At the risk of some personal embarrassment, I'll be shocked if Obama loses today. Every poll that I respect has him winning in a landslide, so it looks like we will have a democrat in the office for at least the next 4 years. In my opinion, this is not so much a vote for Obama as it is a vote against the presidency of W.. Obama has also run what may be the best campaign in history. How many of us, just 8-10 months ago, thought he would beat Hillary??
For those that might be concerned about having a democrat in the highest office, think back to Bill Clinton's 8 years. Love him or hate him, the stock market and the economy were very strong...we even ran a budget surplus for the first time in over 20+ years. History shows that the stock market actually fairs better under a democratic President than a republican one, which is a real surprise to most people. Robert Rubin, who gets most of the credit for Clinton's pro-business and economic policies...along with balancing of the budget...is Obama's top economic advisor. Rubin is fiercely opposed to high taxes, so don't assume that a vote for Obama is a vote for higher taxes on business and the wealthy.
This is not an endorsement of either candidate, just the facts. I will say that its too bad that Ron Paul left the libertarian party to run as a republican, but don't forget about our good friend and VP of the lib. party, Wayne Allyn Root, who will be providing a keynote address at WMI's Wealth Conference Nov 21-24.
(Time Magazine article: http://www.time.com/time/politics/article/0,8599,1856139,00.html)
Whatever you do, exercise your right to vote today!
MARKET UPDATE:
The bear market rally continues, and hit my first target of 9500 at the open today. There is still room for it to move higher, but at this point NOTHING is telling me that this is the birth of a new bull market. Economic recessions that begin as the result of debt and credit issues last far longer than any other, and once the Obama euphoria wears off, I believe that the next move in the stock market will be lower, and likely by a great deal. Way too many market gurus are calling this a market bottom, and investors are still fully invested and holding on to their 401k equity positions. This is simply not how bear markets end, and in my educated view, this one will be no different.
There will be excellent bargains to be had when the bottom is finally reached, but I continue to believe that we will see 7000 on the Dow Jones before this is all over.
Kip