Today is the day. It’s the last day to vote in the U.S. presidential election. As of Monday afternoon, the U.S. Elections Project reported that more than 94 million ballots had already been cast.
According to a site compiled by a University of Florida political science professor, Michael McDonald, this 94 million figure is about 68% of the total votes that were counted in 2016. More than 34 million in-person early votes and about 60 million returned mail-in ballots have already been counted. According to McDonald’s site, some states don’t break out mail-in votes separately from in-person votes, so it’s hard to get a clear picture of that comparison. However, it’s worth noting that this year has been a big year for voting, something I’m personally proud to see. It’s a good feeling to know that the American people have made their plans to vote and aren’t letting anything stand in the way of that.
If you haven’t noticed by now, tensions are rising, and both candidates have gone full-force ahead of Election Day to make their cases for why they’re the best fit for the presidency. If you’re like me and constantly reading the news to stay up to date with what’s going on, you know that this year is going to be a little different because of the massive amount of mail-in votes thanks to the coronavirus pandemic. With some states not counting their mail-in ballots until Election Day, we won’t have the privilege of quick results for this election.
We’re going to have to be patient and wait. I know it’s hard for people who have been riddled with anxiety over the election, but that’s just how it goes. The other day, I read a quote from Art Markman, a professor of psychology and marketing at the University of Texas at Austin. It pretty much summed up this year’s election anxiety:
For many people, they’ve voted and thus have taken what is perhaps the last action they can take to have an influence on the outcome. At that point, you’re strapped into the roller coaster and it’s climbing up the hill and you can’t stop it.
Even if things were “normal” this year, officials would still be counting votes after Election Day, so it’s not anything too different from other elections. With regard to having to wait a bit to find out the results: We can wait. Every vote counts and those votes that have already been cast are are valid and should be counted with accuracy.
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There’s a lot of uncertainty surrounding the possibility of civil unrest because of one side not accepting the outcome of the election. On Monday, I saw a headline that said the White House was going to be on lockdown and crews were building a non-scalable fence around it to prepare for any type of unrest. Honestly, I don’t want to speculate about possible unrest on Election Day and the days that follow as votes are counted. I hope it doesn’t happen, but that’s beyond my control. Of course, all of this is affecting the stock market. So let’s talk a little bit about that.
The stock market surged a bit on the eve of Election Day. It opened with big gains on Monday after enduring one of the worse weeks of losses since March. It’s been a brutal month for the stock market as it prepares for the U.S. presidential election. Not to mention, there has been no definite answer on if and when there will be a second stimulus that’ll help Americans and the economy since we are very much still dealing with the coronavirus pandemic.
And speaking of the pandemic, on October 26, the CDC’s national forecast predicted that 3,900 to 10,000 new COVID-19 deaths will be reported during the week ending November 21. The forecast also predicts 243,000 to 256,000 total COVID-19 deaths in the U.S. by November 21. We are still in this pandemic — despite any attempts to return to some semblance of normalcy over the last few months. Americans need assistance and the last time most received a stimulus check was back in April. Over the past month, there were some negotiations, spurring an uptick in the stock market due to optimism that the economy could receive a boost.
Wall Street veterans believe that the market won’t be affected too badly by the results of the presidential election, however, the fear of civil unrest, the increase in COVID-19 cases and deaths, and no stimulus deal before the end of the year will definitely affect the stock market. We’ve been experiencing the effects of uncertainty for the past few months.
I’m not saying this to scare you but to let you know that you’re going to see some major volatility this week and maybe even in the weeks to come. However, that doesn’t mean there aren’t opportunities for you and your portfolio. Take what I’m about to say next in the best way possible: Don’t make drastic changes to your investments. Be patient. There will hopefully be some clarity soon, and when that happens, Wealth Daily will be there for you. But for now, it’s gonna be a very interesting week.
Until next time, Monica Savaglia Monica Savaglia is Wealth Daily’s IPO specialist. With passion and knowledge, she wants to open up the world of IPOs and their long-term potential to everyday investors. She does this through her newsletter IPO Authority, a one-stop resource for everything IPO. She also contributes regularly to the Wealth Daily e-letter. To learn more about Monica, click here.
