I admit that I fall for it.
Time and again, a juicy piece of click-bait that invites me to be outraged at the latest Trump tweet, campaign speech and now (sadly) executive order.
From an investor’s perspective you need to be wary though. News media knows that we will click and so will play to our fears – you need to extract the truth from the hype.
The latest example is the anti-abortion bill that Trump signed.
The breathless MSM version is that Trump and his all-white, all-multimillionaire, all-male revue signed an anti-abortion bill that will rip funding from countless worthy causes, creating mayhem worldwide for charities. I fell for it initially – thinking that this would make a huge difference to key charities and health groups.
The real version? Every Republican President since Reagan has instated the policy, every Democrat has rescinded it. It is called the Mexico City Policy.
Let me be clear that I in no way support the executive order. But, any affected charities should have systems in place for dealing with any issues – the charities have spent about half of the last 35 years with this policy in place, and so it shouldn’t be a shock.
So, be warned. It is an investor’s job to sort the truth out from the hyperbole. Unfortunately, you will need to apply this to both sides of the story: Trump’s outlandish statements and the media’s reporting of the dire consequences.
Damien Klassen is Chief Investment Officer at the MB Fund launching in April 2017. Register your interest now (if you haven’t already):