More than three quarters of respondents to this quarter's CNBC Global CFO Council poll say President Donald Trump deserves at least some of the credit for the stock market's record run in 2017, with 17.1 percent saying he deserves "most of the credit."
The CNBC Global CFO Council represents some of the largest public and private companies in the world, collectively managing more than $4 trillion in market capitalization across a wide variety of sectors. The quarterly poll was conducted from Sept.5–13.
The president and other members of his administration have said repeatedly that they see the stock market as a measure of their success. Last month the president tweeted several times about the Dow climbing above 22,000. "Stock Market at an all-time high. That doesn't just happen," he tweeted on Aug. 3.
At CNBC and Institutional Investor's conference last week, Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin reiterated his own belief that the stock market is a report card for the Trump administration. "The stock market has expectations that we're going to create significant growth, which is what this president and this administration is focused on. So yes, I take (the S&P 500 record close on Monday, Sept. 11) as a big vote of confidence in the economic plan."
Trump milestones
While CFOs give Trump credit for the stock market highs, they give him much less credit for other economic milestones: 51.4 percent of respondents say he deserves "none of the credit" for declines in the unemployment rate that is currently 4.4 percent, and 45.7 percent give him no credit for the 1.2 million jobs created since he took office.
CFOs also give the Trump administration credit for cutting back on regulation. A stunning 74.3 percent of respondents say "deregulation" is the Trump administration achievement that will have the most positive impact on their company over the next year. Neil Gorsuch's appointment to the Supreme Court is a distant second.
On the downside, 28.6 percent say withdrawal from TPP will have the most negative impact on their businesses over the next year (however, one CFO says TPP withdrawal will have the most positive impact), 17.1 percent say withdrawal from the Paris Climate Accord, and 11.4 percent say the president's ban on travel from some Muslim-majority countries will have the most negative impact on their companies over the next 12 months.
