Most, if not all adult Canadians, have been fixated on election campaigns and results down south. Wasn’t that something? True to form, the Americans never cease to entertain us Canucks. Who’d have thunk – “President Trump” is a thing; even with his small hands!

In the absence of overly expected financial market mayhem, I find my mind wandering to thoughts of new John Oliver episodes; and marvel at the overwhelming calm of the financial markets at the opening bell this morning.

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I think the only clear takeaway from this whole ordeal has been to confirm the markets like certainty and abhor uncertainty. Now that Trump has emerged with a decisive victory, nothing happened. Which coincidentally reminds me of a Monty Python skit, “The Adventures of Ralph Mellish.”

All silliness aside, the question on everyone’s mind is “what’s next?” The short answer is “The Donald” has a blank cheque and clear mandate to implement some of his outlandish election promises;

• build a Great Wall of Mexico,
• erect trade tariffs,
• jail Hillary Clinton,
• abrogate the WTO & NAFTA,
• label China as a “currency manipulator”,
• lower corporate taxes, *
• institute infrastructure spending.
• oh yeah and finally, Make America great again!

Not only did he win the presidency, which is a clear sign the voting public has turned overwhelmingly against the “Establishment”, but the GOP has a majority in the Senate and the House of Representatives. Which means among other things, Trump will have a minimum unobstructed two years window to appoint Judges to the Supreme Court and thus influence the interpretation of US laws for the long term.

Trade: this is where we join all Non-Americans and get a little anxious. However I remind you, we Canadians are not without a “trump” card. We have two strong suits (pun intended);

1) Everyone likes a Canadian – including The Donald.

2) We got oil – and one of his top priorities is to move the US away from a dependence on Non-North-American Oil.

The full implementation of isolationist policies is possible but won’t come without foreign trade retaliation and the resulting hardship of job losses to those who voted him in. So not the most likely scenario. In fact, history has shown only a fraction of election promises get implemented due to the checks and balances structure of the US system. I expect much of the election rhetoric to be watered down in its final draft.

Marijuana: this could be a real winner, at least for the stoners in California, Massachusetts, and Nevada as they join the stoners in Colorado and Washington. (watch for the share price of potato chip companies to rise)

Foreign Policy: this is the scariest one. I just hope there are good people in the key roles to smooth over Donald’s inflammatory tongue and aggressiveness. Time will tell on this one!

Jay