I think the problem with political statements is that the stated goals of parties rarely reflect what the interests of the politicians wearing their cloak truly espouse. In the US, it is more likely the will of their political donors and the lobbyists they deal with.

I tend to travel a bit. When I renewed my Global Entry card a few years ago, it turned out I had been in 92 countries over the previous five years. During that time, I was able to observe, first hand, numerous things which directly countered the "facts" that most Americans take for granted.

Assuming that the goal of investing is to "make money", the handling of the economy by the previous administration tamed the rampant inflation caused by the wholesale dumping of money into most corporate and private hands during the first Trump administration, followed by the steady growth in the value of the equity market.

While he didn't go into minute detail, Trump promoted many of the actions which he has taken - both socially and economically. While many of the things we promised during his first term were whacky, he attempted to pull them off anyway. He, and his supporters, had four years in which to figure out pseudo-legal ways to let him succeed this time around. There was no reason to doubt that he would try - and a greater probability that he would succeed. Why is it that, all of a sudden, people are "shocked and appalled" by his actions. They were predictable and, if voters felt that they would be unacceptable, they should have voted in his competitor.

We are about to wake to a third day of 5%+ of drop in the US equity market and a likelihood that it will be a while before those losses are recouped by people's portfolios. And, it's not only the US - I have investments on various exchanges (Australia, Switzerland, Japan and Hong Kong come to mind, but also holdings of ADR's representing stock in a number of other countries) and his recent tearing up of trade agreements has caused a global loss in value.

While I still am around 33% in equities, WendyBG convince me to pick up some TIP's (Treasury Inflation Protected bonds) at decent prices and the rest is (ala Buffet) waiting in a pile to be deployed at more beneficial prices.

The important thing to remember is that politicians are your employees. If an employee acts in their own interest (certainly if their actions don't support your interests), it's time to replace them (regardless of whether you like them, like their party or find them entertaining).

We live in a country where the wealthy enjoy a very low tax rate compared to the rest of the world. Our military expenses have not been high to protect Europe, but rather to protect our interests. Sure, European countries enjoy national health car, free education, long vacations and so on, but they are paid for by much higher taxes. They have allowed their militaries to become small for two reasons - a lack of a major continental threat when the Soviet Union crashed, coupled with the US maintaining the attitude that we were more comfortable when Europe was "owing us one" and having bases throughout the continent than looking at an armed Europe from outside (as we did before the Second World War).

We have given up that advantage at the same time as proving an untrustworthy party to shake hands with. Just imagine the number of changes which have already been made in what amounts to a couple of percent of a US president's term. I hope for the best, but find it prudent to prepare for the worst.

Jeff