Donald Trump will be the next president of the United States. Needless to say, that took a lot of people by surprise.
As I’m writing this Tuesday night, Dow futures are down 800, and the dollar is tanking. People are panicking. It’s the end of America… the end of democracy itself!
My advice? Wait a couple days for the dust to settle, and then buy the dips.
Seriously. We’ve had terrible presidents in the past. Lyndon Baines Johnson, Richard Nixon, George W. Bush… we’ve had plenty of terrible presidents, and yet the country finds a way to march on. The world doesn’t end.
You have to remember that the American president is one of the weakest executives in the world. In their respective countries, the British prime minister and French president are vastly more powerful than the American president. None of the more questionable aspects of Trump’s platform can happen without the consent of Congress, the Supreme Court and a good chunk of the states.
Still, the market hates uncertainty. So this is how I see this playing out. Stocks will fall like a rock on Wednesday and will probably drift lower for a couple days. But then, investors will figure out tha not much has actually changed. Just as with the Brexit, the market will shrug this off, and life will get back to normal.
Take a deep breath. It will be fine.