Good read........... In short, there was something for everyone in the Trump program.
That’s why, from November 8, 2016, the date of Trump’s election, to March 1, 2017, the Dow Jones Industrial Average staged an historic rally from 18,332.74 to an all-time high of 21,115.55. This was a 15% gain in just 15 weeks! Better yet, there were no significant reversals along the way; stock market volatility measures have been stuck at persistently low levels. All was right with the world.
But since March 1, it looks like a different story. The Dow fell over 450 points to 20,663.22 during the course of March — a 2% decline in one month. That’s not a meltdown or anything like a bear market, but it’s definitely a shift in the momentum of the Trump Trade.
What happened? More importantly, where does the market go from here?
Serious headwinds have now crashed into Trump’s plans, and the stock market is reevaluating its outlook. These headwinds consist of weakness in the U.S. economy, dysfunction in the Congress, and unrelenting resistance to Trump coming from Democrats, the media, the bureaucracy, and even many Republicans.
This reality hit home with a crash on Friday, March 24, when Trump called Washington Post reporter Bob Costas on his cell phone to tell him that the White House and Speaker Paul Ryan had just pulled the Obamacare repeal legislation. This setback had been weeks in the making as many House and Senate Republicans publicly criticized both the substance and process by which Ryan was advancing the repeal legislation.
As always, stock markets don’t wait for the bad news; they anticipate it and sell off in advance. That’s why the market reversal began March 1 after it became apparent that the Republicans were divided and the repeal process would not be smooth sailing.
Yet, the ramifications of Trump’s loss on Obamacare repeal go far beyond repeal itself. That loss has caused Trump to lose his aura as a winner who can succeed by the “art of the deal.” The damage to Trump’s perceived deal-making abilities goes beyond healthcare, and affects his plans for tax revision, fiscal stimulus, trade deals, and other parts of his agenda.
Trump also faces constraints due to the time wasted on the fruitless Obamacare repeal. Few Americans realize how little Congress actually works. While Americans may get a single day off for a national holiday, Congress takes a two-week “recess.” Members of Congress clear out of town on Thursday, and don’t return until Monday night; this means they work a three-day week when they’re not in recess. It’s true that staff members put in long hours and weekends, but staff members don’t vote or conduct hearings.
There are precious few days left on the Congressional calendar for the entire remainder of 2017. The idea that Congress and the White House can somehow revive Obamacare repeal, reform the Internal Revenue Code, pass a major spending bill, raise the debt ceiling cap, and extend the continuing resolution to keep the government going until the budget is complete is sheer fantasy.
The last time the Internal Revenue Code was reformed was 1986 when Ronald Reagan was president. That gives you some idea how difficult tax reform process can be.
It’s more likely that the Congress will descend into partisan fights between Democrats and Republicans, and internal fights among various Republican factions. A government shutdown on April 28 cannot be ruled out.
Meanwhile, all of this dysfunction and delay comes against the backdrop of an economy hitting stall speed and on the brink of a recession. The Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta indicates that first quarter 2017 growth may be 0.9%, which is just above recession levels. One more Fed rate hike in June, which we do expect, could be the last nail in the coffin of the current economic expansion.