A comparison for some thought....
This is the FTSE for the last five years. Over the period of the Brexit debacle and the Covid19 crisis.
This is the Dow Jones for the same period.
The contrast is quite interesting.
I'd argue that the Brexit process put a brake on the natural advance of the UKs economy. But that the general strength of that economy did allow the market to gain some ground over the period prior to the start of the Covid19 crisis. The crisis has had an adverse affect and quite a significant one.
But combined I think it is quite clear that the UK economy is repressed below where it should really be. This is a positive for the immediate future as we crawl out from underneath the Covid19 cloud. Investors will put money in to a market that is undervalued.
By contrast, you have to wonder about the markets in the States. Despite all that has happened their stock market has just kept going. Part of that is simply down to the significant amounts of money has been poured into the markets to support that growth. But I think there are two consequences.
Firstly, is that the American stock markets no longer correlate with the overall American economy in the same way that other international markets do. And secondly; American stock is way, way over priced.
Investors will drift away from the States market. If the UK could present itself as a stable, unified entity we might catch a significant part of that migration.
Perhaps we need to tell our politicians to behave, stop bickering amongst themselves and let us get on with rebuilding our economy.
Graph source : Financial Times Market Data