Trump is Wall Street’s $2.2 trillion man
The paper gains are piling up since the stock market rally began the day after Donald Trump was elected president.
Not only is the Dow Jones industrial average sitting atop the 20,000 mountain for the first time ever, and both the large-company Standard & Poor's 500 and tech-dominated Nasdaq sitting at fresh record highs, the real story is the $2.2 trillion in paper wealth created in the Wilshire 5000 Total Market Index since the close on Nov. 8.
By that measure, Donald Trump is Wall Street's "$2.2 trillion dollar man" – as Trump's "America First" economic agenda and quick out-of-the-box start towards getting stuff done that he promised to backers has been instrumental in reawakening the so-called "animal spirits" of investors.
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The Wilshire 5000 is a good measure of the re-emerging bullishness in stocks following a few weeks of sideways action. The index is filled with more than 3,000 stocks, including an assortment of big companies, mid-sized businesses and small ones. So its 8.6% gain since Election Day shows how broad the stock rally has been since Trump's win.
In the five trading days since Trump took office, the new commander in chief of the U.S. economy with the stroke of a pen has breathed new life into the energy sector by clearing the way for pipelines to get built . Trump's moves on trade also align with his promises of working for fairer deals.
The key, now, for markets? Can he push through the corporate tax reform and infrastructure spending plans that are the centerpiece of his proposals?