Donald Trump is a businessman, and his policies naturally resonate with those who want to make a fortune or play in the markets, especially billionaires and large corporations.
Billionaire investor Stanley Druckenmiller is one of them. He believes that Trump’s re-election has reignited speculative market enthusiasm and bolstered business optimism.
“We’re probably going from the most anti-business administration to the opposite,” Druckenmiller told CNBC on Jan. 20.
“We do a lot of talking to CEOs and companies on the ground. And I’d say CEOs are somewhere between relieved and giddy. So we’re a believer in animal spirits,” he said.
Trump’s policies favor innovation and growth
Druckenmiller was bullish on what Trump could do for the markets even before the former president won November's election.
Related: Stanley Druckenmiller’s net worth (& how he made Soros $1 billion)
If Trump wins, “you get animal spirits, deregulation, so the economy could be stronger for three to six months,” he said last year.
The Nasdaq Composite surged more than 6% in the month following Trump’s victory, bringing the index’s 2024 gains to approximately 30%.
Trump's deregulation policies are generally viewed as positive for the stock market, especially for technology and cryptocurrencies.
Cathie Wood, chief of Ark Investment Management, also shared optimism about Trump's policies.
“In the last four years, we saw massive concentration toward very few stocks,” Wood told CNN last December. “I think the market’s going to broaden out right now and reward companies who are at the leading edge of innovation.”
What stocks is Druckenmiller buying?
Druckenmiller was formerly George Soros's right-hand man. He helped make the famous bet against the British pound in 1992, a trade that “broke the Bank of England.”
He is the former chairman and president of Duquesne Capital Management, which he founded in 1981 and managed until it closed in 2010. Over its nearly three decades, the firm delivered an average annual return of 30%.
After Druckenmiller closed Duquesne Capital to outside investors, he actively managed his wealth and investments under a family office structure, now called Duquesne Family Office.
Despite the overall bullish sentiment, Druckenmiller warned last year that "you would probably get a bad response in the fixed-income markets, which could snuff out the equity rally."