Stocks Under Bush and Gore
N E W Y O R K, Nov. 6 -- Think George W. Bush is going to be the nextpresident of the United States? Maybe you should bulk up yourportfolio with some oil and defense industry stocks. Betting on AlGore? Then you might want to go for more shares in broadbandtelecommunications or environmentally friendly recycling companies.
That’s the consensus of securities analysts who have beenhandicapping stocks that could get a boost or take a beating,depending on the outcome of Tuesday’s presidential election.
Investors Urged to ‘Wait and See’And while they’ve got growing lists of likely Wall Streetwinners and losers culled from the promises made by the candidates,stock experts urge investors to wait to make any major stockpurchases or sales until after the votes are counted.
“The race is so close that no one can predict who the winner isgoing to be,” said Sung Won Sohn, chief economist at Wells Fargo &Co. of San Francisco. “And who controls the Congress also matters.A lot of campaign proposals have to get congressional approval, andsome aren’t going to make it.”
In addition, some of the stock market volatility in the waningdays of the Clinton administration could ease after the election,making stock picking easier.
“Right now, the market is moving on the four Es — energy, theeuro, earnings and the election,” said Alan Ackerman, seniorfinancial strategist at Fahnestock & Co. in New York. “Theelection will eliminate one of those uncertainties.”
Profiting from a Bush WinA number of brokerages, including Prudential Securities, LehmanBrothers and Merrill Lynch, have published lists of industriesexpected to get post-election boosts, depending on who’s declaredthe winner. A Bush win appears to give the biggest lift to thewidest variety of stocks.
“Bush has to be viewed as the favored candidate of the equitymarkets, not only because of his likely blunting or reversing ofthe Clinton-Gore regulatory and antitrust agenda, but because ofhis market-based Social Security proposals,” said Charles A.Gabriel, a political analyst for Prudential Securities inWashington. Conversely, “Gore is seen as more friendly to bondmarkets.”
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