Miton's Grieves: Why it is possible to be bearish on the S&P 500

Wall Street is not Main Street. In Wall Street's eyes, America is the S&P 500, but from Main Street, America looks very different, especially in its relative exposure to events overseas.

The US economy earns only 14% of its national income from exports, making the US one of the most insulated economies in the world. Countries like the UK and Germany by comparison have far greater international exposure with 30% and 46% of GDP respectively, coming from abroad. In contrast, almost half of all the revenues of companies in Wall Street's favourite S&P 500 benchmark comes from overseas market. For companies concentrated in domestic America, there is cause to be bullish given the strengthening economy of which the biggest driver is a reinvigorated consumer. With jobs becomin...