24 May Candidate Trump and the stock market

Q. I get nervous when I hear Trump talk about international relations. Should I get out of my overseas investments before the election?
— Investor

A. All kinds of news makes the stock market rise and fall, and the prospect of political change is no different.

In general, making strategic investment allocation decisions on a political event that has yet to happen is probably the wrong way to invest, said Altair Gobo, a certified financial planner with U.S. Financial Services in Fairfield.

Gobo said in a diversified balanced portfolio, in order to reduce your idiosyncratic risk, international investments should be included because they account for approximately 45 percent of global equity index.

From a fundamental and valuation perspective, with U. S. equities at fair and/or expense ratios, Gobo said, international investments may look relatively inexpensive given a moderate time horizon.

Now, to candidate Donald Trump.

“Trump may have made some outrageous comments during the primaries but the jury is still out as to what his presidency will do for the geopolitical scene,” Gobo said. “Keep in mind what many politicians say while running for office is not quite what they do when in office. The three branches of government were established for a reason.”

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This post was first published in May 2016.