Now that the 2016 presidential election is over, investors can get a better idea of where the economy is headed. Despite fears that the market would plunge following a Trump victory, it’s actually doing quite well. On Wednesday, the Dow was up by 257. This is great news for shareholders, as it confirms that the U.S. is in a political bull market.
Ken Mehlman of global investment firm Kohlberg Kravis Roberts (KKR) believes the U.S. has actually been in a political bull market for quite some time. He claims that the financial market has been on the upswing in past eight years following the financial crisis.
And things are only looking better. On Nov. 4, 2016, Mehlman wrote a piece in which he predicted that the bull market wouldn’t subside no matter who won the election.
“As far as the coming election is concerned, we see some areas of business where the impacts could be quite different depending on outcome of the vote,” Mehlman writes. “But the bigger issue —the politicization of business—isn’t going to diminish, no matter whether the next president is Donald Trump or Hillary Clinton. In fact, all indications are that it will not only continue, but accelerate. Grasping this is especially important for investors in private equity, real estate, and any other asset class involving long-term commitments.”
But the U.S. is only one piece of the much larger puzzle. In the next 12-16 months, major elections will take place in France, Germany, Italy, and the Netherlands. Each of these countries has a nominee who is anti-trade, anti-immigration, and anti-globalist. The U.S. has just elected a president who supports these values, and it wouldn’t be too surprising if other countries did, too. This could provide valuable insight for investors who want to know where the global economy is headed.