Will the Mid-Term Elections Drive the Market Into High Gear?

The past five days added more hues to the emerging snapshot of U.S. economic growth that is sluggish and top-heavy, but still rolling forward -- kind of like a tank that can't get out of first gear. New data shows that U.S. GDP is back to 70% of its pre-recession strength, but jobs have recovered only 9%. It's this disconnect between output and employment that has made the current "recovery" seem so anemic. That was fine for investors, who bid up risky assets in the past week just as they had the previous three weeks. The  S&P 500  rose 2%, the  Nasdaq 100  rose 3.5%, overseas large caps rose 3.3%, and emerging markets rose 2.5%.  Gold  rose 1.7%,  silver  rose 3%,  crude oil  rose 2.1%, and even  bonds  rose 1.5%. Among the overseas markets we care most about,  ishares MSCI Thailand Index Fund (NYSE: THD ) rose 5.6%,  Wisdom Tree India  Earnings Fund (NYSE: EPI ) rose 3.3%, and ishares MSCI   Singapore  Index Fund (NYSE: EWS ) rose 2.4%.  To find out why the mid-term elections are important to the market read on...