Pete Buttigieg’s showing in the first contest of the presidential primary earlier this week is good news for Wall Street, according to CNBC’s Jim Cramer.
The former South Bend, Indiana mayor is one of two leading candidates, alongside Sen. Bernie Sanders, in the delayed final count of the 2020 Iowa Democratic caucuses and is establishing himself as a legitimate player in the primary, the “Mad Money” host said Wednesday.
“Sure, the Iowa caucus fiasco hurt the Democrats, but the biggest takeaway was that Mayor Pete seems to have won … and Pete’s the status-quo candidate,” Cramer said. “He doesn’t want to destroy the insurance stocks by rolling out ‘Medicare for All.’ He doesn’t want to break up the banks.”
All eyes remain on Iowa after technical glitches disrupted tallying of Monday’s Democratic caucuses. The vote count has yet to be finalized as of Wednesday afternoon.
Of the 86% of precincts reporting, Buttigieg has claimed about 26.7% of state delegate equivalents, which leads Sanders’ tally of 25.4%. Sen. Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts has 18.3% while former Vice President Joe Biden has just under 16%.
Democratic presidential hopeful Pete Buttigieg greets supporters in Manchester, New Hampshire the morning after the flawed Iowa caucus on on February 04, 2020.
Spencer Platt | Getty Images
Sanders and Warren, whoa are high-ranking candidates in the national primary polls, are both campaigning to overhaul the nation’s health care system through a universal approach called “Medicare for All.” Buttigieg, on the other hand, wants to maintain the private system while establishing public coverage under a plan dubbed “Medicare for All Who Want It.”
The two senators also support reforming the United State’s financial system and breaking up big banks. Buttigieg isn’t viewed as a politician who is hostile to Wall Street, Cramer noted.
If Buttigieg were to become the nominee to go against President Donald Trump, “we’ll have two candidates who believe in free-market capitalism,” the host said.
“Until Iowa, it looked like the Republicans were overweighting the wealthy, who tend to own stocks, and the Democrats … were putting a strong sell on the wealthy,” he said. “But if Mayor Pete’s a serious contender, the 2020 election might not be about class war, and you know what, that is bullish — another reason” the stock market went higher in Wednesday’s session.
Source: Business - cnbc.com
