Voting Day and Wall Street

Wall Street is up pretty good so far, and one could argue that the markets are predicting a Bush win. After all, the theory is that Wall Street prefers Republicans, even though historically the market has performed better under Democrats.

Just to throw a wrench in the common thought, I wonder if Wall Street actually prefers gridlock. From 1994-2000, the politicians were neutralized with the Democrats in the White House and the Republicans in the Congress. They couldn't even agree on which day of week it was! If Kerry wins, will we return to that sweet political spot? Could the strong move up in the market the recent week be in anticipation of gridlock?

Another common thought, is that one buys the rumor and sells the news. No matter what the result is, will Wall Street tumble once the news is in?

No matter what happens today, get out and vote. The local news channels will be showing results all night, so instead of watching the election returns why not take a break for a few hours and watch opening night in the NBA? You deserve a break after non-stop news. Charles Barkley is extremely more entertaining than any polling results or interviews with political parties. And the new-look Lakers are the late game tonight!

Enjoy!