Displaying items by tag: Trump

(Washington)

A lot of investors are worried about what will happen to stocks if Biden wins, and even more worryingly, if the Democrats sweep the election. The general fear is that without at least a Republican Senate, the Democrats could give in to their more leftist impulses and create policies which would be detrimental to the financial-economic paradigm. However, UBS argues that even if Biden hikes corporate taxes up to his planned 28%, he will offset that with big economic spending to accelerate the recovery, which should more than make up for the loss of profits because of taxes.

FINSUM: This makes pretty good sense. Even if taxes are raised, it is not like the Democrats are planning to balance the budget. Large amounts of deficit spending will likely help keep stocks afloat.

(Washington)

There are just under 100 days left until the election and there is a lot on the line for markets. The economic approaches of the Trump administration and the potential incoming Democrats could not be more different, which means there are huge implications for stocks. Here is the good news—over the last 40 years, markets have historically risen leading up to the election, and volatility has usually decreased. Now the big possible twist is the COVID pandemic, a major factor that has not occurred during an election cycle. The most comparable election cycle seems to be 1968, when the US was going through similar levels of social unrest. The S&P 500 gained more than 3% in the run up to that election.

FINSUM: As we see it, the two big risks are COVID (and its economic consequences), and a leftward move by Biden. The Fed will certainly soften the blow of the former, while the latter remains.

(Washington)

No matter which side of the aisle you are on, the last several weeks have not been great for the president’s reelection chances. While there are certainly a large portion of “silent” Trump supporters who will vote for him in November, the trends in the polls are not looking good. In particular, Trump seems to be losing ground in what is emerging as the biggest battleground of all—Florida. In 13 of the last 14 elections, the candidate who won Florida won the election. Based on how other key states are heading—Michigan, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Wisconsin—it seems like Trump must win Florida to take the election. One Republican strategist in Florida said the trends in the state were not good, concluding that “Obviously the triple whammy of the virus, the pandemic-induced weak economy and the social unrest have taken a toll on President Trump’s poll numbers”.

FINSUM: Trump has strong support in much of the Latino community, which should help him. But his polls numbers for the state’s key 65+ population have been weak, seemingly as a result of the virus, which is working against him.

(Washington)

Those who lean right might not want to consider it, but polls have been showing Biden and the Democrats leading (poll issues being a major issue, but ceteris paribus….). That said, investors have a duty to consider what would happen in the event of a Biden win, or a Democratic sweep. While Democratic wins in the House and presidency are quite plausible at this point, a win in the Senate still looks like a challenge. Let’s consider two scenarios then: a Biden win with a split Congress, and a Democratic sweep. In the first scenario, markets do not worry a whole lot. The Republicans holding onto the Senate would mean many of the left’s more radical proposals would be blocked. What about a Democratic sweep? That could be different, as Democrats could push through anything they wanted. However, even that scenario is looking less dire for investors because Biden is not moving to the left as much as feared. Also, since his priority will be to reopen the economy, sharp increases in taxes seem unlikely in the near term.

FINSUM: It still seems unlikely that Democrats could sweep given the Republican’s 53-47 lead in the Senate. So if Biden wins and the Democrats keep the House, it would probably be an okay (no big moves) scenario for investors.

(Washington)

Despite some minor discontent, generally speaking the broker-dealer industry has been very tolerant of the new Reg BI. However, those who have been working on compliance and counting their blessings that DOL Rule 1.0 didn’t come into full force could be in for a rude awakening. Many will be aware that Joe Biden is well ahead in national polls at the moment. Polling difficulties aside (of which there are many), the growing risk for the industry is that Biden wins and then quickly moves to cancel Reg BI and install a much stricter rule akin to the first iteration of the DOL Rule. If he were to win the White House and take Congress, he would have wide latitude to undue the current regulatory paradigm. Even without a Congressional win, he would very likely reappoint all the heads of key departments, like the SEC and DOL, which could have a strong effect.

FINSUM: Just as the industry was settling into what looked like it might be a permanent new regulatory environment, things could very messy again. If Trump wins, none of this happens, but given polls it is an increasingly likely possibility.