Benzinga and Yahoo Finance LLC may earn commission or revenue on some items through the links below.
“Shark Tank” star Kevin O’Leary dismisses political theater, saying his focus is on money and the policies that create it.
The metric for judging any administration, he says, is capital flow.
“I look at policy. You can’t make money with a politician. You make money on the policy they create through their administration,” O’Leary recently said on the Conversation podcast hosted by Politico Playbook Chief Correspondent Dasha Burns.
O’Leary says the Trump administration has done well in that realm based on the “massive” foreign investment in the U.S. and a stock market that continues to rise.
Don’t Miss:
He said that most global sovereign wealth funds continue to pour capital into the U.S. economy and the S&P 500, demonstrating confidence in the economic climate despite Trump’s means of getting things done.
The U.S. markets hitting new all-time highs is a testament to the success of Trump’s aggregate economic policies.
“You can’t say that Trump has not been successful when you look at foreign capital flows into this country, job creation in this country and the index of the S&P 500,” O’Leary said. “I say to him, ‘Keep it up, but be careful. You can’t get everything you want.’ But what he’s delivered so far by the metrics, by the measure, by capital flows — wildly successful.”
Trending: This Jeff Bezos-backed startup will allow you to become a landlord in just 10 minutes, with minimum investments as low as $100.
While he approves the overall results, O’Leary is quick to criticize specific policy decisions that are bad for business.
He calls President Donald Trump‘s tariffs a “headache” that increases input costs, yet notes that entrepreneurs — the engine of job creation — have learned to pivot through the chaos.
He cites the adoption of artificial intelligence as a major driver of productivity and enhanced margins across his portfolio, which helps offset the costs associated with tariffs.
However, O’Leary reserves his sharpest condemnation for the administration’s proposed move to have the U.S. government take a stake in Intel.
“Intel is a bad investment,” he said. “It’s been where money goes to die for the last 10 years. Why kill more money?”
See Also: The ‘ChatGPT of Marketing’ Just Opened a $0.81/Share Round — 10,000+ Investors Are Already In
In O’Leary’s capitalist view, Intel is a “terrible company” and should be allowed to fail and be “sold for parts.” He believes government intervention is a waste of taxpayer dollars.
For the veteran investor, political volatility and economic disruption are not reasons to panic but to make money.
O’Leary advises investors to focus only on policy to make “radical investment decisions at minimal risk.”
He said the best time to start a business is in chaos, providing entrepreneurs the ultimate chance to find “big opportunities” and invest in sectors that have been dislocated by policy change.
Read Next: Missed Tesla? EnergyX Is Tackling the Next $200 Billion Opportunity — Lithium
Image: Imagn Images
This article ‘You Can’t Make Money With A Politician’ — Kevin O’Leary Judging The Trump Economy originally appeared on Benzinga.com
