While both Mitt Romney and President Barack Obama claim the other will drag the U.S. economy down, stocks and exchange traded funds will likely continue to expand as the markets gain momentum.
Consumer spending is rising, employment numbers are improving, home prices are recovering and banks are dishing out loans again, report Rich Miller and Steve Matthews for Bloomberg. [Presidential Election: ETFs for an Obama or Romney Victory]
Peter Hooper, chief economist at Deutsche Bank Securities, attributes pent-up demand as the main driver for economic expansion ahead. Since households have tightened their belts during the recession and its aftermath, consumers are now beginning to feel more optimistic
“Housing typically adds 1 to 2 percentage points” over a recovery, Dean Maki, chief U.S. economist at Barclays Plc, said in the article. With less distressed properties on the market, “you may get a bigger kick from housing” in 2015 and 2016.
“The die is cast for a much stronger recovery,” Mark Zandi, chief economist for Moody’s Analytics Inc, said in the article, projecting an economic expansion of about 2% next year before doubling to around 4% in 2014 and 2015.