A quick scroll through any newsfeed – whether it is online, on TV, in print or even a quick walk by the old fashioned water-cooler conversation has been overwhelmed by talk of the upcoming US election – and around the office, more specifically, the potential impact on investment portfolios has been one of the foremost questions on the minds of clients and investors.

Carrying on the theme, I thought I’d share a timely and well-balanced piece from our Chief Economist of RBC Global Asset Management, Eric Lascelles just released yesterday, for your reading pleasure. If in the past few days you have been wondering what the likely election outcome may be; what the potential economic implications of each candidate’s platform could be; and what the possible financial market repercussions might be, I encourage you to read this brief report which takes an evidence-based approach to answering these thoughts.

If you are pressed for time, here goes the summary:

The most likely scenario is a status quo outcome: a Democratic president (Clinton) paired with a Republican Congress – ie. more of the same, which we anticipate would be neutral-to-slightly-positive for equity markets.

The less likely alternative, a Trump win, despite the potential for a shorter-term economic boost, would be more consequential from both an economic and public policy perspective in the medium-term. This, we expect, might result in a less favourable market response in the short-term.

As you’ve heard me say before, markets generally don’t like uncertainty and, regardless of one’s political leanings, few could argue that there are less unknowns with a Clinton win. It is worth noting, however, that financial markets are largely a reflection of the business cycle and economic conditions – and with this in mind, it’s comforting to address that as the US economy, the largest in the world, continues to exhibit slow, but steady growth and central banks maintain stimulative monetary policy (i.e. low interest rates), investors ought to base their investment decisions on the health of the economy as opposed to fears of political risk, which, as Eric suggests, may be overblown. In fact, I don’t think I could have tried to say it any better than Eric did so eloquently in his bottom line conclusion, “…this is not to say that the upcoming election is inconsequential, but rather that it is probably less important in the grand scheme than it currently looks. Financial markets can continue to rise over the long run thanks to the ingenuity and industry of workers, the relentless pace of technological advances and ultimately the rising standard of living of the world’s people.”

With so much going on and information coming at us from every angle, it's sometimes hard to keep your finger on the pulse of what's happening. In an effort to keep you in-the-know and provide you with some conversation nuggets for the weekend, I've compiled the following hit list to fill your conversation pipeline.

Now you are in-the-know with Word on the Street.