Dow up 132 points

Rightly or wrongly, some on Wall Street are convinced that the president will be reelected, which is why they're calling this an Obama rally. Seems weird given his unsteady relations with the financial community, but the Dow is up more than 50 percent since the president took office in early 2009. Only three other presidents elected since 1900 enjoyed similar returns - and all three were reelected. The other explanation is that whoever wins the months of uncertainty will at least be resolved - though there's all kinds of uncertainty about the Fiscal Cliff, Europe, corporate profits, etc. Today's gain puts the Dow at 13,244. From USA Today:

Election uncertainty has haunted Wall Street for months. It has recently weighed on stock prices and finding out who wins in what is expected to be an unusually close presidential race could provide a lift to the stock market no matter who wins, argues Craig Johnson, market strategist at Piper Jaffray. "Regardless of who wins the U.S. election, uncertainty declines," Johnson stressed to clients in research note. "There will be at least certainty on what party's policies will be pursued in Congress, and the likelihood they will be enacted."