Edwards Pick Boosts Kerry on Political Futures Markets

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Edwards Pick Boosts Kerry on Political Futures Markets
Wed Jul 7, 2004 11:43 AM ET
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By Alan Elsner
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Democratic presidential candidate John Kerry's choice of John Edwards as his running mate boosted the Massachusetts senator's prospects on political futures markets where investors can bet on the outcome of the November election.

The Iowa Electronic Market, probably the best-known of the political futures market, saw Kerry draw even with President Bush at the end of trading on Tuesday and take the lead in early trading on Wednesday.

For the previous week, shares predicting a Kerry victory had traded in the 44 to 46 cent range, while Bush shares traded at around 54 to 56 cents.

But after closing at around 50 cents on Tuesday night after Kerry selected the North Carolina senator as his vice presidential running mate, Kerry contracts jumped early on Wednesday and traded as high as 55 cents, while Bush's contracts changed hands at 49 cents
http://www.reuters.com/newsArticle.jhtml;jsessionid=BEIYYJVRL5CZYCRBAEKSFEY?type=topNews&storyID=5609839