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Barack Obama has remained cool and confident amid the financial melt down, even as John McCain at times has been embarrassing, lurching from one proposal to the next. But while the polls are reflecting Obama's steady hand, the markets haven't. In fact, they're getting worse by the day as Obama's lead widens. Most investors know the devil is in the details - and the details of Obama's economic plans are anything but reassuring. Of course, the market turmoil is first a reflection of grim reality - the bursting of the housing bubble and the billions upon billions in writedowns and...

Reader Poll Which presidential candidate is the best choice for those concerned about Wall Street and the economy? John McCain (Republican) Barack Obama (Democratic) Ralph Nader (independent) Bob Barr (Libertarian) Cynthia McKinney (Green Party) View results

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. stock market would fare better in the first year after a victory by Republican presidential candidate John McCain than by his Democratic rival Barack Obama, according to a majority of economists at U.S. banks and research groups polled by Reuters. But the survey of 29 firms taken alongside a regular Reuters economic poll also found that economists had mixed views on the two candidates' economic plans. On a scale of 1 to 5, with 1 being "very good," 12 economists gave McCain's proposals higher marks, while nine rated the two candidates equally and eight preferred...

Investors this summer have been placing their bets on an Obama presidency, and for the most part that hasn't been good for the market. Without giving him a chance to explain himself in detail on the campaign trail or at the Democratic National Convention, they are voting with their shares by tossing financial, health insurance, manufacturing and high-dividend stocks into the ash can, and are growing skeptical about energy companies as well. It's not that major institutional investors don't like the man -- far from it. He has many backers among the financial elite, including multibillionaires George Soros and Ron...

Investors this summer have been placing their bets on an Obama presidency, and for the most part that hasn't been good for the market. Without giving him a chance to explain himself in detail on the campaign trail or at the Democratic National Convention, they are voting with their shares by tossing financial, health insurance, manufacturing and high-dividend stocks into the ash can, and are growing skeptical about energy companies as well. It's not that major institutional investors don't like the man -- far from it. He has many backers among the financial elite, including multibillionaires George Soros and Ron...

Speaking on Wall Street last night, Senator McCain of Arizona sounded more like an economic populist than a proponent of the kind of unbridled free-market capitalism promoted by many who work on the trading floors nearby. At a town hall meeting in Federal Hall, the presumptive Republican nominee for president endorsed a federal probe into speculation in the oil markets, a phenomenon that some analysts contend accounts for about a third of the escalating cost of crude. "I believe there needs to be a thorough and complete investigation of speculators to find out whether speculation has been going on and,...

Which spectre haunts financial advisers the most? Terrorism? Global unrest? Not even close. According to a survey of over 200 financial advisers taken in December, their biggest worry is that Hillary Clinton will win the presidential election in November: Nothing worries financial advisers more than the prospect of a Democrat's being elected president in November, according to a quarterly poll by Brinker Capital Inc. The fourth-quarter edition of the Brinker Barometer, which polled 236 advisers in December, found that 22% indicated that a "Democrat in the White House" worried them more than all other economic or geopolitical concerns. Rounding out...

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Big business is shoveling more money than ever into U.S. political campaigns, with Wall Street donations way up, a watchdog group said on Tuesday. The securities and investment industry -- which includes brokerages, hedge funds and private equity firms -- registered the sharpest increase in giving since 2004 among all industry sectors studied by the Center for Responsive Politics. . . . In both presidential and congressional contests, Democrats are benefiting more than Republicans from the surge in business donations, with 57 percent of giving from typical big donors going to Democrats versus 43 percent in 2006...

An ABC News analysis shows that many of the nation's largest banks and investment firms are leaning towards donating money to top Democratic 2008 presidential candidates rather than to Repbulicans. Wall Street — often thought of as a bastion of Republican ideals — is leaning toward Democrats these days. As campaign contributions pour in to the 2008 presidential race, employees at some of the nation's largest banks and investment firms are deciding more often than not to write out big checks to Democratic candidates. Workers at Goldman Sachs, Citigroup, Lehman Brothers and elsewhere are putting their cash behind Hillary Clinton,...

Something unusual is going on at Fidelity this election year. Employees at the conservative firm are on track to double their donations to the Democratic Party. And they’re not alone in the investment world. Overall, the Democrats are likely to bag their biggest share of Wall Street bucks this election since they held power back in 1994. The figures are tracked by the nonpartisan think-tank The Center for Responsive Politics. The facts? For the 2002 mid-term elections, Fidelity staff, their families and the company’s Political Action Committee donated $159,262 in total to Democrats at the federal level. So far, in...

