US Stock Markets Wobble in Early Trading After Trump's Election

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Americans woke up Wednesday to president-elect Donald Trump. The U.S. stock markets opened at 9:30 a.m. ET today — by 9:35 a.m. ET, they were headed downward. Five minutes later, that direction shifted. It’s been wash, rinse, repeat since then.

You get the point– no one knows what to do with the political news that very few predicted. At least the markets’ wavering wasn’t an outright nosedive like last night.

Below are snapshots of where the Dow Jones Industrial Average and S&P 500 stand after a half-hour of regular trading today. At the time of publishing this post, neither was up even one-third of one percent, but anyone with investments will take whatever points they can get. Holding on to them is a whole other story.

Also Read: Stock Market Futures, Mexican Peso Plunge on Fears of Donald Trump Win

At 10 a.m. ET, the NASDAQ was up 5.82 points (that’s +0.11 percent) to 5199.31.

Also Read: Reality Show: Donald Trump Is Our Next President

Around midnight ET on Tuesday, the U.S. markets dropped hard pre-market when it became likely that Trump would win the White House. Fortunately, they would mostly recover by the early morning hours — though not fully.

Dow futures, the S&P 500 and the NASDAQ all sunk about 5 percent, triggering an automatic halt on sales — a failsafe, essentially. The Dow had fallen more than 800 points, the S&P fell more than 100 points, and the NASDAQ dipped to around 4,500.

The global reaction was even less favorable. The Mexican peso tanked by more than 10 percent on currency exchanges, trading at an all-time low for a little while. Trump made illegal immigration a centerpiece of his White House run and vowed to make Mexico pay for a wall on the U.S.-Mexico border.

Also Read: The Shock of a Donald Trump Win - And What It Means

Asian indexes, meanwhile, began to absorb the U.S. election news as their Wednesday trading day began. Major indexes sank by more than 2 percent; Hong Kong’s Hang Seng was down by more than 3 percent. Trump has attacked China repeatedly over its trade and currency policies and promised better trade deals for America.

Markets can have very short memories about vote results, though.

Earlier this year, the surprise Brexit vote — which began the process of Great Britain leaving the European Union — sent the British pound to 30-year lows. But the markets have since rebounded.

14 Stars Who Vowed to Leave America If Donald Trump Wins Election (Photos)

It's not uncommon for people to joke/threaten about leaving the U.S. if the "wrong" person becomes president. But Donald Trump has Hollywood in such a froth that loads of celebrities are now talking about pulling up stakes. Here's a small collection of them, ranging from silly jokes to serious plans.
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Lena Dunham has been one of the most active celebrity Clinton supporters out there, but she says she'll move to Canada if Trump wins: "I know a lovely place in Vancouver, and I can get my work done from there."
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While promoting "The Hateful Eight," Samuel L. Jackson told Jimmy Kimmel that in the wake of a Trump victory he would "move my black ass to South Africa."
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Trump's Super Tuesday victory in the primaries left Miley Cyrus distraught. She hasn't said where she'll go, but promised on Instagram that "I am moving if this is my president! I don't say things I don't mean!"
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Cher has a history of feuding with Trump even before he announced his candidacy and has been often asked about what she thinks about his attempts to become President. Cher tweeted that if he wins she will "move to Jupiter."
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If Cher does get a SpaceX flight to another planet, she might have Jon Stewart as her window-seat buddy, as he joked to People Magazine that he “would consider getting in a rocket and going to another planet, because clearly this planet’s gone bonkers.”
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Even before Trump officially got nominated, she promised on The View that she would leave for Canada if any Republican got elected: "I literally bought my ticket, I swear."
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Natasha Lyonne might not leave the country, but when asked by Starz where she might go, she said she might check herself into a mental hospital.
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George Lopez told TMZ that he would move south of the border if Trump won, and that other Latinos would come with him: "If he wins, he won't have to worry about immigration; we'll all go back."
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Al Sharpton said in February that he had "reserved his ticket" to leave if Trump won and that he would support anyone necessary to beat him.
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"House of Cards" star Neve Campbell is a natural-born Canadian citizen, so for her moving to another country is easy, and she's said she's ready to do it.
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Chelsea Handler told Kelly Ripa on "Live!" that her plans to move aren't just words. She has already bought a house in Spain and is ready to go if necessary.

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Barbra Streisand has been hitting the campaign trail hard for Hillary, but she too is ready to abandon ship if her campaign fails. She said she would decide between moving to Australia and Canada if Trump takes office.
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In the final days of the campaign, Bryan Cranston added his name to the exodus list: "I would definitely move. ... It's not real to me that that would happen. I hope to God it won't."
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But some threats to leave America are a bit more tongue-in-cheek. Take Spike Lee, who vowed to respond to a Trump victory by "moving back to the republic of Brooklyn."
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Bryan Cranston, Miley Cyrus and others may be headed overseas if they don’t get their way on Election Day

It's not uncommon for people to joke/threaten about leaving the U.S. if the "wrong" person becomes president. But Donald Trump has Hollywood in such a froth that loads of celebrities are now talking about pulling up stakes. Here's a small collection of them, ranging from silly jokes to serious plans.

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