"Wrong for four years" - Shark Tank's Kevin O'Leary denies that the US is in recession right now

Shark Tank investor Kevin O'Leary has opened up about his views regarding the current recession in America. He feels as if this market downturn is not as bad as it seems.

Pointing out to the forecaster who has been analysing the downtrend for a long time now, Kevin says that the reports have been claiming a recession for four years, but the country has not seen it.

Even though his statement might be blunt, it highlights that even though geopolitical and market challenges exist in the United States, the prediction about the economy and its imminent collapse has been false till now.

The Shark Tank investor claimed that even though the projections have been pointing to the 55%recession in the US, the economy is not in a recession right now. In his view, the economy is strong and the doomsday predictions are not correct. Kevin said,

"Well, let me just say that we have been talking about recession now for four years in a row, you may recall. Forecasters of recession have been wrong for four years straight. So probabilities of 32% to 55% that's interesting, but we are not in a recession right now. It really depends on how long these tariff wars go on for."

Shark Tank investor Kevin O'Leary claims that the US economy is not in a recession right now

According to Kevin, the Shark Tank personality, the concerns about the economy can be blamed on the "tariff wars" involving the US and China. He explained that the deals with the European bloc, which consists of Britain, Canada, Mexico, etc., are likely to be resolved soon.

The main issue is regarding a deal with China. It involves complex issues such as IP theft, market access, and WTO policies.

Another fact that Kevin highlighted was how the markets correct 20% all the time, and thus, it is of no use to interpret these as signals of an upcoming recession. He said,

"So it's a difficult, tricky situation, I agree, but I'm an investor, I have to make these decisions every day and I'm not investing for recession right now, I'd be pulling my horns in and I want to remind you, the markets correct 20% all the time. Almost every 18 months, that happens.

Adding, he explained,

So why it corrects is different every time, this time is because of the scares on the tariffs. But this is nothing new for the S&P 500. And frankly, it has often been and has been for over 100 years, a buying opportunity."

Kevin shares that from a perspective of an investor, he sees a huge buying opportunity because the S&P has dropped from a PE ratio of 23 to 18 in just four months, making it a "value deal." Kevin sees no reason that the US economy will depart from the trend of generating up to 8 to 10% returns over the long run.

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Shark Tank season 16 episodes release weekly on ABC at 8 PM Eastern Time on Fridays. They are later available to watch on Hulu.

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