Election Investing

[kork13]

I'm hesitant to ask this question for fear of kicking off a political brawl on the day before the election.... But what are your investing thoughts with regard to the election? I've seen a variety of opinions, and figure we may have
- Retreat to safety today, selling out now to avoid post-election volatility
- Stocking up cash to buy more shares during the post-election volatility
- Do nothing for now, then panic & sell everything off when it looks like the markets are going down (I actually had someone say this was basically their plan. )
- Wait & see what happens, then decide
- Ignore it all (wait, there's an election?)
- Something else....?

For myself... My retirement contributions go in twice a month regardless of the world, and I'm doing nothing to change that. On the taxable side, I'm stocking a little bit of extra cash in my brokerage to be ready for any extreme volatility, and tonight I'll put in some "bad day" and "really bad day" limit orders just in case the opportunity presents itself. But otherwise, I'm not changing anything really....I'm just strapping into the roller coaster, hands in the air -- let's enjoy the ride!


Side note: If you haven't already done so via mail or in-person early voting, please... VOTE!!! I don't care who you support. It's just a privilege and (IMO) responsibility that we have as Americans, and I hope that everyone will take advantage of that opportunity.

[HundredK]

My vote is ignore it all. Stick to your investment plan, whatever your plan is, and hopefully your plan doesn't involve market timing.

[LivingAlmostLarge]

leave everything alone. I'm too anxious about the election either way to worry about finances really.

[Like2Plan]

This reminds me of 2016. I thought for sure the stock market was going to tank--I think it might have done for a short period of time while folks got over the shock of the polls being wrong. Anyway, I didn't do anything different than I normally would have and that worked out best for me..

[Jluke]

It’s just:

1 day out of 3650 (10 years)
1 day out of 7300 (20 years)

buy the dip if there is one and you have some cash.

[james.hendrickson]

Thats right people, buy quality companies on the dip.

[disneysteve]

I'm not changing anything.

[cypher1]

Besides staying the course, I'll probably be buying some more if we get a dip here and there. But ultimately no matter who gets elected (both are a joke), they do not change my long-term plans/goals.

[bjl584]

Not changing anything.
I didn't adjust anything when Bush was elected, or when Obama was elected twice, or again when Trump was elected.
Just staying the course

[ua_guy]

I'm not changing anything right now. If team blue wins, I will eventually shovel more money into green power and healthcare. I did fantastically well there between 2008 and 2016 and I see a 2nd wave of reform and big investments coming to those industries.
If team orange wins, more of the same. Volatility. Investing in TP and housewares has actually paid off handsomely in the last year, so I'll stick with that again.

But no knee-jerk reactions. I remember 2016 when the stock market dropped something like 600 points overnight on the election outcome news. It straightened itself out, like every other rant and tweet has. Just have to have the gumption to hang on.

[Singuy]

Timing the market based on major events such as this election will most likely go exactly the opposite of what you think the market will do. Best thing to do is nothing.

[Singuy]

I'm not changing anything right now. If team blue wins, I will eventually shovel more money into green power and healthcare. I did fantastically well there between 2008 and 2016 and I see a 2nd wave of reform and big investments coming to those industries.
If team orange wins, more of the same. Volatility. Investing in TP and housewares has actually paid off handsomely in the last year, so I'll stick with that again.

But no knee-jerk reactions. I remember 2016 when the stock market dropped something like 600 points overnight on the election outcome news. It straightened itself out, like every other rant and tweet has. Just have to have the gumption to hang on.

Nothing is a sure thing. Blue team may be great for green energy, but capital gains tax increase can potentially hurt the market. You really don't know what the whales put more weight in and where the wind blows. The speculators can get crushed depending on which way things go eventually.

[bjl584]

Uncertainty is a bigger enemy than who the president is.
Covid is the wild card.

[ua_guy]

Nothing is a sure thing. Blue team may be great for green energy, but capital gains tax increase can potentially hurt the market. You really don't know what the whales put more weight in and where the wind blows. The speculators can get crushed depending on which way things go eventually.

Nothing is sure, but, healthcare investments were a pretty easy win back in the day and they could be again. Huge ARRA money was flowing at big healthcare to invest in and implement EMR's during that time. In turn they invested billions. The money was there, and it had a prescribed use with timelines and restrictions. There was nothing easier than holding broad cross sections of healthcare tech in retirement funds and just watching them grow and outpace everything for a few years.

Unrelated, I think a big one coming is a federal coordination and investment on infrastructure, specifically broadband. Elon might hit Starnet out of the park but that's still a few years away. There's a huge prize for whomever solves it from a private enterprise like he's trying to do. But the fact is, a lot of America doesn't have broadband internet. If broadband becomes regulated like a utility and there are federal dollars to light up the dark areas en masse, that will be huge.

[Like2Plan]

Well, did anyone make any big plays? Did it go the way you thought it would?