The Lie the Media Sells You Every Election Season
Every four years the same thing happens.
The headlines get louder. The predictions get more extreme. Both sides tell you the world ends if the other wins. The economists write their papers. The pundits go on television. And somewhere in the middle of all of it you start making financial decisions based on fear instead of structure.
That is exactly what the machine wants.
I want to explain something to you today that most people in my industry will never say out loud. Not because they do not know it. Because they get paid when you stay scared.
Here is the lie they have been feeding you.
Presidential elections and global conflicts determine whether your retirement succeeds or fails.
That is the lie. And it is one of the most profitable lies ever told.
The media sells more advertisements when you are scared. Economists get paid to write predictions that nobody ever checks them on afterward. Brokerage houses make a killing on your buying and selling. Politicians use fear to get votes. Fear monetizes. Fear boosts ratings. Fear strengthens loyalty. Fear keeps you emotionally reactive.
And emotionally reactive investors are the most predictable investors in the world.
Frightened investors sell low and buy high. They sell because they cannot emotionally afford to watch their account drop another point. They buy at the top because the fear of missing out finally overcomes the fear of loss. They chase narratives. AI is going to take over. This election changes everything. This war is different. And in the process of all of it they create liquidity for the institutions that were waiting patiently at the bottom.
Wall Street loves frightened investors. They have entire sentiment indicator systems built around tracking your fear. They know that when retail investors panic, that is the signal to buy.
You are not just losing money when you panic. You are funding someone else’s return.
Here is the truth that nobody in the media has any incentive to tell you.
The market does not care who the president is.
It cares about liquidity. When the Fed prints money, markets move. When the Fed tightens, markets break. Presidents get the blame or the credit depending on the cycle, but it is the Fed pulling the levers. Not the person in the Oval Office.
Markets have risen under Democrats. Markets have risen under Republicans. Markets rise under Trump. Markets rise because companies innovate. The private sector does not stop innovating because of who wins an election. Politicians do not innovate. Companies do. And that is what creates growth.
War is one of the most tragic things that can happen to humanity. I am not minimizing that for a single second. But historically war is bullish for markets. Defense contractors rally. Energy spikes. Infrastructure spending ramps up. The market does not have morals. It has incentives.
Elections create temporary turbulence. Not permanent damage.
The only thing war and elections consistently destroy is your peace of mind. Your stress. Your certainty. Your discipline.
And when you lose your discipline you lose your wealth.
I want to tell you something personal here.
Years ago I could see clearly what was going to happen politically. I called it to my mother on the phone while driving down the freeway. This is going to happen, then this, then this, then this. And almost all of it did. The only thing I did not see coming was COVID.
But even with everything I knew, even with all the analysis and the context and the pattern recognition, the uncertainty still got to me. I was still stressed. Still anxious. Still losing sleep over things I could not control.
And I know now that when you lose your peace of mind you start making decisions from a reactive place instead of a structured one.
Nobody loses their retirement because of Washington or Moscow.
They lose it because they panic as a result of what Washington or Moscow does.
That is the difference. And that difference is worth everything.
Casey Marx
