Trump is making Americans richer by the day – and he’s not even president yet: ALEX BRUMMER
Trump’s second coming terrifies many American liberals on the East and West Coasts.
But as older Americans examine their retirement investment portfolios, and Gen Z and Millennials assess Robin Hood stock gains
platforms, they can’t help but have conflicting feelings.
Donald Trump’s alliance with fellow traveling conservative Elon Musk, embrace of deregulation and choice of laissez-faire, anti-regulation hedge fund managers for key economic posts is making ordinary Americans wealthier.
The possibility that his tariff agenda is ultimately embraced could leave American citizens and the country poorer.
Trade wars will increase the cost of living (barriers tax imported goods) and fragment an already distorted global trading system.
Business boost: Even before his arrival in the White House, Time Magazine named the president-elect its ‘Person of the Year’ for his ‘once in a generation political realignment’
Time Magazine named the president-elect its “Person of the Year” for his “once-in-a-generation political realignment.” Time might have added an economic and financial realignment to the quote.
Choices such as macro hedge fund guru Scott Bessent, nominated to lead the US Treasury Department, and Andrew Ferguson, to head the antitrust Federal Trade Commission (FTC), where he disagreed with actions against big tech, were in Silicon Valley in delight.
British investors also had something to cheer about. A preference by UK fund managers for Wall Street over the Square Mile is hugely disappointing for FTSE 350 investors, but has done wonders for those following the S&P 500 and Nasdaq.
It’s no coincidence that in the hours after Ferguson was elected, the tech-dominated Nasdaq soared to a record 20,000 on Wednesday.
There was a sigh of relief from Google parent Alphabet, Microsoft and Apple – all under intense scrutiny from outgoing FTC chief Lina Khan.
While Trump is no fan of Big Tech, there is a belief – apart from Musk – that the upcoming antitrust case against Google, demanding the potential divestiture of its Chrome search engine, will die down.
It’s no surprise that Microsoft, Amazon and Meta Platforms, which owns Facebook and WhatsApp, were among the biggest winners.
Trump’s choice of Musk as an ‘efficiency advisor’ is paying rich dividends.
Forbes magazine says in its latest billionaires list that the value of Musk’s companies will rise 71 percent to $440 billion (£345 billion) by 2024, making him significantly richer than Amazon founder Jeff Bezos.
Pioneering EV maker Tesla’s value plummeted earlier in 2024. But shares were trading at $419 last night, not far from their all-time high of £434. As for its rocket and satellite innovator SpaceX, it is now worth a whopping £280 billion.
The £200 million Musk spent to help Trump win the election appears to have been money astonishingly well spent.
The $64 billion question is has the Trump-Musk rally run its course?
So far, Federal Reserve Chairman Jay Powell has not chosen to emulate a predecessor, Alan Greenspan.
At the height of the dot.com bubble in 1996, Greenspan expressed concern about “irrational exuberance.” It took another four years for that bubble to burst.
But there must be concern that persistent inflation, Trump tariffs and US government debt will take their toll.
Earlier this week, the Bank for International Settlements in Basel, Switzerland, warned that the rising amount of global government borrowing could destabilize the financial system. It may soon be time to fasten your seat belts.
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