By Barbara Hagenbaugh, USA TODAY

WASHINGTON ? The U.S. economy ? and the financial markets, especially ? may be in for a wild ride the next few weeks if the winner of the presidency is unclear long after Election Day.

Uncertainty is perhaps the most hated word on Wall Street and Main Street. And with more uncertainties hanging over the USA ? such as terrorism, war and prolonged sluggishness in the job market ? than there were four years ago, the impact of another drawn-out election could be much bigger.

 

"It's very important for the stock market and for the broader economy that the presidency is decided Tuesday night or early Wednesday morning," Economy.com's Mark Zandi says. Some political prognosticators predict it may be weeks or months before a president is officially chosen. What that could mean:

 

?Stocks. When the presidency ended up in the hands of the Supreme Court more than a month after Election Day in 2000, the Dow Jones industrial average, which had been declining since spring, fell 1.7% from Election Day on Nov. 7 to the Supreme Court decision on Dec. 12. It was down as much as 5.3%, on Dec. 1.

 

Stocks have been gyrating in recent weeks as the prospect of a stymied election looms.

 

"The stock market is dying to get the election out of the way," says Carl Tannenbaum, chief economist at LaSalle Bank in Chicago. "A protracted ballot challenge would really hang in the air negatively."

 

?Consumers. The good news: A protracted election is unlikely to have much effect on consumers, whose spending accounts for more than two-thirds of U.S. economic activity. In 2000, consumer spending kept climbing throughout the election recount, according to the International Council of Shopping Centers. U.S. consumers have shown that it takes a lot to get them to stop spending, says ICSC chief economist Michael Niemira.

 

This time, it's possible an uncertain election could be the final straw for consumers, whose confidence levels have fallen in recent months. A measurement of consumer confidence by the Conference Board was 32% lower in October 2004 than October 2000, suggesting consumers may be less able to handle an uncertain election outcome than they were four years ago.

 

?Dollar. Already flirting with all-time lows against the euro, the dollar could fall further if the election remains undecided. Foreign investors, showing hesitation about putting money into the USA, might decide to wait it out.

 

"If this election ends up in the courts, the dollar is going to fall further," says Paul Kasriel, chief economist at Northern Trust. "The rest of the world is going to ask, 'What kind of banana republic is this?' "

 

 

 

http://www.usatoday.com/news/politicselect...tion-econ_x.htm

I truly hope that it's decided...one way or another on Nov. 2-3.

I dont know what the economy is going to be like the next couple of days

I think kerry will concede for the good of the country. With the lead bush has in OH kerry needs most if not all of the provisionals to go his way

Halliburton stock took a big jump in pretrading and is now higher by several percentage points

same for defense and big pharma

Halliburton stock took a big jump in pretrading and is now higher by several percentage points

same for defense and big pharma

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Actually bush is seen in the stock market as a spender, and whenever a spender wins the presidency most stocks bounce way up. This can be seen witht the election of carter as well at a larger scale