Whatever comes out of the debt ceiling talks in Washington, the U.S. is headed toward a period of austerity, BlackRock Chief Equity Analyst Robert Doll told CNBC.
"We’re debating where and how much but we’ll get there. None of us will like the way we’re getting there but we’ll get there," he said. Congress and President Obama have until Aug. 2 to come up with a plan for raising the debt ceiling or the U.S. will default on its obligations.
Doll, who said he has sold "zero stocks" as a result of the uncertainty over the debt ceiling, said his position remains unchanged.
"We’re going to have a massive circus," he said. "It’s not going to be fun. In the 12th, maybe 13th hour we’ll get something done and we move on. Hopefully, it will be something substantial. If not, we’ll have to do something substantial down the line."
He added, "When Ma and Pa are watching their televisions sets and seeing...the chaos in Washington, it just doesn’t engender confidence."
However, as far as the market is concerned, it has been "a fantastic week for corporate earnings," with revenue growth up in the high single digits, he said. "That’s not so bad."
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Disclosures:
Disclosure information was not available for Robert Doll or his company.