The American people have spoken

It struck me this week how full of historic events the first weeks of November are. Guy Fawkes’ gun powder plot (1605), the end of WWI (1918), The German Revolution of 1918 – abdication of Kaiser Wilhelm II, the Reichskristallnacht pogrom against the German Jews (1938), the fall of the Berlin Wall 1989, etc. and then the election of Donald Trump (2016). This year’s US Midterm elections had historic significance but are less likely to feature heavily in future history books. Historic significance because their outcome would show whether Donald Trump’s 2016 election as president of the United States was an ‘accident of circumstances’ or a permanent shift of the US electorate towards more extreme political positions.

The 2% gain of the US stock markets in reaction to the result of Tuesday’s elections tells us that the outcome was acceptable for both sides and perhaps the best that could be hoped for the economy. As predicted (but with much less conviction than usual), Trump’s Republican party lost the House of Representatives (lower house of the US Congress) but gained seats in the Senate (the upper chamber of the US Congress). Both sides were therefore able to claim victory. More importantly for the economy, the loss of full control of Capitol Hill means that Trump will be subject to increased congressional scrutiny, which should prevent some of his more outrageous policy initiatives from becoming law (the border wall with Mexico for example). On the other hand, confirmation of his government appointments through the Senate should become much easier, which will appeal to his ‘The Apprentice’ style high staff turnover approach. The risk is that he might quickly dispose of the remaining ‘adults in the room’ which, in the case of defence secretary Jim Mattis and White House Chief of Staff John Kelly, could be destabilising.

Click to view all articles for the EPIC: ,
Or click to view the full company profile:
    Facebook
    Twitter
    LinkedIn
    Tatton Asset Management Plc

    More articles like this

    Fintel plc

    Fintel core revenue growth is higher than Zeus forecast

    Fintel plc (LON:FNTL), the leading provider of Fintech and support services to the UK retail financial services sector, has released a trading update for the six months to 30 June 2022, which reveals: Core revenue grew

    OnTheMarket Plc

    OnTheMarket analyst Zeus confident in forecasts

    Foxtons, one of London’s leading estate agencies with more than 50 interconnected branches across London, has signed an agreement to advertise its UK residential sales and letting properties at OnTheMarket plc (LON:OTMP). Zeus view: Foxtons, the

    SpaceandPeople analyst Zeus restores estimates and valuation

    SpaceandPeople plc (LON:SAL) secures, sells, and manages flexible space for brand experiences, short term promotions and retailing in high footfall venues for its customers, including in shopping centres and travel hubs. The Group has issued a

    Lookers Plc

    Lookers shares are still undervalued says Zeus

    Lookers plc (LON:LOOK) has released an H1 trading update reporting a continuation of strong performance year to date. H1 2022 underlying PBT is expected to be c. £45m and Management anticipate full year PBT will also

    Inchcape

    Inchcape performance exceeding expectations says Zeus

    Inchcape plc (LON:INCH) has released another positive trading update, with performance exceeding expectations so far this year. This follows on from a positive Q1 update on 28 April. Through quarterly improvement in Distribution volumes and operating