Stocks are at record highs. More encouraging, if President Trump keeps the same focus on the Dow during his second term as he did his first, the record-setting closings of today should pale in comparison to what’s expected by the end of his four-year term. But to power another stock market boom, Trump must remember what powered his first – the ‘MAGA companies.’
One month before politicians and bureaucrats inhumanely locked down the economy due to COVID, stocks were soaring. As President Trump was astutely aware then, the engine powering much of this growth came from just four “MAGA” companies. Trump stated, “For 144 days, we set a record stock market. It means 401Ks, it means jobs. Four trillion dollar companies: Apple, Amazon, Google, Microsoft…You have MAGA. The trillion dollar club.”
Apple became the world’s first trillion-dollar company during President Trump’s first term. Microsoft joined the trillion-dollar club soon after. If you tack on Facebook, the ‘MAGA five’ companies were up 142 percent under Trump, while the rest of the S&P 500 combined averaged gains of 45 percent. Translation: the ‘MAGA Five’ were critical in driving the increase in jobs and 401Ks that President Trump touted.
This story takes an unfortunate turn with the realization that the wisdom President Trump showed in celebrating companies’ achievements is now lacking in Washington, D.C. Politicians from both parties are figuratively “biting the hand that feeds us” by shaming businesses for being ‘too big’ or calling for their breakup. The Biden-Harris administration’s unprecedented abuse of antitrust law has led to a situation where the government is trying to force Facebook to divest its WhatsApp and Instagram platforms and coerce Google into abandoning its free Chrome web browser. The DOJ also wants to ban Google from making partnerships that prioritize its search service, even though they are designed with consumers in mind.
The fact that such regulatory actions are in danger of actually being implemented should cause alarm. To Make America Great Again, shouldn’t it logically follow that we want our companies to be the biggest and best in the world? It’s simply wrong that the biggest threat to our most innovative business happens to be our own government. Google and Meta being forced to divest platforms they successfully built doesn’t help America compete with China.
Nor does it help consumers in any way. While historically, antitrust enforcement was prompted by concerns over businesses’ pricing power, the services the government wishes to take away from Google and Meta are free. In addition to being cost-free for consumers, these services facilitate various economic activities across every sector. Given the growth and success of these platforms under their current ownership, it’s unclear why anyone would assume they’d provide better service under new ones.
As an astute businessman who follows markets and undoubtedly wants to leave a legacy of historic economic achievement, President Trump should put an end to the Biden-Harris antitrust attacks. We need the MAGA companies to power Trump’s next stock market boom.
