Moving at the Speed of Trump

Love him or hate him, the undeniable fact is that President Donald Trump has quickly begun to sanction policies in order to actualize his vision of America’s future. True to his word, Trump is acting quickly on campaign promises and converting them into policies. In his first three weeks as president, Trump has signed a total of 22 executive orders and memorandums. These actions include things like building a border wall, restricting immigration, fighting terrorism, addressing infrastructure needs, reducing regulation, updating trade agreements, and revamping our tax structure.

The net result of his actions is that in his first three weeks, he has set into motion major changes in the way Washington does business. These actions have had an absolutely profound impact on the financial markets as a whole, moving both risk-on and risk-off asset classes to higher pricing.

US Equities Close at New All-Time Record High

This week will conclude with all three major indices trading to new all-time record highs. The Dow Jones Industrial Average closed today at 20,269.37, a net gain of approximately 96 points on the day, and a net gain of over 260 points on the week. The Standard & Poor’s 500 closed at a new record high of 2316.10, while the NASDAQ composite closed at a new record high of 5733.

Gold Holds onto Weekly Gains

Gold will end the week with higher pricing, gaining roughly $15 in trading this week. Gold finished the week up five dollars on the day to close at 1233 (Spot price), and 1234.70 basis for the April futures contract. For six of the last seven weeks, gold prices have increased in value.

A Presidential Perspective

Although President Trump’s pace of initiating policy change is rapid, he is penning documents at a similar pace to that of President Obama who signed 19 executive orders and memoranda during his first 12 days in office. But all of this pales in comparison to Franklin D. Roosevelt, who as president signed 3721 executive orders and memoranda.

With only three weeks under his belt as president, Donald Trump continues to shape America’s future and at the same time, continues to widen the divide of an already polarized nation. His leadership style and timbre continue to ruffle feathers and change the American landscape. The net changes we have seen in his first three weeks beckons the question, what will America look like after his first hundred days?

Wishing you as always, good trading,