By Eric Stock

NORMAL – It will take time for the markets to stabilize following Britain’s decision to leave the European Union, according to a local EU expert.

Illinois State University economics professor David Cleeton, who also teaches at the European Union Center at the University of Illinois, told WJBC’s Scott Laughlin many investors are giving into uncertainty, which he figures should be temporary.

PODCAST: Listen to Scott’s interview with Cleeton on WJBC.

“So they simply cashed out their position of their portfolio in those shares they are more uncertain about,” Cleeton said. “They may come back in the market once the uncertainty gets resolved.”

While those closer to retirement could take a bigger hit, Cleeton recommended investing in what’s considered more stable currency than the British pound, including the dollar, the Swiss franc and Japanese Yen.

Cleeton said the markets were caught off guard last week, figuring Britons would elect to stay in the EU.

“When they turned out to be wrong in that forecast that’s new information and that new information has to come back and be impounded in people’s decisions and values of the currencies and the prices of the stocks of these companies,” Cleeton said.

Cleeton is also the co-chair of the Political Economy Interest Section of the European Union Studies Association.

Eric Stock can be reached at [email protected].