Durham business owners are speaking out after the stock market’s rise following Trump’s victory

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

A sign that a stressful election season is over, but not quite a thing of 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 pass. It will be interesting,” said Sean Umstead, co-owner of Kingfisher.

An important part of the president-elect’s economic policy is the introduction of new tariffs on imported goods.

“Three-quarters of the alcohol products I sell come from outside the United States,” Umstead said. “If there was a blanket tariff on this, I think we would see a real increase in prices across my group. A lot of people don’t think about how many products they love that might be priced out of their price range.”

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However, the stock market rose sharply on Wednesday as investors expected a more business-friendly government.

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

“Don’t look at this and say, ‘Wow, this is going to repeat itself day after day. “I’m going to sell everything I have and take it public,” said Mike Walden, professor emeritus of economics at NC State University.

He said it helps the Trump administration that the economy is already doing well. Inflation has fallen and weekly wages are slowly rising.

Meanwhile, Umstead hopes his drink prices won’t have to rise so quickly.

“People who work at these companies, everyday people, every resident of Durham, are being thrown a hard line,” he said. “We are all in this together and will figure out how to move forward as a community.”