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Hedge Clippings | Friday, 23 October 2020
Hedge Clippings has limited knowledge of the US Presidential election outside of that which is dished up via the internet, email, social media, in the print media or on the nightly TV news. So while not one to readily agree with much of what emerges from the Donald's mouth, we do concede that the world and global media is full of "Fake News", albeit much of it coming from the White House itself.
The issue is that in order to get a balanced view, one has to consume or source news and opinion from multiple sources, and then try to pick one's way between them all in an effort to decide what is real and what's being fed to you. Some is highly slanted - take your choice, left or right, or possibly somewhere in between.
The problem is of course that there doesn't seemed to be any truly neutral news or information feed - every piece of news or opinion is written by someone (self included) with an opinion, view, or bias built in. One thing we can be certain about is that if it's coming from a politician, then it's what they want you to believe - otherwise they're out of a job (or at least the one they currently occupy) next time around.
Once upon a time the media wasn't so powerful, persuasive, or invasive. That was before television (yes, Hedge Clippings has vague recollections of such a time), but even TV was relatively benign way back then - or maybe we weren't as aware or cynical as we have become. However, the internet, email, and social media has totally changed the "news" landscape. Visit Google, YouTube, Facebook (if you must) and the algorithms behind the scenes to a large extent dictate what you are presented with.
Even if you do a Google search for a specific category, you're likely to be presented with ads or articles which target you based on your demographics, previous page views, searches, likes or dislikes. YouTube, and you're going to get video content delivered according to your past viewing habits. That's ok, and very convenient up to a point as it saves you time, but when it comes to news and opinion you're either going to get what you want, or what you deserve.
Email's no different - you can block messages from those you don't like, but they have ways and means of getting around that. Particularly politicians, which gets us back to our original theme: The US Election. Just check out this article from the ABC (itself not unknown for, if not bias, certainly a hefty slant) outlining the email tactics of US politicians, and Trump in particular.
It's clear we have NO idea of the average American's intelligence or outlook. Based on what we see, or believe, and is dished up in the media, The Donald's chance of being elected Prime Minister of Australia is probably zero - or at least no better than Clive Palmer's. Yet in the US it seems there are sufficient voters who think he's the Messiah, such that in spite of being behind in the polls, he might still be in the White House next February.
And if you believe some, including the man himself, he might dig in anyway and refuse to leave even if he loses the election.
As we mentioned at the outset, Hedge Clippings has limited knowledge of the US election process. Looking behind the person and trying to get a clear view of policy - on either side - can be difficult given the focus on what sells on TV. Normally we'd view a Republican victory as good for markets, and a Democrat victory as bad, but will that be the case this time around?
On Wednesday next week we will be holding a webinar to discuss the potential market and investment outlook post the US election. I will be joined by three excellent fund managers, each with significant experience in their particular field and sector:
We'll be speaking with Rodney Brott from DS Capital, Rob Swift from Delft Partners and Chris Wheldon from Magellan Asset Management to get their perspectives on the upcoming US election and how they expect it to influence their investment decisions.
The session will be interactive with the opportunity to ask questions of the panelists.
When: Oct 28, 2020 4:15 PM Canberra, Melbourne, Sydney
Register in advance for this webinar: Register Here.
After registering, you will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the webinar.
And on that note we will now turn on the TV to receive the latest opinion on who won (or lost) today's Trump/Biden debate, check emails from those wishing to influence me one way or the other (in spite of the fact I'm not a US voter) and try to steer my own path through the media jungle.
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