Investors in Stock Market Find Comfort As Long as Rubin, Greenspan Are There
Stock-market investors, surprised by the quick delivery of a special prosecutor's report late Wednesday, found themselves sharing some of President Clinton's pain yesterday.</br></br>But while more could be in store in the event of a protracted battle over Mr. Clinton's future, some Wall Street strategists say the market has a salve: the continued presence of Robert Rubin as Treasury secretary and Alan Greenspan as Federal Reserve chief.</br></br>"It is times like these that you value people like Greenspan and Rubin, and we've got to make sure they don't resign or we're really in the soup," says Thomas Galvin, chief investment strategist for Donaldson, Lufkin & Jenrette.</br></br>Market strategists and other experts were quick to point to such factors that could cushion the market from the impact of scenarios ranging from censure to resignation to a full-blown impeachment proceeding stemming from the president's relationship with a White House intern.</br></br>"For the financial markets, the most important thing is that Greenspan and Treasury Secretary Rubin are still there, and are visible and active," says Prudential Securities market strategist Greg Smith. And in that case, "I don't think there will be quite the sense of hopelessness that nobody is in charge." In the end, he adds, unless the Clinton affair prompts either of those two "to resign or be ineffective," the president's problems are largely "an unpleasant side show."