• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar

Wealth Pilgrim

No Money Worries. No Matter What.

Neal Frankle featured in
  • Home
  • Life Insurance
  • Investing
    • Build Strong Investment Building Blocks To Avoid Going Broke In Retirement
    • Systematic Mutual Fund and ETF Investing
    • Stock Market Investing Guide
    • Choosing the Right Investment Brokerage Guide
    • How Bonds Work Guide
    • How Banks Really Work Guide
    • Annuities – What You Need To Know Before You Invest
    • A Beginners Guide To Buying Individual Stocks
    • Create A Pool Of Great Mutual Funds and ETFs To Pick From To Secure Your Retirement
    • ETF and Index Fund Investment Guide
  • Earn More
  • Banking
  • Retirement Planning
    • Retirement Guide
  • Ask Neal a Question
  • Reviews
    • Upgrade Personal Loans Review
    • Lending Club Review
    • Prosper Review
    • Ally Invest TradeKing Review
    • CIT Bank Review
    • LegalZoom Review
    • Lexington Law Review
    • Airbnb Host Review
    • Should You Drive For Uber?
  • Tax
  • Courses
    • Raise Your Credit Score So You Can Buy a House – Free Video Course

Will War With Syria Tank The Economy And Market?

by Neal Frankle, CFP ®, The article represents the author's opinion. This post may contain affiliate links. Please read our disclosure for more info.

If we go to war with Syria, how will that impact your financial life? While I haven’t heard anyone specifically ask this question yet, I know it’s on many people’s minds. Of course I can’t ever predict the future. Nobody can. And in war, it’s even more difficult to foresee what is yet to come. There is just no telling what the Law Of Unintended Consequences will dish up once that war machine starts rolling.

Others can debate the advisability of going or not going to war. And we can all agree that no matter how this turns out, the cost of war and the human tragedy that accompanies it is always too damn high.

But for a moment, let’s think about this from a personal finance angle. Will your financial future explode like a cruise missile if President Obama sends out the attack code?  Is it better to play it safe now in anticipation of this fight?

I could be wrong of course, but I don’t think so. There are a couple reasons why I am of this mind.

1. Got Oil And Strategic Support? Yes.

Among the countries that issued a joint statement condemning the chemical weapons attack in Damascus were Saudi Arabia and Turkey. Of course this doesn’t mean they will necessarily support military action if it gets to that point. But it lays a solid foundation for the United States regardless of how things unfold.

Saudi Arabia is the key player in OPEC of course and a critical energy supplier to the world. Turkey isn’t part of OPEC but it is one of the most important Muslim counties in the Middle East. These two countries act according to their own national interests with respect to Syria. For now, their interests and those of the United States are in line. That is a positive for world stability and by proxy, for the economy and stock market.

2. Got Precedence? Yes.

Let’s look at what happened to the S&P 500 during periods of war and conflict as a way to measure the impact that military action has historically had on the economy and financial world.

First consider that awful day 9/11. The market immediately closed and remained shut for over a week. When the stock market reopened, it did fall. But as you can see from the chart below, the market regained most of the losses within 30 days. 9/11 changed the world – but it wasn’t the end of the world.

war with syria

Now consider the Gulf War. It ran between August 2, 1990 and February 28, 1991. You can see from the chart below that in this case, the market actually did quite well. It wasn’t without dips and drops. But over the course of that war, the market climbed a bit over 8%. Nobody expected the market to climb during this bloody conflict with this heavily armed OPEC producer member but it did. That is precisely the point.

war with syria

 

3. Got A Crystal Ball? No.

Two out of three ain’t bad…right? I can’t prove that war is benign for investors. And there is no way to know how current events in Syria will play out and how that may impact the financial world.

But when we think back to past conflicts it’s easy to understand that many forces impact the market. It’s complicated and not linear. While war is a nasty and terrible blight on humanity, possible conflict does not in and of itself justify cashing in your investment chips.

Are you doing anything different with your investments in light of a potential attack on Syria? Why or why not?

Tweet
Pin
Share3

Reader Interactions

User Generated Content (UGC) Disclosure: Please note that the opinions of the commenters are not necessarily the opinions of this site.

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Are You Human? * Time limit is exhausted. Please reload CAPTCHA.

Primary Sidebar

Who is Neal Frankle

Neal Frankle

I'm a Certified Financial Planner™ with more than 25 years of experience. I feel very blessed and hope to share my personal financial experience and professional wisdom with readers of WealthPilgrim.
Read More »

Stay Connected

Facebook Twitter YouTube RSS

More Categories

Career Development
College Funding
Credit Cards
Credit Score Fixes
Money and Marriage
Debt Relief
Estate Protection
Property Investment Loans
Small Business Strategies
Spend Less Money

Disclaimer

Wealth Pilgrim is not responsible for and does not endorse any advertising, products or resource available from advertisements on this website. Wealth Pilgrim receives compensation from Google for advertising space on this website, but does not control the advertising selection or content. Please do the appropriate research before participating in any third party offers. The information contained in WealthPilgrim.com is for general information or entertainment purposes only and does not constitute professional financial advice. Please contact an independent financial professional for advice regarding your specific situation. Wealth Pilgrim does not provide investment advisory services and is not a registered investment adviser. Neal may provide advisory services through Wealth Resources Group, a registered investment adviser. Wealth Pilgrim and Wealth Resources Group are affiliated companies. In accordance with FTC guidelines, we state that we have a financial relationship with some of the companies mentioned in this website. This may include receiving payments,access to free products and services for product and service reviews and giveaways. Any references to third party products, rates, or websites are subject to change without notice. We do our best to maintain current information, but due to the rapidly changing environment, some information may have changed since it was published. Please do the appropriate research before participating in any third party offers.


About · Contact · Disclaimer & Privacy policy

Copyright © Wealth Pilgrim 2021 All Rights Reserved