Displaying items by tag: Bernie Sanders

(Washington)

Wealthy people living in the US may have a natural apprehension to the idea of Bernie Sanders becoming president. The self-described socialist aims to greatly raise taxes and redistribute wealth as is common in socialist agendas. However, to get some context on how Bernie’s policies may actually play out, it is useful to look at the only functioning socialist democracies in the world—Scandinavia. What is very interesting about the Scandinavian countries is that they actually have the highest percentage of billionaires per capita in the world. The same also applies for those with a $100m net worth or more, and even those with $30m or more.

FINSUM: These countries have the highest percentage of wealthy per capita by a wide margin, so it appears socialist democracy does end up having some wealth concentrating effects.

(Washington)

Bernie is a long, long way from the White House. He has not even won his party’s bid. Yet, his odds of winning the Democratic ticket, and thus his effect on markets are growing. The reality is that even if you think Trump is likely to win the election, Bernie is probably going to have a big effect on markets this year because of how tight polls are likely to be. With that in mind, here is some advice to protect your portfolio. Analysts are still working through how Bernie might impact specific sectors, but there is one area where all agree he will be devastating—defense. Bernie favors heavy cuts to the defense budget—a position unique to him among the Democratic field of candidates. Therefore, selling defense companies or buying puts on the defense sector seems smart. Such puts are still quite cheap, so not a bad time to prepare.

FINSUM: If Sanders wins the bid he is going to have a stronger impact on markets every week (provided the polls stay close). Best to start thinking about this now as it may be a theme for the rest of the year.

(Washington)

Conservatives and investors, consider yourselves notified: Bernie Sanders could very well be the next president. Bernie is jumping in the Democratic race and now looks like the frontrunner after what looked like a failing campaign just a few months ago. Bloomberg is draining votes from Biden, which is helping Bernie. He is looking very good in the first three big contests of the Democratic primary, and it looks more likely than not that he will win the bid. He had a huge fundraising round in Q4, leading the democratic field. What made his dominance in fundraising so impressive was not just the size relative to the crowded race, but the fact that his average donation was only $20, showing the scale and intensity of his support.

FINSUM: We still think Bernie would falter against Trump in the main race, but his odds for getting the bid are improving.

(Washington)

Bernie Sanders is struggling to keep his positon as the third most popular candidate in the Democratic primary. Elizabeth Warren seems to have taken a lot of his platform and delivered it more succinctly and less cantankerously. However, Sanders is trying to one-up her and has just announced his own wealth tax plans. Bernie goes further than Warren with a tax that aims to cut net worth of America’s richest by half in the next decade. Sanders further commented on his plan, saying “billionaires should not exist”.

FINSUM: Whatever you think of this plan, we don’t believe this is ultimately going to help Bernie or the Democrats win the general election, as this is likely just too radical for most Americans.

(Washington)

Bernie Sanders has just made his big pitch to America’s Millennial generation. The candidate has vowed to eliminate all student loan debt for both undergraduates and grad students, and make all future tuition free. To fund the $1.5 tn write-off, he is planning a new tax on stock, bond, and financial derivatives trades which he forecasts would bring in $2.4 tn over a decade. One of the things that differentiates this plan from others, like Warren’s, is that it will eliminate all debt, not just that of the lowest income borrowers.

FINSUM: This is an interesting plan from a strategic perspective because it not only appeals to the left and the young, but also the richest of the young because it would eliminate all debt regardless of income. This point has brought criticism from some Democrats.