The tweeter-in-chief is twittering again. After going dark with his digital boasts during, and following, stock market volatility experienced in the last quarter (and pivoting to immigration and arguments for building a wall at the southern border), President trump was back Monday doing what he does “best” and specifically referencing 401(k)s.
“Since my election as President the Dow Jones is up 43% and the NASDAQ Composite almost 50%,” Trump trumpeted. “Great news for your 401(k)s as they continue to grow. We are bringing back America faster than anyone thought possible!”
Many speculated the president’s comments (in 280 characters or less) referenced a trade deal with China.
The economy, and 401ks, were a key message once pushed by the administration, with Trump noting in December 2017:
“One great gentleman came up and he said, ‘Sir, I want to thank you.’ I said, ‘what did I do for you?’ He said, ‘my 401k is up 40 percent.’ And I never thought of it. You know, I tell you, he gave me one of the great campaign lines. It’s called ‘How is your 401k doing?”’
“How is your 401k doing?” became Trump’s proxy for a rising stock market as a whole, for which he claimed credit.
Executive Order
As recently as August, and just before he signed his “Executive Order on Strengthening Retirement Security in America,” the president tweeted:
“The news from the Financial Markets is even better than anticipated,” the president tweeted. “For all of you that have made a fortune in the markets, or seen your 401(k)’s [sic] rise beyond your wildest expectations, more good news is coming!”
As Bloomberg noted (and James Glassman, author of Dow 36,000: The New Strategy for Profiting from the Coming Rise in the Stock Market, can attest) claiming credit for the stock market’s rise is a dangerous political gambit, as fortunes invariably turn.
“It shows the danger of campaigning on the Dow,” Doug Heye, a former spokesman for the House leadership and the Republican National Committee, told the news service. “If the Dow is—as it was called by Obama—a daily tracking poll, then you live or die by that daily tracking poll, if that’s something you tout.”
With more than 20 years serving financial markets, John Sullivan is the former editor-in-chief of Investment Advisor magazine and retirement editor of ThinkAdvisor.com. Sullivan is also the former editor of Boomer Market Advisor and Bank Advisor magazines, and has a background in the insurance and investment industries in addition to his journalism roots.
