On November 6th. the day after the US election, a lot of people made a lot of money as the stock market surged 1500 points. And it made no difference who they voted for, Trump or Harris.So what was that about? Did the market like president-elect Donald Trump? Or was it just a positive reaction to certainty that would have happened no matter who won? In fact, does it even matter who the president is? The Dow did well under Trump (2016-2020) and a little better even under President Joe Biden (2021-2024.).And, what are the problems going forward?My guest on Hannaford tonight is Petar Pejovic, a Calgary-based Senior Portfolio Manager at Wellington-Altus Private Wealth Canada.He says often it doesn't matter that much who occupies the White House. But, this time it does.Pejovic: "Many may see Trump as a controversial figure but his election opens the way to a new economic vision and part of that is a policy of deregulation. And that's a big one. Markets appreciate that. So as we witnessed in the week prior to the election and after, we've seen big gains in the North American stock market as well as other risk assets such as Bitcoin, both of which finished at all-time highs.". Might that not have happened anyway, had Harris been successful, a strong surge based on certainty?"Probably not," says Pejovich. Trump is signalling a bold economic agenda and the markets can't fail to respond."The certainty aspect is important, but what we have here is an opportunity for the White House executive branch policy to better align with the more pro-active monetary policy of the US Federal Reserve. This may have profound effect on risk assets and financial markets in the coming year, as with people like Elon Musk and RFK. Jnr, Trump claims to implement a bold economic agenda, which he dubs American System 2.0.""However there can be differences in policy agenda which in certain macro-economic environments may have an impact and I believe this is one of those times. It's a time of near unprecedented fiscal deficit and the highest level of government debt since the World War 2 era. It's got a lot of people concerned so the policy of this administration will be a huge clue to money manager as they structure their portfolios."In other words, it's possible to get it wrong.As for Canada, productivity is our challenge... we may need to cut interest rates.Tune in here at 7:00pm to get Pejovic's thoughts on how he's advising his clients. And if you like gold, there's something in here you'll want to hear.
