Trump, Clinton: Stock Market Pauses With Abedin-Weiner Revelations, Increased Uncertainty Surrounding Presidential Race

On October 21, the Inquisitr reported on spikes being observed in the prices of the shares of high-growth technology companies like Facebook, Inc. (NASDAQ: FB), Netflix, Inc. (NASDAQ: NFLX), and PayPal Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ: PYPL) with then-increased certainty that Democratic presidential nominee and former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton would be elected president.

As reported by Real Clear Politics, Clinton had a solid 6.2 percent lead in national averages on Octobers 21, which has now dwindled to just 2.2 percent. Currently, Clinton leads Trump, 47.5 to 45.3 in poll averages, but among one of the most recent polls, by L.A. Times/USC Tracking, Donald Trump is seen leading Hillary Clinton by 4 percent. A second recent poll, by IBD/TIPP Tracking, has the Democrat leading by 1 percent.

Fortune has reported that a Hillary Clinton presidency could cause the stock market, measured by the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index (^GSPC), to rise 4 percent. The same article sees a November 8 Donald Trump win sending the S&P 500 skidding by 7 percent.

Donald Trump’s poll numbers were steadily whittled away in the weeks following the first of numerous allegations of sexual misconduct on the part of the Republican nominee, as well as the existence of lewd audio recordings, as previously reported by the Inquisitr. At the same time, Hillary Clinton’s poll numbers enjoyed a steady rally, with some polls putting the former secretary of state ahead by more than 10 percent.

Stocks, including NFLX and PYPL, each rallied on news of strong financial reports, with traders seemingly being buoyed by increased expectations of a Clinton in the White House. PYPL and FB shares each traded to new high ground.

Each of the stocks has been able to hold much of their recent gains, but PYPL stock is down 3.36 percent, NFLX stock is down 3.14 percent, and FB stock is down 1.76 percent over the past five trading sessions. It would seem normal for stocks to correct upon rallying sharply, but it might seem that shares favoring a Hillary Clinton presidency may be now, suddenly, facing headwinds, when traders were starting to believe that they had the wind at their backs and full sails, with across-the-board price markups in high-growth technology names serving as evidence.

Much of these headwinds may be the result of recent news of Clinton-aide Huma Abedin storing emails on a computer used by her estranged husband, former congressman Anthony Weiner, to “sext” with a 15-year-old, as previously reported by the Inquisitr.

Investor’s Business Daily and other publications recommend the use of stop-loss orders of about 8 percent, along with other measures, as a tool for managing risk in the stock market. Pullbacks from recent highs have not yet become overly deep. However, the possibility of increased selling exists, for both technical and news-driven reasons, if events run a course failing to favor participants’ liking.

Facebook is scheduled to report its third-quarter 2016 earnings after the close of the stock market later today, as reported by Yahoo Finance Canada.

Wall Street analysts expect the social networking company to report revenues of $6.92 billion, up a whopping 53.80 percent, year over year. The consensus is for FB earnings per share of $0.97, which has been raised from $0.96, 90 days ago. FB EPS estimates range from $0.79 to $1.04.

If met, the $0.97 EPS number would represent year-over-year growth of 70.20 percent. For the fourth quarter, Facebook EPS is expected to grow by 57.00 percent, by 72.40 percent for the entirety of 2016, and by 28.80 percent in 2017.

Forty-two institutions currently publish price targets for FB stock, with the average being $156.76, the low being $80.00, and the high, $185.00, as reported by Yahoo Finance Canada. The average recommendation among firms is 1.8, where 1.0 is a strong buy and 5.0 is a sell.

The reaction of the market to the Facebook earnings results will be closely watched, not only by investors, but by voters looking for signs that a Hillary Clinton rally may still be in play, perhaps giving signs about which presidential hopeful will win next week. Further swings in stock prices and voter sentiment would seem likely.

[Featured Image by Spencer Platt/Getty Images]