This was easily predictable. Biden could have had a landslide win, but he decided to play footsie with Sanders and the other "progressives", and so millions who wouldn't have voted for Trump voted with their financial interests, held their nose, and apparently voted for Trump anyway. But more importantly, it looks like the Republicans are going to retain a majority in the Senate. If the Senate retains a GOP majority after all the votes are counted, it doesn't really matter, policy-wise, if Biden is elected. It would be refreshing to get Trump out of the WH, but this means Biden's entire agenda is out the window. Obamacare expansion, Medicare expansion, tax increases, energy policy, environmental policy, you name it. And the equity markets love it, because as soon as they figured out what was happening in the Senate the stock price futures went up, big time. All of the GOP tax policies will stick. And that continued through the trading day today. And guess which stock when up more (as a percentage) than any other DJIA stock? United Health Group, a big health insurance company. And Merck and Amgen were up there too, because the progressive health care agenda, especially Medicare for All, looks totally dead. (Medicare for All includes price controls on drugs.)
If Trump is elected the House will block everything the GOP tries to do. If Biden is elected the Senate will block everything the Democrats try to do. Businesses generally do better when the government is gridlock..ed, especially when taxes were lowered previously, so this will be like Obama's second term. Hopefully we'll have Biden in the WH, so we won't look like fools diplomatically, and the Executive branch will show some much-needed leadership. In the meantime I expect a lot of drama about recounts and lawsuits.
