The election is still up in the air with plenty of ballots left to be called, and possibly even more lawsuits to be filed. Nonetheless, the tightness of the race highlights a variety of issues that will be worth paying close attention to moving forward.
On Wednesday, Morningstar’s Head of Policy Research Aron Szapiro, Head of U.S. Economics Research Preston Caldwell, and Chief U.S. Market Strategist Dave Sekera discussed what the undecided election means for investors.
No Major Policy Shifts
The Moringstar panels believes that even if the Democrats were somehow to grab the Senate at this point, which seems very unlikely at the moment, big changes would still be unlikely.
In the meantime, what really needs attention is the stimulus package, which McConnell is suddenly pushing for, and the lame duck session, where anything could happen.
No Big Stimulus Coming, At Least If Republicans Control Senate
Speaking of the stimulus, it doesn’t look like a new big stimulus package will be coming. With a split Congress, the chance of having a massive stimulus package run come through seems less likely. Expect gridlock, even if Biden is as good at playing both sides of the aisle as has been reported.
It’s All About A Vaccine
It may have been easy to let coronavirus and, hopefully, a possible vaccine, slip from our minds over the last few days as election uncertainty has dominated our brainwaves and the airwaves. But the production and distribution of a vaccine by early 2021 will have the most major impact on the future of the U.S. and global economies.
Expect Volatility, In The Short Term
Volatility has basically become the norm over the last several months and the Morningstar panel sees that continuing. They don’t advise making any major portfolio changes in the short term.
