Jan 28, 2017

A bullish case for Dow 30,000 — If Trump can avoid a trade war

Mike Allen

Richard Drew / AP

The cover of Barron's is "Next Stop: Dow 30,000," with Gene Epstein and Jack Hough writing: "History suggests that this aging bull market can live on. … In fact, if … Trump can avoid stumbling into a trade war—or a real war—there's no reason the Dow Jones Industrial Average can't exceed 30,000 by the year 2025."

  • The bullish case: "If Trump can succeed in reducing regulation and lowering corporate taxes, stocks should surge further this year. An additional 5% or even 10% gain in 2017 wouldn't be surprising."
  • The bearish case: "Border-adjusted taxes that reward exporters and pinch importers could backfire, as well, raising prices and damping growth. And a rising dollar could cut into U.S. earnings growth."

Related: The Dow Jones average since 1985, visualized.

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Jacob Knutson

Clyburn: Sanders' "socialist" label will be "extra burden" in House races

Clyburn with Speaker Nancy Pelosi. Photo: Mario Tama/Getty Images

House Majority Whip Jim Clyburn (D-S.C.) said on ABC's "This Week" Sunday that Sen. Bernie Sanders' identification as a democratic socialist may be an "extra burden" in down-ballot House races if he were to win the Democratic nomination.

Why it matters: Clyburn's comments echo fears from many establishment Democrats, who worry the House majority they won in 2018 by taking moderate seats carried by President Trump could be at risk with Sanders at the top of the ticket.

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National Security Adviser Robert O'Brien. Photo: Chris Usher/CBS via Getty Images

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Italy becomes site of largest coronavirus outbreak outside of Asia

Data: The Center for Systems Science and Engineering at Johns Hopkins, the CDC, and China's Health Ministry. Note: China numbers are for the mainland only and U.S. numbers include repatriated citizens.

The novel coronavirus has spread to more nations as South Korea and Italy step up emergency measures in their countries amid rising case numbers on Sunday.

The big picture: COVID-19 has killed at least 2,462 people and infected almost 79,000 others, mostly in mainland China. South Korea increased the infectious disease alert to red, the highest possible, as its case numbers jumped to 602 and the death toll to five. Italy's government announced emergency measures as it confirmed a spike from three to 132 cases in matter of days, making it the largest outbreak outside of Asia.

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