Election Should Be of Passing Interest to Investors

In his latest newsletter to clients, portfolio manager Gary Greenbaum urged them to vote in the presidential election -- but not with their investments.

"Most of our clients say, 'What impact will the presidential election have on my investments?'" said Greenbaum, a fee-only certified financial planner and chartered financial analyst with Greenbaum and Orecchio in Old Tappan, N.J.

But if history is any guide, he has concluded, even this contentious and presumably close election won't have significant effects on the stock and bond markets in the long term. That's not to say that some individual stocks won't spike briefly once Bush or Kerry wins. ...