Look for good market buys off the highs
By Dian Vujovich
With the election behind us and the end of the year in front, how the market is going to deal with these next few weeks is anybody’s guess.
In Louie Navellier’s MarketMail this week, he expected a Romney win. Sorry, Louie. Regarding the market he wrote, “The market typically picks up in November and December after the election results become clear.” Fingers crossed that you’re right here.
The people who write iOnTheMarket, it’s a weekly newsletter from iStockAnalyst.com, expected Mitt to win as well. Sorry for their loss.
Also in their Nov. 5th issue were these thoughts:” iStock believes a win my Mitt Romney could spell some trouble for stocks. Not as a matter of policy or as a slam on the candidate; rather, the market doesn’t like uncertainty. Once Wall Street gets a grip on how a President Romney would manage things, investors will adapt.”
That same source figured that if President Obama won, the market would likely enjoy a brief rally. “Not relief that Romney lost, but relief from uncertainty.”
Well, so much for those sources and their predictions.
As for muah, I was expecting a Romney win but hoping Obama would get another shot at the job. Reason being, with respect to the economy, anyone who has lived more than a handful of decades and read anything about the economy and recovery knows that it takes time to turn things around. Turnarounds don’t happen over night. Takeovers may. But turnarounds don’t.
Re the market’s after election afterglow: No matter who won was something I wasn’t really thinking much about. That’s because the market has rallied handsomely over the couple of years and I was expecting some profit taking. I mean, how could one not take a little off of Apple’s table if they got in early enough?
If the sell-off of the two days since the election continues, investors need to be reminded of two things: profit taking and year-end portfolio maneuvering by both institutions and individuals.
On that profit taking side of the coin, adding to the uncertainty of every market’s day-to-day performance is the fact that the current 15 percent capital gains tax is scheduled to expire at the end of this year. In case you’ve selectively forgotten, it’s scheduled to go up to 20 percent for those with incomes over $250,000.
That President Bush tax cut move was both clever and calculating when he put it in place. Trouble is, it’s gonna come back to bite all investors in the butt—democrats, republicans, independents right along with those who don’t give a hoot—being in January 2013.
Personally, I’m hoping that something wonderful happens by December 31st and that an increase in the capital gains tax doesn’t happen. Investors gotta make their money, you know.
In the meantime, the stock market is spilling over with investment opportunities. The challenge today is as it is every day: To select carefully.
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