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U.S. Midterms Tuesday: What the Vote Could Mean for the Loonie, Tariffs and Your Portfolio

  Canadian Money Brief | Feature U.S. Midterms Tuesday: What the Vote Could Mean for the Loonie, Tariffs and Your Portfolio By MoneySavings.ca | Published November 1, 2026 Americans vote Tuesday in elections that will fill all 435 House seats and 35 Senate seats. Canadians don't get a ballot, but we do get the consequences: a loonie that swung from an 18-month low to a six-week high in about two weeks, a tariff fight that has put 50% duties on roughly US$20 billion of our exports, and a lot of U.S. stock sitting inside our TFSAs and RRSPs. Here is how to think about all of it without trying to guess the winner. The short version: Nobody can reliably trade an election result. Forecasters lean toward Democrats winning the House, with the Senate closer. But history says the bigger market moves tend to come in the months after the vote, not on election night. For Canadians, the useful steps are practical: convert U.S. dollars in pieces, know how much U.S. stock you hold, and don't...

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US Markets Slip as Earnings Pour In Ahead of Fed Rate Decision

 

Wall Street limped early Tuesday with corporate earnings rolling in and the Federal Reserve’s next interest rate decision imminent. 

Futures for the S&P 500 and futures for the Dow Jones industrials each slipped less than 0.2% before the bell. UPS tumbled more than 7% after the package delivery company unexpectedly dialed back expectations for the year. General Motors climbed nearly 8% as the automaker’s profit and sales rose by double-digit percentages last year. Microsoft, Google and Starbucks report their latest financial results after the bell Tuesday. Also Tuesday, the US reports on job openings for November and the Conference Board releases consumer confidence data for January. 

On Wednesday, the Federal Reserve will make its next decision on what to do with interest rates. Most expect the Fed will no make any changes, but there is hope that it may cut rates in March. That would be the first downward move since the Fed began dramatically raising interest rates two years ago to get inflation under control. 

There is a lot of evidence suggesting that the Fed may be able to pull off a so-called economic “soft landing” after a period of accelerated inflation. The Federal Reserve’s preferred inflation gauge cooled further last month even as the economy kept growing briskly, a trend sure to be welcomed at the White House as President Joe Biden seeks re-election in a race that could pivot on his economic stewardship. On Friday, the U.S. government will release its monthly jobs report. Economists expect continued growth in hiring, but at a cooler pace. That’s exactly what the Fed wants to see after surging U.S. growth contributed to rising prices.


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