By Jennifer Ablan
NEW YORK (Reuters) - Republican presidential candidate John McCain's tax policies have given him an edge as the better man for the economy, various Wall Street experts said at this week's Reuters Investment Outlook Summit.
But, against a backdrop of job losses and deteriorating home values, Wall Street is backing McCain's Democratic rival, Barack Obama with cold, hard cash.
McCain plans to extend the Bush administration's tax cuts, eliminate the Alternative Minimum Tax, and slash corporate taxes. Obama, who has derided the Arizona senator's plans, has pledged to raise taxes on the wealthy and introduce a broad range of refundable tax credits.
"My personal opinion is I would argue that McCain is probably the better candidate for the economy and that is more or less because of his tax policies," James Caron, head of global rates research at investment bank Morgan Stanley in New York, said at the Reuters Summit this week.
"In this environment that we're in right now, the last thing you want to have is higher taxes and taking money out of the consumers' pockets," he added.
David Bianco, chief U.S. strategist at UBS Investment Research, told the summit that Wall Street would welcome McCain with open arms. "My view is that McCain is better for the market," Bianco said.
"The market will respond to McCain corporate tax cuts," said participant Alan Ruskin, chief international strategist at RBS Greenwich Capital in Greenwich, Connecticut.
Wall Street may like McCain but it is betting on the Democratic senator from Illinois. Continued...
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