Market reactions to the election

If you're a long-term investor then the short-term effect on next month's presidential election results shouldn't matter. But let's be realistic: the markets will react.

Leading up to the first presidential debate the stock and bond markets were weakening in the assumption that Donald Trump could gain points simply by remaining calm and sticking to the script laid out by his team. Markets in the U.S. and abroad see Trump as an unknown quantity and his rhetoric has stirred concerns both from the domestic corporate sector (U.S. CEOs, who as a group don't support the candidate despite their past comfort with other Republicans) and from foreign leaders.

Hillary Clinton scores almost as poorly in terms of popularity but her positions have been outlined in detail and her political experience is appreciated by those who feel she will continue policies of her predecessor that have led to sub-5% unemployment, historically-low inflation and strong consumer confidence.

In a nutshell, a Clinton win would likely result in a short-term market bounce (unless an outside event takes place) with a continuation of the upward trend in markets as the economy continues its slow but steady expansion. A Trump win would trip a knee jerk sell-off in the market which would be followed by a bounce as investors come to believe that time travelers from the future who have witnessed the devastation and horror that would follow such an event would return to correct such collective madness.