Paul R. La Monica at CNN money talks about the effect of Obama and McCain on stocks. It was based from a research firm International Strategy and Investment (ISI). Andy Laperriere, a managing director of ISI’s policy research team in Washington, has put together a portfolio of 20 stocks for an Obama portfolio and 20 more for a McCain portfolio.

Here are the summary:

• Alternative energy companies could do well under Obama, since it is likely that an Obama administration would push for more subsidies for alternative energy. So he pick Covanta Holding (CVA), solar energy leader First Solar (FSLR) and Vestas Wind Systems (VWSYF). Other stocks which will do good under Obama: Vulcan Materials (VMC), Granite Construction (GVA), URS (URS), GM (GM).
• As for McCain, companies with exposure to nuclear energy could do well since McCain has consistently advocated nuclear as a viable alternative energy source. Shaw Group (SGR, Fortune 500), and Exelon (EXC), could both benefit from a McCain victory. Other stocks which will do good under McCain: Pfizer (PFE), Novartis (NVS), Unitedhealth (UNH), WellPoint (WLP), Aetna (AET), General Dynamics (GD), Northrop Grumman (NOC), KBR (KBR).

Tags: Covanta Holding, CVA, EXC, Exelon, FSLR, General Dynamics, GM, Granite Construction, GVA, KBR, leader First Solar, McCain, Northrop Grumman, Novartis, Obama, Paul R. La Monica, Pfizer, Unitedhealth, URS, Vestas Wind Systems, VMC, Vulcan Materials, VWSYF, WellPoint

Oct. 30 — US gross domestic product contracted at a 0.3 percent annual pace, less than forecast, a Commerce Department report showed today in Washington. The last major economic data before the election also showed that a record two-decade consumer spending boom ended last quarter as the credit crunch deepened.

Consumer spending dropped at a 3.1 percent annual pace, the biggest since 1980. The 6.4 percent rate of decline in spending on non-durable goods, like clothing and food, was the biggest since 1950. But narrower trade deficit and a smaller decline in inventories prevented a deeper contraction.

Tags: Commerce Department, election, non-durable goods, Washington

Oct. 24 - Stocks tumbled around the world, sending the developed markets benchmark to the lowest level since June 2003, on concern the deepening economic slump will reduce earnings. The U.K.’s FTSE 100 Index sank 6.9 percent and the pound slid the most versus the dollar since 1971 after the economy shrank for the first time since 1992. South Korea’s Kospi Index fell 10 percent as the country’s economy grew at the slowest pace in four years.

The MSCI World Index of 23 developed markets lost 5.7 percent to 859.24 extending its drop in October to 27 percent. MSCI’s index of 48 developed and emerging stock markets has plunged 48 percent in 2008. More than $10 trillion has been erased from the market value of equities so far this month, accounting for about one-third of the total value wiped off world equities this year.

The yen climbed to a 13-year high against the dollar as stock-market losses prompted investors to dump higher-yielding assets funded by low-cost loans in Japan.

Tags: Economic, FTSE, Japan, Kospi, MSCI's index, pound, yen

Google Inc. (GOOG:US) rose 9.4 percent to $386.31. The owner of the most popular Internet search engine reported third- quarter profit, excluding some items, that beat the average analyst estimate from a Bloomberg survey. More customers used Web search ads to spur sales.

Tags: GOOG, Google, search ads

Japan’s stocks rallied as a 23 percent decline in the past month made shares cheap and prospects for a bailout of bond insurers spurred a late rally in New York.

Yesterday, the Nikkei sank 11 percent, the biggest slump since October 1987 and its second-sharpest drop ever, after a record 14 percent gain two days earlier. Concerns mounted that the global economy will fall into a recession, overshadowing optimism U.S. and European government plans to shore up banks’ capital will avert a collapse of the global financial system.

Tags: bond, New York, Nikkei, recession