Invest before a hung parliament?

[Four Cofffee]

Any thoughts on the impact of a hung parliament on share prices?

I have just had to cash in some investments, but am looking to reinvest them soon. I wondered if we might see a fall in share prices if we get a hung parliament and if it might be wise to hold fire on reinvestment until after May 6th (or whenebver the re-run happens)?

[Maxf]

Non-uk stocks *might* be a decent bet as you *could* benefit from a weaker pound, rather than asset price rises.

Just topped my ISA up for 2010/11 and everything looks pretty overpriced at the moment.

[BERGS2]

thinking very similar thoughts myself - would be interested to hear opinions on the likely impact on various sectors in light of the uncertainty of result..

found this interesting: http://www.citywire.co.uk/personal/-/news/money-pr...

[limpsfield]

I think a hung parliament will have very little effect on share prices.

Sterling, however, would be a different story.

I am not worrying personally about the stock market re: the election

[Four Cofffee]

So, best invest in the $ and wait for the £ to plunge?

[twinturboz]

limpsfield said:

I think a hung parliament will have very little effect on share prices.

Sterling, however, would be a different story.

Agree with that. It will be sterling that is more affected than the shares. But to some extent its already been priced in.

[arguti]

been advising all and sundry to sell sterling and convert into swiss francs for 2 years now.

wish I had the cash to do this myself.

[Beardy10]

The pound will almost definitely suffer, the move down to below 1.50 against the dollar was when the first opinion polls came out indicating a hung parliament. The stock market (by which people generally mean FTSE 100) is a different issue, I forget what the stat is but a huge % of the FTSE 100 earnings are from overseas so that is obviously good for those compnanies. Mid cap and small cap stocks are a different issue in my mind....a hung parliament is bad for the economy.

Regardless of who gets in we are in for an extremely tough time in this country...taxes are going up and the budget deficit has to be tackled. I would actually say that a hung parliament will be particularly bad in the situation we are in as there are some very tough decisions to be made which I can't see the likes of the Lib-Lab pact agreeing on.

[Yeast Lord]

The boat has been missed for a currency swap I reckon. CHF is built on a house of cards. If I had cash in December / January I would have gone AUD and got some interest plus currency appreciation. Pretty obvious property is on a downward trend now as people's living costs go up.

Drip feed into undervalued uk firms with foreign income if such exist, it's probably too late also. Run down to bairds and get some yellow stuff perhaps, it will scare you how little you get for so much cash. What is one to do, this government has completely screwed us.

Gordon Brown is a complete moron so it's easy to predict what will happen. He says crime is down and yet it's obvious it's not. He says the debt will be tackled but fact of the matter is the interest payments will rise and the debt will get bigger. Whatever the loon says, the opposite appears to be correct.

Worse thing about all this is people that have spent years building up savings are running around in their minds no idea what to do, taking risks with their hard earned cash only to have to stump for CGT if their successful.