Fear gaining on US bulls

IN THE 2019 battle between fear and greed, fear is getting the upper hand again. US stocks fell slightly on a volatile week with political instability and another twist in the trade war.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi called for an investigation of President Donald Trump after a whistleblower exposed his request that Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky "look into" his political rival Joe Biden, and made allegations that the Trump administration sought to cover up the conversation.

Impeachment is a long process. The last time there was an impeachment investigation, during then president Bill Clinton's second term, it dragged on for several years. Those years, in the late 90s saw big gains on the stock market, noted Craig Birk, chief investment officer for Personal Capital. But president Richard Nixon's impeachment struggle coincided with a stock market slump.