Stocks: New president, same problems

NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) -- Will there be an Obama market rally?

Even factoring in the more than 5% drubbing the Dow took Wednesday following yesterday's big Election Day rally, the Dow is up about 12% since Oct. 27, when it closed at a more than 5-year low.

Some market watchers have chalked up the recent gains to a realization that the presidential campaign was finally drawing to a close and that it was looking as if there would be a clear winner.

Wall Street, as the old axiom goes, hates uncertainty. And Barack Obama's convincing victory Tuesday erased any lingering doubts about what Americans wanted from their next president.

In fact, many people I spoke to last week suggested that Obama's lead in the polls was due to the notion that he, and not John Mc Cain, had a better plan to get the economy out of this funk.

"The people have spoken and it's wonderful that the Supreme Court didn't have to decide the election. Obama has a pretty clear mandate," said Phil Dow, director of equity strategy for RBC Capital Markets in Minneapolis.

But as investors now begin to focus on the immense challenges that President-elect Obama will face, Dow and other market observers caution it's too soon to say that the worst is over for stocks.

"None of the problems have gone away. The economic numbers are still awful," Dow said.