'I expect to make money today - though it will be one of the most bittersweet up days in my memory'
"I expect to make money today - though it will be one of the most bittersweet up days in my memory," said Josh Packwood of New York-based Lucus Advisors.
Many hedge funders that Business Insider spoke with prior to the Tuesday vote expected Hillary Clinton to take the presidency. Many had priced that victory into their models.
In the early morning as a Trump win became nearly certain, several people reached by Business Insider expressed their shock and dismay.
"The American people have spoken and they voted for the devolution of democracy into the farcical tragicomedy of reality television," said Milind Sharma, CEO of QuantZ Capital.
Other hedge funders struggled to put into words what the polls were showing. Joe Mauro, head of markets at hedge fund launch Light Sky Macro, tweeted:
"I am in shock and disbelief and don't have anything to opine on," another hedge funder told Business Insider.
A Facebook exchange between Whitney Tilson of Kase Capital, and former Fortress hedge fund manager Mike Novogratz, highlights the disbelief. Tilson asked Facebook followers to "pray like you've never prayed before" as the election results came in favoring Trump.
Not everyone was shocked.
"After Brexit, nothing surprises me," said Ryan Schonfeld, CIO at Schonfeld Group Holdings. "It would be easy sitting here in New York to say you don't understand how this could happen, but
"This was clearly a vote for change," Tolkin added, "and there were enough people that believed in that message."