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Our Current Walls
As I look back over the years I have worked with clients there has been significant things to be concerned with every year - and most of the time we have multiple important concurrent reasons to fret. Sources of angst vary by person but broad categories include geopolitics, valuations, natural disasters, financial disasters, etc...
The current worries I hear from clients and prospects include the following:
Trump:
He's certainly unique in both approach and temperament. Some like the uniqueness but for many it's unsettling and worrisome. I think most people would agree that he's probably one of the more unpredictable Presidents in our nation's history.
North Korea:
Kim Jong Un has acquired nuclear weapon capability and may be one of the few world leaders who is more unpredictable than President Trump. Their meeting this week could produce a meaningful agreement or more of the same from this regime.
Valuations:
Current equity market valuations have some people nervous. They are on the higher end of average. Some counter that the recently passed business tax cuts will continue to make companies more profitable and by extension bring down valuations.
Trade:
President Trump is trying to make U.S. trade more fair. The global ideal of free and open trade is probably not practical but it will be interesting to see how new rhetoric from the US could affect global trade in coming years.
Finally: It's important to remember how difficult it is to predict what markets will do next. Markets frequently move different directions than the economy. Rather than trying to predict something that is unpredictable, focus on living and let your basket of global capitalism grow significantly but erratically in the next 10, 20, 30+ years .
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