The Trump Stock Market is Rolling, Critics Decrying White House Mismanagement
The Trump stock market high sweeping the nation is leaving critics grasping at straws. The many predictions of doom that would befell the stock market if President Donald Trump was elected failed to materialize, as did predictions that “protectionist” policies would do the same. No, the market keeps rolling, and we have the Trump stock market tweets to prove it.
So far this year, the NASDAQ is up almost 22%, while the S&P 500 has risen over 13%. And these increases aren’t just fluff; U.S. GDP growth reached 3.1% in the second quarter, the most in three years. Several executive orders Trump executed immediately following his electoral victory to cut red tape apparently instilled confidence in the market. If nothing else, Wall Street and industrial magnates love deregulation.
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While that’s great news for risk asset owners, it’s terrible for Trump critics.
The first adversary to put his money where his mouth is was fierce ideological foe and critic George Soros. His Open Society Foundations network is completely contrary to Trump’s “Make America Great Again” goals, especially concerning the immigration and labor movement policies. Soros spends tens of millions of dollars each year to dissolve national borders, while Trump wants to build a “yuge” wall.
Soros was so sure the stock market would crater upon a Trump victory that he heavily short sold the market. That was a bad idea. The market did the exact opposite, with all assets classes ripping higher on a non-stop two month rally. When Soros finally ran out of chips, he was reported to have lost $1.0 billion in a couple of months. Ouch.
The political firestorm hasn’t backed off since. Whether it be the appointment of Steve Mnuchin as Treasury Secretary, Trump’s “border tax” plans, or the possible appointment of “outlier” candidate Kevin Warsh as new Fed chair, all the stock market keeps doing is going up.
The critics can talk all they want, but the stock market and low unemployment indicates something is going right. Of course, we agree Trump is (mostly) not responsible for the economic euphoria (we can thank the Fed’s cheap interest rate and credit policies, mainly). But Trump hasn’t done anything overt to screw the economy up. That in itself is a positive.
For a president who values “winning” above all, rising stock markets are the ultimate scorecard. If Trump’s stock tweets are any indication, we’re sure he sees it that way.
Trump Stock Market High
Lest anyone forgets that markets keep attaining new highs, Trump is more than happy to remind us.
On July 29, 2017, Trump celebrated with this gem:
U.S. Stock Market up almost 20% since Election!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) July 29, 2017
More recently, he combined a Trump unemployment rate tweet and stock market plug together:
Business is looking better than ever with business enthusiasm at record levels. Stock Market at an all-time high. That doesn't just happen!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) August 3, 2017
Clearly, the goal here is to keep the public focused on record market levels and low unemployment. Why? Because poll after poll suggests the economy is the most important issue for a substantial proportion of the population, be they left or right. It also serves to counteract the constant drone of negative criticism from less important side issues.
It looks like a winning strategy to us. Reminding the public how “strong” the economy is serves to counteract the constant criticism for less important side issues. Ultimately, most of the public cares more about their pocketbooks than the latest cringe-worthy drama from the liberal far left.
