Bad news is no longer good news?

"BAD economic news is good news for stocks" has been an enduring mantra over the past eight years because it meant central banks would continue their expansive monetary policies, flooding markets with liquidity to keep interest rates low, risk asset prices high, and in so doing, stimulate their economies.

Substitute "political" for "economic" and we have a new mantra that emerged last week after US Republican Donald Trump unexpectedly was elected the country's 45th president. His election may have pushed US stocks to new highs and with spillover effects on the market here given the impression that as president he will be good for the local economy, but to accept this would be highly premature.

There is near-unanimous agreement that Mr Trump, if he lives up to his pre-election promises, will be bad for East Asia and by extension, Singapore. The main reason for thinking this is that his slogan of "America First" could mean a more inward-looking America that will spurn its trade deals, impose higher tariffs on imports and reduce its military presence in Asia - all of which are very worrying and damaging to economies in this part of the world.