What the Pros Say About Obama's Victory

Barack Obama claimed a decisive victory in Tuesday's presidential election, and CNBC asked some big-name financial experts what this means for the market and the economy.

Moving to the Center

“Working with business in a bipartisan way, moving to the center, which I think is what’s going to have to happen because the economy is so awful. The big picture items that he put in his election campaign have to come to the table: energy, health care, tax reform, all the things he talked about.”

Andrew Liveris, Dow Chemical CEO

Obama's Market Effect

“The stock market has always been a leading indicator. If you’re thinking about what the economy’s going to do, I’m looking for a moderately serious recession probably lasting a year-and-a-half, maybe more than that, but the stock market…anticipated all of that and more…I think the president is going to take us in a new direction – the new president, President Obama - and I think it shouldn’t influence your view of the market at all.”

Jack Bogle, Vanguard Group Founder & Former CEO

Obama, Energy & OPEC

"We have to watch OPEC, because every time something good happens, they raise the price of oil, and it just drains the blood out of the economy...you really need a Secretary of Energy that would be tough and smart, and you do have to create other alternatives to oil."

Donald Trump, Trump Organization Chairman & CEO

Obama & the Auto Industry

“I think Obama will be very good for the auto industry, and I think that’s a very important factor. General Motors and Chrysler need something like $10 billion to pay the one-time costs of merging; that’s a very cheap investment. There will be jobs lost at GM and Chrysler as a result of the transaction, but it will protect 781,000 jobs in the suppliers, including ours. That’s a huge amount of jobs. If either GM or Chrysler were to fail, probably 100,000 jobs would go almost immediately…so just stabilizing that would do an awful lot of good for the economy.

Wilbur Ross, WL Ross Chairman & CEO

Who Will Fill Paulson’s Shoes?

"Well, I think, number one is Tim Geithner, head of the Federal reserve in New York, because, and this is unique circumstances, we're in a crisis, he's been living the crisis, working the crisis.  He knows what's been done right; he knows the mistakes that have been made.  He has tremendous experience, a steady hand; I think everyone would look at that and say, 'Considering the times and the circumstances, that's the right choice.'  If you go a step away from that, names like Corzine and Summers, they're certainly competent, and certainly have the capabilities to fill the position, but I think in these unique circumstances, the smoothest transition would be to pick someone who's been in the fight every step of the way."

Mike Jackson, AutoNation Chairman and CEO

Obama & Pressure From the Left

“He’s going to have pressures from the left that are so strong. Pelosi and Reid and Barney Frank and Charlie Rangel - they see red meat, and they’re going to be coming, throwing everything at him. The question is going to be can he hold the line.

Jack Welch, Former General Electric Chairman & CEO

Obama’s To-Do List

“First and foremost (we have) to continue to thaw the credit markets. We have to get credit flowing again in this country if we’re going to get the economy growing again, so the programs that have been put in place at Treasury, at the Federal Reserve, they’re going to need a very strong stewardship to continue to fine-tune them, to continue to drive them forward.”

John Castellani, Business Roundtable President

Betting On Another Stimulus

“Clearly the new Administration will have its views as well. We have been talking over the last few weeks and indeed months about the need for a second stimulus package that deals with Main Street concerns, mainly unemployment is running out for literally hundreds of thousands of people, food stamps, because of loss of jobs people are having trouble putting food on their tables. The states are being really stretched because of the increasing demand on their health care system again because when you lose your job you lose your health insurance.”

Rep. Steny Hoyer, (D-MD) House Majority Leader

Taxes To Rise

“He said he was going to raise taxes, so why wait? Yeah, moving to the middle, I think that’s why you might not get tax on dividends all the way back up. You might get a capital gains tax only goes to 20 percent – not higher than that. They said they’re going to raise taxes; they’re going to raise taxes. Why wait ‘til they expire in 2010; you need the money now.”

Vince Farrell, Soleil Securities

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