Stocks in the firearms, healthcare and solar-energy industries stand to soar if Hillary Clinton wins the White House.
The Motley Fool recently highlighted three specific stocks:
Smith & Wesson Holding Company (NASDAQ: SWHC)
The National Rifle Association has been running ads in swing states saying that Clinton would confiscate guns if she was elected president, stoking fear among gun owners of a Clinton presidency, the Motley Fool reported. “If she does win the election, gun sales are likely to surge, and Smith & Wesson should pop during election week again,” the Fool reported.
Both Smith & Wesson and peer Sturm, Ruger (NYSE: RGR) jumped by more than 10% the week President Barack Obama was re-elected, and based on the recent the rise of armed militia groups like the 3 percenters, the reaction to a Clinton presidency among gun advocates could be even stronger. Smith & Wesson shares are up nearly 1,000% over the last five years, riding a wave of gun-buying.
Vivint Solar (NYSE: VSLR)
Donald Trump has promised to bring back coal and put coal miners back to work, while Clinton would make a push toward renewable energy. “Clinton has set a goal of installing 500 million solar panels in the country in her first term, which would lead to a nearly 700% increase in U.S. solar capacity, and she has promised to extend subsidies for solar energy put into place during the Obama administration,” the Fool reported. “A win by Clinton could give a big lift to Vivint, the No. 2 solar installer, which has struggled since a failed takeover by SunEdison, as well as others in the renewable business,” the Fool explained.
HCA Holdings Inc (NYSE: HCA)
Donald Trump has threatened to dismantle the Affordable Care Act, while Hillary Clinton wants to build on it and enhance it. By giving more Americans health insurance and expanding benefits for those who already have it, Obama's signature healthcare act has been a boon for hospital administrators like HCA Holdings. “If Clinton wins the election, the stock could spike next week and gain over the long term if she is able to accomplish her healthcare policy goals,” the Fool explained.
Clinton's prospects brightened after the FBI said it would not press criminal charges against her over the use of a private email server.
The FBI said on Sunday it stood by its July finding that Clinton was not guilty of criminal wrongdoing, after announcing on Oct. 28 it was reviewing additional emails relating to her use of a private server while secretary of state.
While polls last week showed Trump had been closing the gap, at least five major polls on Monday showed Clinton still had the lead in the race for the White House.
Investors have tended to see Clinton as a more status quo candidate. On the other hand, Trump's stance on foreign policy, trade and immigration has unnerved the market.
"I don't see another 5 percent bump on a Clinton win, but I could see a 5 to 7 percent pullback on a Trump win," Jeff Carbone, co-founder of Cornerstone Financial Partners in Charlotte, North Carolina, told Reuters.
However, former Reagan economic adviser David Stockman warns that the stock market is doomed regardless who wins the White House. He says the savvy stock investor will sell everything before the politics hit the fan.
"The markets are hideously inflated," Stockman recently warned CNBC. The former Director of the Office of Management and Budget under President Ronald Reagan urged investors to dump stocks and bonds ahead of the dangers that both Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton pose to markets if either is elected as President.
"If you don't sell before the election, certainly do it afterwards. Government is going to be totally paralyzed regardless of who wins," he said. "There could be a 25 percent draw down on markets," he predicted.
Stockman isn't alone in his dire predictions of market chaos after the election. But other financial gurus think Trump winning the White House would cause a stock-market collapse.
Billionaire investor Mark Cuban says he has his "Trump hedge on." In a recent interview on Fox Business Network anchor Neil Cavuto's show "Coast to Coast," the "Sharktank" reality TV personality warned: "In the event Donald wins, I have no doubt in my mind the market tanks."
But not all gurus are as pessimistic as Cuban and Stockman.
Wells Capital Management's Jim Paulsen predicts that the stock market will literally end the year with a bang as it charges into 2017. "I think we're going to maybe find out we are finally turning northward on earnings momentum," Paulsen, Wells’ chief investment strategist, told CNBC.
(Newsmax wire services contributed to this report).
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