Now They Tell Us

I had to chuckle Wednesday when media reports triumphed the glorious new age of gridlock as the reason the stock market went up.

Now, however, the cold reality is setting in.

Stocks Fall On Election Worries

NEW YORK - Wall Street's three-day winning streak came to an end Thursday as investors, taking a second look at election results, questioned whether a Democratic Congress would be friendly to business.

Um, here's your answer: No, they won't be friendly. In fact, they'll be downright hostile.

The losing session, which was also influenced by rising oil prices and a drop in consumer confidence, was to be expected after the rally that lifted the Dow Jones industrials to a new closing high Wednesday. Investors had driven stocks broadly higher this week on optimism that Democrats taking control of Congress would cause political gridlock that would be favorable to businesses.

But after more time to mull over the election, investors are starting to become concerned about an "anti-business stance" among Democrats in Washington, said John O'Donoghue, co-head of equities at Cowen & Co.

"The market's been looking for a reason to go to the downside, and a change in Washington is as good an excuse as any," O'Donoghue said.

For years now, the President's economic and tax policies were downplayed and downright misreported as the reason why the economic numbers had been so good since 2001.

Still, this dose of reality will soon give way to yet another: Bush will be blamed one way or the other. Mark my words.