Durham business owners weigh in after stock market surges following Trump victory

DURHAM, N.C. (WTVD) — The lawn signs were piled up Wednesday night in Downtown Durham on West Chapel Hill Street.

A sign that a stressful election season is over but not entirely in the past.

“At every rally, Trump says something different so I’m waiting to see what actually makes it into legislation and what he actually tries to enact. It will be interesting,” said Sean Umstead, co-owner of Kingfisher.

A key component of the President-elect’s economic policy is sweeping new tariffs on imported goods.

“Three-quarters of the alcoholic products I sell come from outside the United States,” Umstead said. “If there were a blanket tariff on those, I think we would see a real increase in prices across my group. Many people don’t consider how many products they love that would maybe be priced out of their price point.”

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However, the stock market surged on Wednesday because investors were expecting a more business-friendly administration.

But economists say you shouldn’t change your investment strategy just yet.

“Don’t look at it and say, ‘Wow this is going to be repeated day after day I’m going to sell everything I have and put it into the stock market,” said Mike Walden, professor emeritus of economics at NC State University.

He said it helps the Trump administration that the economy is already in a good place. Inflation is down and weekly wages are slowly rising.

Umstead meantime is hopeful his drink prices don’t have to rise anytime soon.

“There are curveballs being thrown at folks who work in these businesses, everyday people, every Durhamite,” he said. “We’re all in this together and we’ll figure out how to go forward as a community.”