It’s Friday morning and we’re finally down to four days to Election Day. Figuring out when the whole thing will be done and knowing who the winner is will be a whole ‘nother talk show.

Overall, we are a 50/50 country with mood swings one way or the other. So, like every other election, about half the country will be happy with the results, the other half not happy at all. If you end up being on the losing side, perhaps take some consolation in knowing half the country can relate.

As for the markets, they are trending downward this week. We expected volatility as we inched closer to the election and, most likely, until there’s a winner declared. Who knows when that might be?

Here’s the thing. This volatility probably has less to do with the pending election and more to do with the rise in COVID cases & hospitalizations and the lack of a second round of stimulus spending by Uncle Sam. Investors are really concerned that the current outbreak of new COVID cases could cause parts of the economy to shut down again, resulting in pain to corporate profits. And with no stimulus bill, many state and local governments and school districts around the country are finding themselves in quite a bind.

We are continuing to tweak our portfolios to align with where the markets seem to be now. It’s an ongoing process but with everything going on now, it’s important to stay up with current market trends.

Last, as we’ve written often over the past few months, Wall Street doesn’t really care too much about which party presides. We know the polls could be way off like 2016, but with Biden in the lead for months now, the market hasn’t negatively reacted to a potential Biden win. As I said, the markets generally don’t care too much who wins.

Hopefully, by the time next week’s edition of the newsletter hits your mailbox, we’ll have a better idea what the next few years will look like. Hopefully!

Enjoy the weekend, and don’t forget to turn the clocks back…
Peter