlackRock, the world’s largest asset manager, said Sunday in an email that it ran an advertisement in 2022 in which the suspected shooter, Thomas Matthew Crooks, appears briefly in the background along with other students of Bethel Park High School in Pennsylvania.

“We will make all video footage available to the appropriate authorities, and we have removed the video from circulation out of respect for the victims,” BlackRock said in a statement.

Bank of America CEO Brian Moynihan also addressed employees over the weekend.

“We are deeply saddened for the family of the rally attendee who died at the event,” Moynihan said in the staff email. “Our thoughts are with former President Donald Trump, all those injured, and their families.”

— CNBC’s Jim Forkin contributed to this report.

Tag: <span>Government and politics</span>

Wealthy investors support Harris over Trump, new survey says

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Don’t miss these insights from CNBC PRO

U.S. will again offer free at-home Covid tests starting…

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Don’t miss these insights from CNBC PRO

Dimon and other Wall Street CEOs react to Trump…

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