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November 18, 2018 at 04:37 PM
In the aftermath of the midterm elections, 38% of Republicans in a survey released Friday by E-Trade Financial said they were more bullish toward the market than they were before the election, compared with 33% of Democrats who said they were more bullish.
At the same time, Republicans were significantly more pessimistic across every measure tested. Asked what effect the new Congress would have in the following areas, investors who said it would be very or somewhat positive:
- Investment portfolio: Democrats – 47%; Republicans – 39%
- Taxes: Democrats – 37%; Republicans – 30%
- Savings and/or fixed income yields: Democrats – 44%; Republicans – 40%
- Inflation: Democrats – 34%; Republicans – 27%
- Debt interest: Democrats – 31%; Republicans – 23%
- Cost of goods and services: Democrats – 36%; Republicans – 30%
An E-Trade poll released about two weeks before the midterm elections showed that half of investors expected the outcome to have a positive effect on their investment portfolios.
(Related: Friedman, Valliere: Appropriations, Border Wall, Retirement Collide in December)
Fifty-three percent of Democrats in the new survey said market volatility would increase, compared with 43% of Republicans.
A majority of both parties expected the bull market to end within the next two years, but 25% of Democrats said the end was imminent, compared with 17% of Republicans who thought so.
As to how they planned to reallocate their portfolios, 50% of Republican and 49% of Democratic investors said they would either change their allocations, move into cash or move out of cash into new positions.
“Major events like this are a good time to revisit portfolio allocations — determine what level of risk you can live with, and rebalance accordingly,” Mike Loewengart, E-Trade Financial’s vice president of investment strategy, said in a statement.
