Hillary Clinton 2 Percentage Points Closer to the White House Following FBI Announcement
The FBI has decided to recommend no criminal charges for Hillary Clinton following a lengthy investigation into her use of a private email server -- and that's good news if you're betting on Clinton to capture the White House in November.
James Comey, FBI director, gave a biting press conference on Tuesday morning, revealing there was "clear evidence" that Clinton's camp "intended to violate laws" over the handling of classified information -- including seven email chains concerning "top secret" information -- on her personal email, which she often accessed with her mobile device. But he recommended no criminal charges be filed.
It has been over a year since voters first learned of the potential breach of federal law. The news has been the biggest challenge outside of Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders in Clinton's bid for president -- CNN polled voters following the news of the email scandal, and only 53% had a "favorable" view of Clinton at that time.
But things have turned quickly this political season. She leads her opponent, Donald Trump, in virtually all polls and Nate Silver's Five Thirty Eight, which has accurately predicted the past two presidential elections, gives her roughly a 77% chance of winning.
For those betting on the election -- and for Clinton to win -- the FBI announcement was a positive development. New Zealand-based betting market PredictIt has Clinton's chances up by two percentage points this morning following the news. John Stossel's Election Betting Odds gives Clinton's chances an increase of one percentage point in the last four hours.
While it's (mostly) illegal to bet directly on the outcome of the election in the U.S., stock investors have been betting since last fall that Clinton will be the next president. Since then, her tweets about private industry have had the power to move markets.
When Clinton called out drug pricing as an issue the pharmaceutical sector, it sent biotech stocks into a tailspin. The same pattern held true for a tweet about the U.S. private prison industry; stocks swooned when she called for an "end" to private prisons.
Conversely, Clinton's Republican opponent, Trump, has been vociferous on the campaign trail about companies that he doesn't approve of -- Apple (AAPL) - Get Report and United Technologies' undefined Carrier unit, for example -- but those stocks and company earnings haven't budged.
Apple is a holding in Jim Cramer's Action Alerts PLUS Charitable Trust Portfolio. See how Cramer rates the stocks here. Want to be alerted before Cramer buys or sells AAPL? Learn more now.
Following the FBI announcement, Trump took to twitter, saying the system is "rigged," citing the 2013 investigation of former CIA director David Petraeus that ended with a guilty plea last year to mishandling classified information.
"This investigation was done honestly, competently and independently. No outside influence of any kind was brought to bear," Comey said Tuesday morning. "Opinions are irrelevant."
In an interview with FOX News, President Obama vouched for Clinton and "guaranteed" there was no political influence involved in the investigation. Notably, Comey is a registered Republican, and was a member of the Bush Administration.