The nation now is less than four weeks away from the November midterm Congressional elections. After nearly two years of what essentially amounts to one-party rule, I think the American people are ready for a little more change.

I think the need for a change in Congress to an opposition party is something that the American people have expressly embraced, and certainly the pre-election polls suggest that Republicans have a very good chance of regaining control of the House of Representatives. Some polls suggest that Republicans will add seats in the Senate; however, I think it’s doubtful that the GOP will win enough seats to take control of the upper house.

Now, regardless of which political party you belong to or where in the political spectrum your personal views may lie, the political makeup in the Congress and the White House has implications for the market. I actually think that one of the reasons we’ve seen such a big spike higher in stocks in September -- a surge of nearly 9% on the S&P 500 for the month -- is due to the perception that Republicans will regain control of at least the House of Representatives.

But why would a divided government be good for stocks?

Well, basically the answer is that Wall Street loves gridlock. When new legislation, regulation and potential tax increases get jammed up by opposing Democrat and Republican interests, fewer new laws, regulations and taxes are inflicted on business. In other words, the less that gets done, the better it is for Wall Street, as Wall Street is very change averse. Now, you may think that we need more legislation, regulation and tax increases, but from the perspective of the stock market, the less that gets accomplished, the better.

If we do see Republicans take control of the House, one key thing to watch will be President Obama’s reaction. He almost will be forced to move more toward the center and away from what objectively can be called his left-of-center policies. President Clinton did this in 1994, after the Republicans took control of Congress in that midterm election, and I suspect that President Obama will do the same thing.

A shift here away from what I think most on Wall Street consider an anti-business mindset could be a big boost for both the economy and the stock market going forward.