Durham business owners weigh in after stock gains after Trump’s win

DURHAM, NC (WTVD) — The lawn signs were put 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 law and what he actually tries to pass. It’s going to 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 was a blanket tariff on them, I think we’d see a real rise in prices across my group. A lot of people don’t consider how many products they love that might be priced out of their price range.”

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However, the stock market rose on Wednesday as investors expected 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 repeat itself day after day, I’m going to sell everything I have and put it in 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 has fallen and weekly wages are rising slowly.

Umstead, meanwhile, hopes his drink prices don’t have to go up just yet.

“Curve balls are being thrown at people who work in these businesses, ordinary people, every Durhamite,” he said. “We’re all in this together and we’re going to figure out how to move forward as a community.”