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Politics : PRESIDENT GEORGE W. BUSH -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: D.Austin who wrote (279775)	7/23/2002 11:17:41 PM
From: D.Austin	Respond to of 769670

remember this one---- Gore's Stubbornness Socks Americans in the Wallet Wes Vernon Thursday, Nov. 30, 2000 For the nearly 50 percent of Americans who own stocks or bonds, or have some other connection to the markets, Vice President Al Gore’s insistence on blocking and delaying finality in the Nov. 7 election is bad news. The most dramatic indicator of the negative effect of the uncertainty is the Nasdaq, down a whopping 20-plus percent since Election Day. Whenever the economy goes south, unemployment starts to go up, which could mean bad news for many other Americans who do not own stocks or bonds but work for companies that are adversely affected. Writing in a newsletter for investors, Christine Callies, chief U.S. investment strategist for Merrill-Lynch, declares: "The absence of a president-elect has delayed purchase of securities viewed as beneficiaries of a change in administration. "Since there would be almost no overlap between the Bush and Gore portfolios, investors have decided to wait." And because the market in recent years has touched Middle America more directly and is no longer the preserve of banking houses, investment houses and portfolio managers, the delay hurts pensioners, widows, orphans and others dependent on plans invested in the market. Merrill-Lynch, which, before the election, had predicted an end-of-the-year rally, now has put that prediction on hold until attempts to contest the election end. The industry groups favorable to George W. Bush include drugs (linked to the price-control issue inherent in Al Gore’s plan), defense, tobacco, Microsoft (a belief that a Bush Justice Department would take a different turn on the antitrust suit) and mutual funds (because of Bush’s plan for expanded IRAs and Social Security investment). A Bush presidency is also seen as benefiting those who have their money in energy (more drilling for needed oil) and HMOs (less likely to be victimized by greedy trial lawyers). A shorter list of groups favorable to Gore includes environmental cleanup and those high-tech firms dependent on tough antitrust enforcement. Sun Microsystems and AOL (because of their interest in breaking up Microsoft) are obvious examples. As it is, the year 2000 arrows in the much-vaunted "Clinton economy" have taken a significant dive. The Dow, as of this writing, is down 8.61 percent, the S&P is down 9.06 percent, and the Nasdaq has tumbled by 32.9 percent. The EASE of the International index is down 17.34 percent. Just since Nov. 7, the Dow went from 10,952.2 to 10,626.5. That may not seem like much unless you’re willing to speculate where the Dow likely would be were it not for the investor skittishness over the political situation. By far the most significant slowdown is reflected in the nearly 21 percent apparent free-fall for Nasdaq, closing Nov. 7 at 3415.7 and ending up Nov. 29 at 2706.1, a drop of nearly 21 percent. No one knows for certain, of course, how much of this is directly attributable to politics. But analysts will tell you that the delay has played a major role. In other words, anti-Gore protesters carrying signs describing "the Gore-inch who stole Christmas” are making a point going far beyond personal political preferences. This is America’s pocketbook, and it is serious business. Financial analysts have to walk on eggs when discussing how politics affects the economy. After all, they deal with clients of all political persuasions. But if you can get them to say it way off the record, they will level with you: The markets like Bush. newsmax.com