US election results will be announced soon. It’s going to be
either Hillary Clinton or Donald Trump. Experts are worried that if Trump wins,
that could seriously roil the markets worldwide, including the Indian one.
Trump has become infamous for his anti-trade, anti-globalization rhetoric, and
since the US
is an important market for many countries, his getting elected is quite
worrisome. On the other hand, Clinton has earned the reputation of being the “politician
next door”; not many things are going to change if she gets elected. Since
markets hate uncertainty, Clinton’s
win is what it wants.
As I write this, the gap between Trump’s and Clinton’s electoral
numbers is narrowing. Clinton
was ahead of Trump by several percentage points, but thanks to her email
controversy, that difference is fast disappearing. The market has also sniffed
the trouble in making and has quickly fallen a couple of percentage points.
What should you do now? Every market pundit has a strategy to offer, which can
only serve to confuse you even more.
Here is the only thing you need to do: Do nothing. Carry on
with your investments as usual. If you have money to buy stocks, don’t wait for
a better time. Don’t wait for more clarity to emerge. Simply keep investing.
As you may have noticed, there is always something troublesome
going on in the market; that’s the way it has been. The financial community
will always find something to worry about. Previously, it was Brexit. Still before
that, it was the Chinese slowdown. And so on. Once US elections get over, the
financial community will quickly find another stressor for itself. Finding new
stressors and then musing about them is what earns bread for it, and it’s only
natural that it will remain entangled in some event.
Coming to the US elections, I feel that the fears
regarding Trump getting elected are overblown. What both political and economic
analysts are underestimating is the power of institutions. The US is a strong
democracy. Democracies aren’t run by a single person; they are run by the
constitution. To me, what seems most likely to happen if Trump gets elected is
that he will also be working like any other president, without any boom and
bang. Pre-election promises and claims quickly get tapered as a person gets
into the governance business. Running a government is altogether a different
affair and no matter how much radical a person looks, in a democracy, he has to
soon come to terms with reality. Apart from that, given his business acumen,
Trump can actually prove good for the world and the US.
So, just digest the temporary volatility in the market and
let this phase pass.
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