As normal, what takes pundits 1000s of words to pontificate upon, UBS' ever-ready Art Cashin succinctly summarizes in one paragraph. Critically, as we have noted previously (here [3], here [4], and here [5]), he hopes that the election is not close...
There is a broad hope among traders that the election is not close. With the divided state of the nation on lots of issues, a close result might be the worse outcome.
Several pundits project a possible win for Romney in the popular vote with the President taking the Electoral College. That possibility was enhanced by Sandy's damage. With the worst impact in states that traditionally vote Democratic, a lower turnout could skew one way. A split outcome could bring victory but some embarrassment to the President, since he is on record several times over the years stating that the presidency should go to the candidate that wins the popular vote.
Nonetheless, the law's the law.
Indeed...