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Jacksonville University trustee and alumnus Margaret “Mag” Black-Scott recommended six companies to invest in and offered some “fiscal cliff” financial advice during an appearance Monday, Dec. 31, on the Fox Business News show “Countdown to the Closing Bell” hosted by Liz Claman.
“I think the average investors are sort of disinclined to worry in many respects, and in other respects know it will affect all of us …” Black-Scott said of the deep spending cuts and higher tax rates that will occur if President Obama and Congress fail to avert the so-called “fiscal cliff.” “What you need to do as an investor is take a look at your own fiscal cliff. Are you really truly in the shape you want to be in? … You voted (in the presidential election) on Nov. 6, so you did everything you could do about Washington, D.C. Now take a look at your own fiscal cliff in your household.”
For varying reasons, Black-Scott recommended investing in Target, Wal-Mart, Costco, Starbucks, Pfizer and Bristol-Myers Squibb. Starbucks is especially attractive as an investment because the company expects China to become its largest market outside the U.S. in 2014, while Pfizer and Bristol-Myers soon will roll out a potential blockbuster blood-thinner drug, Eliquis, she said.
As for the three retailers she recommended, Black-Scott said, “People are very concerned about getting good value for their money (and) each one of these stores offers tremendous opportunity to get full value for your dollar, so we like those.”
In two parts, here is the Dec. 31 “Countdown to the Closing Bell” segment featuring Black-Scott:
Formerly a managing director and vice chair of Morgan Stanley & Co., where she worked for 30 years, Black-Scott earned an MBA from JU and served as an adjunct professor at the university. In Jacksonville, she also was business editor of WJCT-TV and won the coveted Florida Times-Union “Eve” award as the community’s businesswoman of the year. Among her community roles in Jacksonville was serving as the Duval Research and Development Authority chair.
Black-Scott also has presented a daily television program on financial affairs in Los Angeles, and currently serves as a UCLA International Institute Israel Studies Program board member.