A strong showing in the three presidential debates has helped John Kerry climb in the polls, but has it given him a bounce on Wall Street too? While Wall Street would likely still prefer a Bush win, Kerry's improved standing has forced investors to contemplate having the Democratic candidate in the Oval Office. "The markets until recently have been oblivious to the possibility of a Kerry win," says Greg Valliere, chief strategist at Schwab Washington Research Group. That's not the case anymore—and the Street has apparently grown a bit more comfortable with Kerry.

September 09, 2004, 10:31 a.m. The Prosperity Killer Wall Street is repelled by John Kerry. EDITOR'S NOTE: This article appears in the September 13, 2004, issue of National Review (the Kerry issue!). It's hard to remember the last time Wall Street was as repelled by a presidential candidate as it is by John Kerry. Many stock analysts are convinced that the mere threat of a Kerry presidency has caused equity values to slump in the past two months. "No one wants to make major investments in the wake of a presidential candidate whose economic agenda would substantially raise taxes on...

11:07am 09/07/04 Stocks seem to favor Pres. Bush: Smith Barney By Tomi Kilgore NEW YORK (CBS.MW) -- Smith Barney equity strategist Tobias Levkovich said the stock market appears to be favoring President Bush due to concerns over challenger John Kerry's tax policies and a 'better off with the devil that you know' attitude. Therefore, he feels that any post-Republican National Convention boost in the polls for Bush could be seen as a near-term positive for stocks. Regarding the voting public, however, Levkovich believes that "roughly half the American public will be displeased" with the election outcome.

Wall Street's enthusiasm for US President George W. Bush appears to have cooled as the presidential race tightens and concerns grow about foreign policy and fiscal deficits. Some leading fundraisers of Mr Bush's re-election bid have stopped active campaigning and others privately voice reservations. The New York financial community is expected to give the Republicans a lavish welcome when the president's party arrives for its national convention next week. Wall Street has been a big contributor to Mr Bush's record-breaking re-election fund. But one senior Wall Street figure, once talked of as a possible Bush cabinet member, said that he...

The top bulls are locking horns at Bear. In a rare rebuke that created a buzz across Wall Street, Bear Stearns Co. Chief Executive James "Jimmy" Cayne lashed out at his second-in-command for publicly endorsing Democratic presidential candidate John Kerry. In a July 20 memorandum e-mailed to staffers, Cayne chastised Bear Stearns President and Co-Chief Operating Officer Warren Spector for expressing his personal political views in a way that could be interpreted as representing those of the firm. "His comments were made in such a way as to be viewed as being attributed to Bear Stearns as a whole. Such...

NEW YORK (CNN/Money) - Democratic presidential candidate John Kerry's choice of a running mate may just help him win the election in November, and that could make Wall Street very nervous. Tuesday morning, Sen. Kerry, D-Mass., chose Sen. John Edwards, D-N.C., to run with him for the White House. Edwards was seen by most Democrats -- and by some political analysts -- as a natural choice: a young, energetic campaigner from the deep south, a counterweight to Kerry's staid, New England demeanor. In a tight race with President Bush, every little edge could help.

America's largely left-of-center entertainment and media industry loves John Forbes Kerry. Rolling Stone notes: "It almost seems as if Kerry's life has been invented by Aaron Sorkin or some other Hollywood type. Character description: Well-born hero (with the initials JFK!) enjoys Ivy League education and dates half sister of wife of future president; volunteers for dangerous war duty he could have easily avoided, only to discover the bad faith of his country's military and political leadership; becomes a noted leader himself and steadily marches toward the nation's highest office. Romantic subplot: a troubled first marriage followed by true love with...

The Lying Left is already trying to mislead the Public. A Bush Presidency, and enacting permanent tax cuts, are what the market is awaiting. Recent softness in the market has been due to the collapse of the Dean candidacy, favored by Wall Street because it would guarantee the re-election of Bush. As Kerry begins his inevitable decline, the markets will move up in response. For the economy, vote Bush. For the security of America, vote Bush. For the dignity of the Office of the Presidency, vote Bush.

<p>Although Wall Street prospers the most when a Democratic sits in the White House, market watchers say they would be horrified if Howard Dean were elected.</p> <p>"Dean is more threatening to the markets than any of the other Democrats," said one portfolio chief. "He's just too unpredictable."</p>

<p>Securities firms may have donated big to his campaign, but that doesn't mean the market likes him.</p> <p>NEW YORK (CNN/Money) - It's an interesting paradox: the perception of Massachusetts Senator John Kerry's potential "electability" as a presidential candidate makes him both Wall Street's most alluring and most dreaded Democratic contender.</p>