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Elections and Baseball World Series !

What do US mid-term elections and Baseball world series has in common ? Few things:

  • For US adult population, both are interesting discussion topics especially as Nov comes near
  • This year, World Series is almost like elections between Democrats and Republicans with SF Giants representing Democrats and Texas Ranges representing Republicans. You cannot have better distinction than these two teams to represent their state's political affiliations
  • Next week would be quite interesting with elections results on Nov 2 and Game 6 (most likely decisive one) on Nov 3
I am no baseball fan or expert, but would go ahead and take  chances on predicting:
  • Giants would win world-series most likely in Game 6 or Game 7 - whoever wins would be their first win as SF Giants or Texas Rangers (Giants have won in past but as New York Giants)
  • Democrats would keep senate majority by slim margin (52-48) while Republicans would gain control of house by about 5 seats
  • Barbara Boxer would keep California senate seat
  • Meg Whitman vs Jerry Brown would be an interesting fight. I am supporting Meg Whitman for her approach of running government like business/company but recent trends are indicating that it would be tough for her to change latest trend and win governorship of California
Next week would be very interesting for investors also:
  • Election results
  • Fed meeting announcing start of QEII
  • Earnings from few more big companies
  • Start of November which is normally start of better 6 month cycle for investors (Nov to Apr)
Markets are already on upswing for last few weeks - how high can they go ? I am still sticking with my prediction of DOW going around 11500 and S&P above 1200. Recently technology companies have been announcing blockbuster earnings results. So I won't be surprised if Nasdaq touches 2600 by year-end. There are couple of companies I like in this market: Blue Coat (BCSI) at  $24 and Amedisys (AMED) at $25. Both have potential of returning 30-50% in 18-24 months !

Have an exciting week ahead !

/Shyam

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