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The View | Who’s laughing now? At least on the US economy, Trump is doing a pretty good job
Richard Harris says all signs point to a broad-based market rally. Indeed, Trump would win any poll today based on the strength of the US economy. And Chinese markets can recover quickly once good sense prevails in the US-China trade war
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Market sentiment has ebbed and flowed significantly over the third quarter of the year, including in the United States.
Most news seems to have emanated from the smartphone of President Donald Trump and markets have had days of concern and weeks of contentment, resulting in a reasonable summer for investors. Most independent observers will grudgingly admit that whatever Trump has done, intentionally or accidentally, it is working at the moment. If there was a poll taken today on the economy alone, he would win by a landslide.
His narrow victory on last year’s giveaway tax bill gave the markets a sugar rush, though it might also become a debt headache for America’s children. Over the last quarter, he got Mexico and Canada to accept a new – or at least newly renamed – trilateral trade agreement. Never a modest man, he felt further emboldened to brag about the success of his administration at the United Nations General Assembly, though the world’s leaders just laughed at him.
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Still, the Dow and the S&P 500 should wipe some smiles off the leaders’ faces, having risen 8 per cent and 9 per cent respectively for the year to date. Nasdaq is up 16 per cent this year, and the Russell 2000 index of smaller companies, 8 per cent.
Watch: Why did Donald Trump tweet ‘No collusion’ at 1am?
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