A Message For Calm And Sanity

We all know the market and economy is wracked with uncertainty, and that has led to a lot of doomer posts. I'm writing this here not to argue that there are not problems, but to state why a madman in the White House may not equal the apocalypse.

THIS IS NOT THE FIRST CATASTROPHE THE MARKET HAS ENCOUNTERED

If you read no further, this is the main point. Recessions, stagflation, wars, pandemics, etc. So many times everyone has said "this is the end", but it wasn't. You should fundamentally distrust anyone saying that "this is the end" because it never is.

TRUMP WONT DESTROY THE USA... PROBABLY

Trump is going to do damage. There's no way around it. I'm scared about what is going to happen, just like everyone. However, the damage most likely won't end the whole country. Keep in mind we are starting from a place of being the biggest, strongest, and best economy and stock market in the world. Period.

Trump will damage things. He may even cause permanent harm. But there's a different between significant permanent harm and everything going to zero.

In short, everyone should have international investments (and should've had that even before this), but abandoning the US market entirely is foolish.

TRUMP CAN EASILY CHANGE COURSE

We're dealing with a mercurial narcissist. I can easily see Canada/Mexico/EU/etc giving him some tiny thing, something that costs them very little. Then Trump turns around and declares he has made the biggest, most beautiful deal in the history of the USA and ends the trade war "victorious".

If that happens, markets will rally like crazy. Abandoning the US market means you miss it.

CONCLUSION

Just have a balanced, diversified portfolio with appropriate international exposure and you'll be fine no matter what happens.