Back in late March, equity markets sold off on the first signs that Republicans were not going to be able to repeal and replace Obamacare as they had promised. Alas, the pessimism didn't last long as the BTFD crowd was able to quickly convince everyone that the failure of Obamacare was actually good for markets as it would allow the Trump administration to focus it's efforts on tax cuts instead...and, as usual, equities soared.
That said, per Trump's latest interview with Maria Bartiromo of Fox Business which aired earlier this morning, the BTFD strategists may have to find another catalyst for the next dip as Trump confirmed that healthcare has to get done before tax reform and infrastructure:
Trump: “I think we’re going very well with healthcare. And after that, we’re going to start on tax reform and infrastructure.”
Not satisfied with Trump's subtle suggestion that healthcare would have to precede tax reform, Bartiromo pressed further....
Bartiromo: "But, do you have to do healthcare before tax reform? When I speak with business managers they say tax reform is so much more impactful to moving the needle on economic growth."
...at which point, she got a very clear answer: "Yes."
Trump: “Yes. They’re all right. But because I’m saving a tremendous amount, hundreds and hundreds of millions of dollars we’re saving on healthcare. So we’re going to have a much better plan than ObamaCare, which is failing.”
“So we’re saving tremendous amounts of money on health care when we get this done, number one. And most importantly, actually we’re going to have great healthcare. And all of that saving goes into the tax. If you don’t do that, you can’t put any of the savings into the tax cuts.”
.@POTUS: "I think we're doing very well with health care... after that, we're going to start on tax reform and infrastructure" pic.twitter.com/G0kv1TTJIr
— FOX Business (@FoxBusiness) April 12, 2017
We're currently awaiting confirmation as to why delaying tax reform and spending more time on healthcare is positive for equities...we expect to have an answer by this afternoon at the latest.