Is Evaporating Clinton Lead Weighing on Stocks?

In many circles, it is conventional wisdom that a Clinton victory is good for Wall Street. After all, the Wall Street elite are among the biggest donors to her campaign. So, as the polls have tightened over the last ten days, and especially since the Comey letter to Congress about new evidence in the Clinton email probe, stocks have been sliding. In fact, the S&P 500 has closed lower in 8 out of the last 9 sessions, including today. Does this mean that investors may be anticipating the possibility of a Trump victory more and more? A victory that they fear? Perhaps. Keep in mind, we just got a muddy 3rd quarter GDP report last week that gave more amunition to the Fed to hike rates, and we've had a mixed bag of data ever since. On top of that, we just passed the peak of earnings season. When all is said and done, the stock market has gone NOWHERE for two years now. Today's close is only about 5% higher than it closed exactly two years ago. The market is also richly valued by most measures and top line revenue growth in corporate America remains weak. With all this in mind, I wouldn't read too much into how the election is impacting the market. We are due for a significant bear market anyway, no matter who becomes president.