Weekly "Focus" and the Race for the White House

Nate Silver is a pre-eminent American pollster (natesilver.net) and currently sees the race for the White House as too close to call. Vice-President Kamala Harris in the lead regarding the popular vote but it’s the Electoral College that matters (270 is the magic number). The bet365 website posts odds and currently has former President Donald Trump as the favourite at -163. The winner on November 5^th will have to carry several of the swing states so it probably comes down to the voters in Arizona, Georgia, Michigan, North Carolina, Nevada, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin. BMO Capital Markets has just published the attached report that you may find interesting: Navigating the U.S. Election Outcomes – Winners and Losers as well as a 32 minute podcast Play Podcast. Brian Belski is the Chief Investment Strategist and writes in his section on page 9:

 

“We have found through our years of work that the U.S. stock market tends to go up over time whether a Democrat or Republican is in the White House, and it’s ultimately the direction of our free market, capitalistic economy, not politics or government policy, that dictate stock prices”

 

Thank you to everyone who is going to join us at this Monday’s Estate Planning webinar at 4:30 pm. If you still want to register you can do so here: Register Here

 

This week’s "Focus" from our economics team is attached.

 

Have a great weekend,

 

Brad

Senior Portfolio Manager and Senior Investment Advisor