Investors Happy With Biden’s Election As Next US President


11/12/2020



With major networks declared Democrat Joe Biden as the winner in the presidential race of the United States and after gaining some certainty about who will be the next president, Investors and financial executives took a big sigh of relief on Saturday.
 
Even though the current President Donald Trump has vowed to fight the election results in court, investors on Wall Street who were quoted in the media believed that Biden would ultimately step into Trump’s shoes at the White House.
 
Biden has been called out to be the winner by election predictors including the Associated Press, NBC, Fox News and Edison Research.
 
“Biden is good news for the markets,” Christopher Stanton, chief investment officer at Sunrise Capital Partners, said on Saturday. “We’re all so tired of the whipsaw that came with the Trump tweets.”
 
The biggest daily gains since April were registered this week by the major US stock indexes with investor betting a won for Biden while the Senate to be dominated by Republicans. Investors said that this scenario translates into a much more steady relationship between the Oval Office and a Congress which is tasked with checking the left-leaning impulses on taxes or regulations that Biden might follow and those that hurt companies. 
 
However, in the days and weeks ahead there are lingering risks to asset prices.
 
Already a number of lawsuits over ballot counting have been filed by Republicans and Trump has said there will be more if such suits. The election proceedings could be dragged on by the litigations.
 
The US Senate is also now the focus of investors as it is still largely undecided prior to the two runoff elections in Georgia on January 5. Michael Purves, founder and CEO of Tallbacken Capital, said in a note to clients that in terms of election volatility risk, January is “the new November” since those races could possibly result in the Democrats controlling all three of the White House, Senate and House of Representatives. A look at the stockmarket’s fear gauge, the VIX, makes that clear, Purves said, as it has been stretched out into the months ahead.
 
Another cause of concern for investors are the people that Biden would appoint for his Cabinet of ministers. Negotiations with Congress about a relief package are being currently conducted by some of those officials and those officials reportedly also have enough powers to reshape rules at Wall Street.
 
“Now is a time for unity,” JPMorgan Chase & Co Chief Executive Jamie Dimon said in a statement. “We must respect the results of the U.S. presidential election and, as we have with every election, honor the decision of the voters and support a peaceful transition of power.”
 
He was pleased with the results, said Leon Cooperman, a billionaire former hedge fund manager who had previously criticized Democrats.
 
“It’s a signal to the world that America has not changed its values,” said Cooperman, of Omega Family Office. “That’s a good thing in my view.”
 
 “I am ecstatic, relieved and deeply hopeful for the future of this country,” said Robert Wolf, a major Democratic donor and former UBS Group AG executive who now runs 32 Advisors.
 
(Source:www.reuters.com)