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WASHINGTON (March 3) - As Wall Street tumbles, President Barack Obama offered up some investing advice on Tuesday, telling a wary nation that stocks are becoming a "a potentially good deal" for those willing to think long term. The White House later cautioned people not to read too much into the statement.

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Obama also said he will not base policy on what he called the "day-to-day gyrations of the stock market." The Dow Jones industrial average fell again Tuesday after plunging on Monday to it lowest level in more than 11 years.

The index has lost more than half its value since a record peak in October 2007. The toll on retirement plans, college savings and nest eggs has been huge.

"You know, the stock market is sort of like a tracking poll in politics," Obama said during an appearance with British Prime Minister Gordon Brown. "It bobs up and down day to day, and if you spend all your time worrying about that, then you're probably going to get the long-term strategy wrong."

Yet lately, Wall Street's direction has been down, period. Investors are in despair over the state of financial companies, the deepening scope of the recession and doubts about the government's various attempts to bolster the banking sector and create jobs.

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Obama says those plans will work.

"I'm absolutely confident that credit is going to be flowing again, that businesses are going to start seeing opportunities for investment," he said. "They're going to start hiring again. People are going to be back to work."

The White House is out for a balance. Obama and his aides must recognize the depth of public worry and fear about the unraveling stock market, yet keep trying to get people to understand that Wall Street is just one, volatile measure.

Obama said his focus is on the long-term recovery of the U.S. and world economy. He said lax regulation and risky, faulty investing have put a beating on the banking sector, which in turn has resulted in a lot of losses.

"It's not surprising that the market is hurting as a consequence," Obama said.

And then he sounded a bit like a financial adviser by referring to a common measure used to assess whether a stock is overvalued or undervalued.

"What you're now seeing is profit and earning ratios starting to get to the point where buying stocks is a potentially good deal," he said, "if you've got a long-term perspective on it."

Was that the president telling people to buy stocks?

White House press secretary Robert Gibbs urged caution. He said people shouldn't "overly read into" any suggestion that they should buy or sell in their particular portfolio. Asked again to calibrate exactly what Obama meant, Gibbs said: "I guess I didn't read into it as much as many people may have."

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In his comments with Brown, Obama urged the American people to take a longer view as massive efforts to reshape the economy unfold.

"We are cleaning up a mess," he said. "It's going to be sort of full of fits and starts in terms of getting the mess cleaned up, but it's going to get cleaned up."

Copyright 2009 The Associated Press. The information contained in the AP news report may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or otherwise distributed without the prior written authority of The Associated Press. Active hyperlinks have been inserted by AOL.

2009-03-03 17:00:35

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Ha6ai 03:51:37 AM Mar 06 2009

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WELCOME TO THE OBAMA ECONOMY!

Deanepark 11:24:18 PM Mar 04 2009

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So after two yerars of bashing Bush and yelling from the roof tops about the economy being in "the worst shape since the great depression" Obama The Great now says everything is milk and honey so buy into the stock market. Why? I thought he was going to "change" everything.

SYNCRO100 08:15:10 PM Mar 04 2009

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When did this dope become a finance wiz? So out of his league it's scary. I guess we were right, smart enough to be VERY dangerous.

patriotpix 05:22:17 PM Mar 04 2009

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LET THE SOB BUY STOCKS THEN HE CAN TAX HIS OWN CAPITAL GAIN! WHAT F---KING IDIOTS HE MUST THINK WE ARE!!! MAYBE HE AND MICHELLE COULD CUT BACK ON THEIR $100 STEAKS FOR A MINUTE TO GET A CLUE ABOUT WHATS GOING ON IN AMERICA...THAT IS OUTSIDE THE BELTWAY!!

patriotpix 05:17:22 PM Mar 04 2009

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OBAMA---LIED---THE---ECONOMY---DIED!!!!! WE TRIED TO WARN YOU THAT HE WOULD DESTROY US FROM WITHIN...FOOLS!!!!

Ddswyrick 05:09:18 PM Mar 04 2009

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Ok America.....I am a very hard working very middle american lady who gets one thing and here it is:I don't create jobs and neither do those I work with......The government doesn't create jobs.....Wall street doesn't create jobs.......The WEALTHY in this country create jobs.........Squeeze the WEALTHY and you are slitting your own throat..............The WEALTHY started bailing out as soon as they were sure that Obama wouldbe the next president....Without the WEALTHY you have nothing........and soon we will be just like any other poor third world country who also has no WEALTH.Get it AMERICA!

DLTANNER7 04:24:39 PM Mar 04 2009

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AOL posters please show me in the US Constitution that defines and directs our elected officials to adhere to any particular economic philisophy? You'd think Cramer wrote the Constitution the way everyone thinks that the government should or shouldn't react to the markets. The Presidents job is, it is his oath, to upheld and defend the constitution, not set policies to benefit corporations and Republican lobbyists. In other words if regulation is required to present an equal and fair playing ground for all Americans that is his job.

JCMEKISSLING 04:24:27 PM Mar 04 2009

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I love it. Now this guy is an expert on the stock market. Does his intelligence know no boudaries? I am sure his arrogance does not! He has never had a real job in his life. He has never met one payroll. I am sick and tired of lawyers telling me how to do things based on no knowledge or experience.

DLTANNER7 04:18:42 PM Mar 04 2009

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LDanko,Had you been maxing out on your 401, and tracked your earnings you'll find that since 1988, when I got in, my percentage yield including employer match is still above 5%. Slightly better than a 12 month CD in '07. I'm still maxing out and while I have lost 25-48% in the last 14 months, I have not lost any actual out of pocket money, due to the volatile markets of the tech stocks, 9/11 and Iraq. Investors recouped losses by those high/lows and next year there will be another housing/techo sort of market frenzy to drive the GNP up resulting in big gains once again. And we will all be happy until the next bubble bust.

CharlesHarris53 03:48:51 PM Mar 04 2009

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i am going to invest in pelosis marsh mouse ranch. i made a killing in condoms on her advice when she put $350 mil in the stimulus for sex ed in 3rd world countries. can't wait for the money to start rolling in.

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