Ron Insana: 'A Stock Market Crash Can Be Weathered; Nuclear Winter Cannot'

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By    |   Wednesday, 09 Aug 2017

Veteran economic guru Ron Insana says that President Donald Trump’s latest bluster about North Korea forces savvy investors beyond worrying only about the financial markets.

U.S. stocks were lower on Wednesday afternoon as investors rushed to safe-haven assets after Trump's "fire and fury" warning to North Korea escalated tensions with the nuclear-armed nation.

North Korea said it was considering plans to fire missiles at Guam, a U.S.-held Pacific island, after President Trump's warning on Tuesday.

Trump followed his warning with a tweet on Wednesday about the strength of the American nuclear arsenal, but expressed hope it would not need to be used.

“I still believe it's true that the equities are a scant headline away from a painful moment in stock market history,” Insana wrote for CNBC.com.

“Combat that might occur between the U.S. and North Korea, or more precisely President Donald Trump and Kim Jong Un, may instead be more like a battle between an unproven president and an irredeemable farce,” the CNBC and MSNBC contributor wrote.

“However, that does not mean that these two emotionally and intellectually stunted leaders cannot draw us into a catastrophic global conflict,” he said.

“Both have long been well-known more for their bluster than for their ballistic capabilities,” the author of four books on Wall Street explained.

“That, sadly, is rapidly changing. Each has a finger on a button. Each wants to prove to the world that he has the power to bend his country, or the world, to his will,” Insana wrote.

“Consequently, the markets may be the least of our worries in the days and weeks ahead,” he explained.

“We know a stock market crash can be weathered. A nuclear winter cannot.”

Meanwhile, Trump's comments sparked a late afternoon selling on Tuesday, with the Dow ending a nine-day streak of closing records.

"Geopolitics splashed cold water on the markets," said J.J. Kinahan, chief strategist at TD Ameritrade.

"There's uncertainty and caution as investors nervously eye the next foreign policy moves," he told Reuters.

"Despite all this, there's no reason to press the panic button. For now, the North Korea situation bears watching as there's lots of tough talk, but we'll see if it escalates," said Kinahan.

(Newsmax wires services contributed to this report).

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