Talking Trump, Twitter & More at STAC’s Mid-Winter Meeting
Chicago is typically known as a futures and options town, and as a Chicago-based firm, 3Points usually operates in those markets. But the securities industry has a strong presence in the city as well, and that community comes together each year for the Security Traders Association of Chicago’s (STAC) Mid-Winter Meeting.
This year’s conference — the 91st annual edition — was held at the Hilton on Michigan Avenue last week, and 3Points was proud to once again be involved. Our principal, Drew Mauck, returned to the moderator’s chair for one of the show’s most intriguing panels, entitled “Trading Under Trump.”
Trump’s election last November sent shockwaves throughout the world, and he has already had a major effect on the markets, not only due to his political agenda, but also due to his prolific and unfiltered use of social media. Drew and his panel — Lanre Sarumi of Level Trading Field, Michael Lev of the Chicago Tribune, Deanna Hawthorne Lahre of StatFutures and Bob Iaccino of Path Trading Partners — examined how this unprecedented president will shape the market over the next four (at least) years.
We won’t recap everything from the panel (buy a ticket and join us next year!) but here are a few noteworthy highlights:
- The panel mostly agreed that Trump’s “tweetstorms” are powerful in moving markets, but that the tweets’ power will lessen over time, as the world becomes more accustomed to his messages and learns how to “read” them. (It’s also possible that, as president, there will be a tighter rein on his account.)
- Michael Lev made an interesting point that Trump is just the latest in a long line of presidents and presidential candidates effectively using new communications technology to their benefit — it’s really not much different from FDR using radio for his “fireside chats,” or JFK utilizing television’s power to defeat Nixon.
- While there will be numerous industries affected by Trump’s presidency, the panel was most interested in the energy market. Oil could be particularly affected by a shifting geopolitical landscape.
- The panelists had a spirited conversation about Trump’s personnel appointments, especially his pick of Jay Clayton to be the new head of the Securities and Exchange Commission. In reaction to Clayton’s hinting that deregulation could be in the cards, Lanre Sarumi warned that empowering the “too big to fail” banks led to the financial crisis in ’08, and we should be careful not to make that mistake again.
Fittingly, the panel was live-tweeted by numerous attendees — you can view those tweets using the hashtag #STACMWM. With this hashtag, you can find live-tweets from throughout the conference, where there were numerous other interesting sessions in addition to the Trump panel. Other highlights from the week included the Women’s Collective Session on “The Changing Face of Finance” and a keynote by Cubs Executive Chairman Tom Ricketts.
It was an insightful couple of days with the local trading community and, if Trump’s presidency is anything like his time as a presidential candidate and a president-elect, we’ll have quite a lot to discuss when we reconvene for STAC’s Mid-Winter Meeting next year. If you’re interested in learning more about STAC or the Mid-Winter Meeting, feel free to drop us a line.
