I recently came across a new word: oikophobia.

You’re probably familiar with xenophobia, defined as fear and hatred of strangers or foreigners or of anything that is strange or foreign.

Oikophobia, on the other hand, is defined as fear or hatred of one's own home, household surroundings, or — in a political context — one's own culture, civilization, and society.

Compared to xenophobia, this term is relatively new. It was coined in 2004 by British philosopher Roger Scruton.

He said it refers to the felt need to denigrate the customs, culture, and institutions that are "ours."

It’s often described as a form of cultural self-loathing or "psychopolitical pathology".

Even though this was a new concept to me, it struck a chord instantly.

Today I want to talk to you about it, because this concept has very real implications for your portfolio.

One Thing That Both Sides Agree on

Oikophobia is something that I’ve seen on both the left and right sides of the political spectrum. And it’s been particularly acute after President Trump’s attacks on Iran.

Regardless of the news on any given day, the response from a broad spectrum of media is negative.

I don’t necessarily find it surprising. After all, there has long been opposition to military conflicts across the political spectrum.

But the near unanimity of the negative coverage is notable.

Oikophobia has been prevalent on the left, and now it seems to have spread to the right. The far ends of both sides of the spectrum are highly critical of anything our government does anymore.

Sure, if their party is in power, they may tone down the criticism. But that doesn’t appear to be the case after Trump’s war with Iran.

It’s hard for me to recall another moment in my lifetime when there has been such a broad consensus against one administration.

This is an interesting observation. But how does it help us?

Bet Against America at Your Own Risk

It reminds me of this chart from Charlie Bilello that shows the performance of the S&P 500 under each administration. Blue for Democrats and red for Republicans.

Notice a pattern? The stock market goes up and to the right no matter who is in the White House.

(Note: this chart cuts off midway through the Biden administration. But the pattern has held since then.)

Here is another table with the data laid out by the presidency and who controls Congress.

Again, all the data is extremely positive. The takeaway is that it doesn’t really matter who is in control politically.

The underlying drivers of the U.S. economic engine power through to growth. Stocks go along for that ride.

Getting back to today’s environment, we are seeing this in real time.

Despite the overwhelming negative sentiment about the Iran conflict, the stock market has powered to new highs.

Here is the chart of the S&P 500 over the last year.

Sentiment is terrible, but stocks are up and keep grinding higher.

Sometimes it seems like the only people who think the war is going well are the Trump administration, the U.S. military, and the stock market.

I’m not sure how much stock to put into the opinion of the first one — but those last two are opinions to be respected.

Successful investing is not about looking at the markets and expecting them to react the way you want.

It’s about looking at how they actually react and adapting yourself to the reality of their performance.

Political opinions are good for TV and social media, but they can be very bad for your wallet.

Tune out the oikophobia and focus on the markets and fundamentals to succeed.