Growing up during the Cold War and the nuclear-apocalypse risks of the 1980s, I have a deep-seated fear. A fear of communism and state control.

Some years back, I saw a beautiful lifestyle property north of Auckland. Built during this era. It included a nuclear fallout shelter with extensive supplies.

The fall of the Berlin Wall was a marking point for my generation. A recognition that freedom and individual potential would prevail.

So it is alarming to see today that ideological authoritarianism is back. Not in Eastern Europe, but in the West that once opposed these horrors.

‘Show me the man and I’ll show you the crime.’

So said Stalin’s longest-serving secret police chief.

 

Lavrentiy Beria (1899–1953). Source: Wikimedia Commons

 

During his time, Beria saw the expansion of the gulags and other secret-detention facilities for political prisoners. According to sources, he was also a sexual predator who raped scores of girls and young women. There is evidence that he murdered some of his victims.

Beria was executed after Nikita Khrushchev came to power in 1953.

There is no doubt in my mind that the power enabled by communism attracts and enables monsters. Power without checks and balances is dangerous.

And it is from that lens I see the Trump trial today.

‘These are bad people. Even Mother Teresa couldn’t win.’

So said Donald Trump following his recent guilty verdict. His crime? Falsifying business records in 2016. In relation to an alleged sexual encounter in 2006.

While I may have preferred DeSantis or Ramaswamy to be running this race from a personal perspective, something important has happened here.

 


Trump witch hunt and the swamp creatures. Source: AI image generated by Freepik

 

Trump’s conviction may backfire against his opposition. The chilling realisation has hit; if it can happy to him, it can happen to anyone!

Following the conviction, record donations flooded into his campaign. Even left-wing media critics are now predicting Trump can win in November.

There’s an abiding sense that Trump was persecuted. Targeted by a politicised legal system and media. In the words of King Lear, he seems ‘a man more sinned against, than sinning.’

His legal team plan to appeal the conviction. Some have asked the Supreme Court to intervene.

Unlike in the former Soviet Union, the people will make the ultimate determination on Donald Trump. In a democracy, they will decide who the real monster is.

And people are realising: ‘Oh, if he wasn’t running for president and opposing the political agenda, none of this would have happened.’

It’s a timely reminder that under authoritarian regimes, such opponents are already silenced or rotting in jail.

 

 

Investors gain from freedom and strong property rights

 

US markets tend to rise in presidential election years.

2024 is interesting because we’ve had a Trump presidency before. It was notable for incredible market outperformance until the pandemic hit.

 

Source: Washington Times

 

Analysis by the Washington Times in February 2024 wisely strips out inflation. It shows that stock market gains were six times higher under Trump when comparing the first three years in office.

The main power American presidents have concerns foreign policy. Biden has continued a cornerstone of Trump’s foreign trade policy: dealing a tougher hand to China.

He also introduced The Inflation Reduction Act. It invests hundreds of billions of dollars in clean energy, electric vehicles, and environmental justice.

Trump instead seeks to ‘obliterate the deep state’, tighten the border, and protect trade from manipulators. He would likely roll back much of the Biden green rules and incentives.

Markets could be freer and generate more wealth under Trump, despite the controversy he is under.

Growth is not achieved by rules and regulations, by lawfare attacking opponents. It is created by championing innovation and releasing the free market to chase the profit incentive.

Last year, Trump gave a speech raising the prospect of freedom cities and flying cars. This caught our interest. Flying cars — or eVTOL aircraft as the sector is known — is one area that could transform transport. But is not on the radar of many investors.

I’ll take a deeper look into this shortly in some upcoming research.

Meanwhile, as investors, whether we may think the orange man good or bad is irrelevant. The market cares only to see businesses succeed, which by definition is the greatest improver of lives.

This latest witch hunt will probably engender more support for one president with a proven record of boosting stock markets.

 

Regards,

Simon Angelo

Editor, Wealth Morning

(This article is the author’s personal opinion and commentary only. It is general in nature and should not be construed as any financial or investment advice. Past performance does not indicate the future. Wealth Morning offers Managed Account Services for Wholesale or Eligible investors as defined in the Financial Markets Conduct Act 2013.)