(Bloomberg) -- Investors should prepare for the likelihood Congress won’t have the time or the will to pass more fiscal stimulus before the end of the year, and for an increasingly bitter presidential election election in the wake of Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg’s death, analysts say.

The combination is likely to further pressure stocks, the analysts said. On Monday, the S&P 500 Index shed as much as 2.7% to its lowest since late July, while Treasuries rose.

Here’s a sample of the latest commentary:

FiscalNote Markets, Stefanie Miller

  • The Supreme Court fight is the “death knell for Covid-19 relief prior to the elections,” with no room for compromise amid a widening partisan divide, Miller wrote in a note.
  • She expects November will play out with “Republicans trying to jam through a Scotus nominee on the Senate Floor” and “Democrats trying to impede their progress through dramatic actions such as beginning a whole new impeachment process against Trump and possibly more.”
  • She also sees a “massive” amount of litigation in the weeks after Nov. 3 that will “put hotly contested election results in serious and distressing limbo for agitated voters.”

Cowen, Jaret Seiberg

  • “The fight over replacing Justice Ginsburg is negative for financials and housing as it likely derails a Phase 4 stimulus until after the inauguration,” Seiberg wrote in a note.
  • There’s also a risk for financial firms if Democrats sweep in November, which could then give them the power to eliminate the filibuster; plus, adding four liberal justices to the Supreme Court and make Washington, D.C. and Puerto Rico states might add up to four new Democrats to the Senate, which would “change the calculus for litigation and legislation.”
  • At the same time, if President Donald Trump added another conservative to the court, that might boost financial firms as “conservatives are more likely to reject aggressive regulatory regimes,” and might help Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac shareholders now engaged in litigation.

Veda, Henrietta Treyz

  • It’s in Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell’s best interest to start the nominating process in early October, but to not actually confirm the nominee until after the Nov. 3 election, Treyz said.
  • That deflects “attention away from the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic, stimulus talks and President Trump’s personal attributes,” and redirects it to issues like “religious freedom, abortion, the Affordable Care Act and other bedrock decisions,” she said, potentially creating a “sense of urgency or imperative to turn out and vote.”
  • She expects Trump will get his third Supreme Court Justice sworn in during the lame duck session of Congress, as she doesn’t see four current Republican senators objecting.

Compass Point, Isaac Boltansky

  • “The odds heavily favor President Trump’s next nominee being confirmed later this year,” Boltansky wrote.
  • Boltansky added that his Republican contacts have argued the nomination is “positive for the president and the prospects for holding the Senate because it will animate the base and shift focus away from the White House’s coronavirus response.”
  • Democrats say their base will be energized and potentially attract some swing state moderates, particularly as the ACA comes into focus, he said.

AGF Investments, Greg Valliere

  • “Everything now seems scrambled, from the stalled Covid aid bill to health care, as a potentially disputed election looms in just six weeks,” Valliere wrote.
  • Odds favor President Trump and McConnell “getting their Supreme Court pick, probably before the election,” that might be a “pyrrhic victory, because the likely election outcome — a narrow Biden victory and a GOP loss of the Senate — looks more plausible this morning than it did last week.”
  • That’s because turnout and enthusiasm are a “huge variable,” and women, especially women under 40, are now “far more motivated to vote,” as are lukewarm Biden supporters who are worried about Roe v Wade and health-care.

Evercore ISI, Sarah Bianchi

  • “There is no question that overall event is more likely to benefit President Trump than Vice President Joe Biden,” Bianchi wrote, as “Biden was winning the race and anything that changes the dynamics is better for the candidate who is trying to close the gap,” plus conservative voters are typically more focused on judicial appointments.
  • On the other hand, it could also reignite Democrats’ arguments that “Republicans will do everything they can – through the courts or Congress – to put the Affordable Care Act at great risk.”
  • Bianchi now sees fiscal stimulus as “all but dead. Congress simply will not have the oxygen or the bandwidth to sort out those difficult issues.”

Vital Knowledge, Adam Crisafulli

  • Ginsburg’s death is likely a “net political positive for Biden and is creating more anxiety about a possible Democratic sweep in November,” Crisafulli wrote.

GeoQuant, Mark Rosenberg

  • Ginsburg’s passing “exacerbates a long-running and (more or less) daily trend of increasing risks to U.S. institutional stability, which was already approaching a peak heading into the 2020 election,” Rosenberg wrote.
  • “This speaks to concerns about a contested election, and while risk is currently forecast to decline after the poll it will remain above 2020 levels for the remainder of 2021.”
  • He sees risks regardless of who occupies the White House next year, as “even a self-proclaimed ‘institutionalist’ like Joe Biden will be hard pressed to resist pressure for more institutional hard ball (i.e. increasing the number of Supreme Court justices, eliminating the filibuster altogether), while a re-elected President Trump will almost certainly continue to conflate state with party (and in his case, person) and try to erode the ostensible independence of bureaucratic, judicial and economic institutions.”

Bloomberg Intelligence, Elliott Stein

  • Ginsburg’s death may boost the chances of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac shareholders winning a Supreme Court ruling in their challenge to the transfer of $125 billion in Fannie-Freddie profit to the U.S. Treasury, as “Ginsburg would likely have voted that the sweep was proper,” Stein wrote.
  • “Longer term, this Senate’s confirmation of President Trump’s anticipated nominee would make the high court even more business-friendly,” he added.

KBW, Brian Gardner

  • “Ginsburg’s death and the process to replace her on the U.S. Supreme Court adds chaos to an already chaotic election,” Gardner wrote, though it might be a wash, as both sides “can rally their base during the confirmation process.”
  • Gardner added that Democrats might “overplay their opposition during the confirmation hearings and create a backlash of support for Trump’s nominee and his campaign,” and a fight could help Republican incumbents in North Carolina and Arizona, while Sen. Susan Collins saying the Senate should wait until after the election to confirm Ginsburg’s replacement might help her with some voters who were upset about her support for Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh.
  • Gardner also sees potentially greater prospects for a government shutdown in December if emotions run high, with chances of passing a stimulus bill before January 2021 continuing to slide.

Read More: Forget the President. Senate May Matter More for Markets

Story Link: Wall Street Sees Fierce Election, End to Aid With Ginsburg Death

©2020 Bloomberg L.P.