CNBC’s Jim Cramer said Thursday he believes the election results in New Jersey and Virginia should help calm investor fears about the more-liberal aspirations of Democrats in Washington.
“I’m not calling for complacency, but I am saying that, after this week’s Election Day, Wall Street no longer needs to worry about the Biden administration cracking down on big business and its beneficiaries of their profits,” the “Mad Money” host said. “And when Wall Street’s not worried, stocks can go higher — still one more reason not to sell at these levels, and to buy more the next time we get a pullback.”
In Virginia, wealthy Republican businessman Glenn Youngkin defeated Democrat Terry McAuliffe in the state’s closely watched governor’s race. Youngkin will take over for Democratic Gov. Ralph Northam, putting the GOP in charge of a state that President Joe Biden easily carried in last year’s presidential election.
In New Jersey, Democratic Gov. Phil Murphy captured a second term over Republican Jack Ciattarelli, but the race was surprisingly close in another state that Biden handedly won in 2020. Also in New Jersey, longtime state Senate president Steve Sweeney lost to his Republican Edward Durr, despite the fact Durr spent less than $200 on the race.
Cramer said the strength of Republican candidates — even in cases of defeat — is likely to worry Democrats ahead of next year’s pivotal midterm elections. Democrats narrowly hold power both chambers.
The stock market has performed much better in Biden’s first year than some of the most dire predictions, Cramer acknowledged, with the S&P 500 up more than 24% year to date. Biden was sworn into office in late January.
“This is Mad Money not Mad Politics and the last thing I want to do is take sides here. But as a money guy, I can tell you that the stock market loves gridlock in Washington. It loves paralysis. It loves a government that does nothing,” Cramer explained.
The results of Tuesday’s elections, he added, likely “sealed the deal on Biden’s more left-wing policy commitments. They were already pretty much off the table, now they’re dead on arrival because the Democrats don’t want to get wiped out in next year’s midterms.”
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