The Iowa Caucus has left uncertainty about what two candidates will be running in the general election.This uncertainty is disruptive to markets, as investors will not commit new money until they feel comfortable in the future direction of price. Market participants are forced to pay attention to the primaries because of the effect a winner might have on equities, bonds, commodities and currencies.

The remaining five candidates all seem to have equal chances to get to the presidential election, bringing their policies and ideals with them. Each candidate has different policies and goals that will affect market prices, not just domestically, but globally.

A speculator can profit it they make the right bets, so let’s go over some of the stocks that will benefit, or not, from each potential candidate.  

Bernie Sanders Wins

Bernie Sanders shocked a lot of people on Monday by placing a virtual tie with Clinton. Bernie’s call for a living wage, free college, and higher taxes on the rich is appealing to young people and that showed in the election.If he wins, this would be a shock to the market and instill short term-fears in how his policies would affect the economy.
 
Bernie hopes to take down the big banks, by aiming to bring about massive regulation that would take the banks apart. This would ultimately be bad for the entire financial sector as well as the market overall. A Bernie election will undoubtedly harm stocks like JPMorgan (JPM – Analyst Report), Citigroup(C – Analyst Report), Goldman Sachs (GS – Analyst Report), and Bank of America (BAC – Analyst Report). All of which are Zacks Rank #4(Sell).

However, small regional banks will actually benefit as they become more competitive to larger banks under attack. While they might lose they’re takeover luster, their ability to become the top dog in their region will be enhanced.

PrivateBancrop (PVTB – Snapshot Report) is a Midwest regional bank out of Chicago and a Zacks Rank #1(Strong Buy). The company has a $3 Billion market cap and a Forward PE of 15.

The stock is down over 10% this year, a move that has been shared among most banks, big and small. However, the move seems unjustified, as estimates over the last 30 days are rising 2% for the current quarter and 1.5% for next year.

The company has a great track record of upside EPS surprises, beating in every quarter since 2011, except one.