Brexit, Trump. What's next?
Trump wins, pollsters and social media are amazed. But is it our fault? I tweeted
The problem with SM is that we follow our own echo chamber .. all sides are here in equal measure, yet we only follow the side we agree with
— Simon Brown (@SimonPB) November 9, 2016
We believe our own BS. I said way back in February that Trump could win, I wasn't predicting anything but rather understanding that our ability to see into the future is zero and as always we need resilient portfolios that withstand the surprises. If your portfolio is all gold because of the end of the world you're having a good day but a really bad decade. iI your portfolio is all US stocks because SA is toast you have a good run post the crisis, but now? We need a broad, robust thoughtful portfolio that can withstand downgrades, Brexits and Trump victories.
Uncertainty is the only certainty. Recession in the US within a year? No idea. USD weaker, who really knows? Republicans are good for stock markets say the pundits, what of Clinton 1994-2001 and Obama 2008-present? Don't fall into the stereo types.
Bottom line. Don't panic. Predictions about the immediate future are like predicting election results.
Are we seeing a swing globally to the right, what you think politically about that doesn't matter, what matters is how this impacts the global economy and it will be about barriers. Barriers to free trade, barriers to immigration, barriers to the flow of money, ideas and ultimately capitalism. No capitalism is not dead but we may need to rethink our broad investment ideas. There's no rush, if this is a swing to the right it's playing out over the next couple of decades.
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