Booming Profits Are the Mother’s Milk of Stocks and the Trumpian Economy

Profits are the mother’s milk of stocks and the lifeblood of the economy.

Folks know I’ve been saying this for decades.

And even though there were some jitters about last week’s jobs report, stocks rebounded today — big time.  

Why?

Well, one reason was an excellent news story in the Wall Street Journal: “Cash Windfall From Trump’s Tax Law Is Starting to Show Up at Big Companies.”

That’s the benefit of 100 percent immediate depreciation, that is full cost expensing for new business equipment, and even factories. In other words, if you upgrade your technology, you can write it off in year one.

It’s a tremendous cost savings to the business.

If you build a new plant, a new factory — the ultimate onshoring to avoid tariffs and invest in the American economy — you can write off the full cost in just a couple of years. Rather than 25 or 30 years, as in prior write-off laws.

This gives companies tremendous new cash flow that they can use to spend on anything else they choose. It can mean new hires, it can mean big pay increases for the workforce. It could mean new training for your AI update and on and on.

Additionally, research and development expenses can be written off in year one with all the same benefits as equipment factory write-offs.

Effectively, this free cash flow reduces the cost of capital. And increases the investment rate of return for American business. it’s one of the unsung benefits of the one, big, beautiful bill.

The WSJ also cites tax and accounting veteran David Zion, who estimates that the 100 percent bonus depreciation could be worth nearly $150 billion in cash tax savings that would cover 369 of the companies in the S&P 500.

That could raise corporate tax flow by nearly 10 percent.

Cash flow is not exactly the same as profits, but the two are linked very closely.

Details aside, it means businesses are going to have a lot more money to spend.

It also means they’ll have enough cash to reduce their outstanding debt and to pass along higher returns to their shareholders.

And now comes a very key point: the added cash flow from 100 percent expensing will be an important counterweight to tariffs.

Basically the big companies, who are job creators, and who smaller companies depend on, are going to have a bonanza of money — not only to offset relatively modest tariff costs, but also to benefit every aspect of the new Trumpian economy.

From Mr. Kudlow’s broadcast on Fox Business Network.