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President George W. Bush, re-elected by the narrowest popular-vote margin for an incumbent since Woodrow Wilson in 1916, may pursue an agenda worthy of a landslide winner. Bush's victory over Senator John Kerry probably will mean he'll escalate the war in Iraq to try to defeat insurgents and ensure that elections are held as scheduled in January. Aided by expanded Republican control of Congress, he'll try to carve out private retirement accounts from Social Security, open up more U.S. lands to oil drilling and make permanent his $1.7 trillion in tax cuts, undeterred by record deficits. Bush made the election a referendum on his leadership, touting the decision to go to war and lead the fight against terrorism as evidence of his character and determination. "The war was important to the voters, and they saw him as decisive and committed and unwavering,'' says Dick Armey, 64, the Republican leader in the House of Representatives until last year. "They had reservations about whether Kerry would see it through. None of the other domestic policy issues really matter in this election.'' During his first term, Bush overcame Democrats' misgivings and invaded Iraq, enacted the biggest tax cuts since Ronald Reagan's administration and instituted the first prescription- drug benefit for the elderly. And that was after he lost the popular vote in 2000 to Democrat Al Gore, winning the presidential race only after the Supreme Court ordered Florida to halt a ballot recount after 36 days. [more]

Bush Pledges to Change Social Security [more]
Wall Street applauds Bush victory [more]
Defense stocks surge after Bush win [more]
Pharmaceutical stocks surge on Bush's win [more] and [more]
Oil drillers and oil-field service companies climbed. Transocean Inc., the No. 1 offshore oil driller, jumped $1.74 to $35.85.
Noble Corp., a driller which today said it will start paying a quarterly dividend, gained $1.90 to $45.57.
Halliburton Co., the world's largest oilfield-services company, jumped $1.54 to $37.08.

A Republican-Led Congress

Republican gains in Congress lifted shares of SLM Corp., the student-loan company known as Sallie Mae, and W.R. Grace & Co., a company bankrupted by asbestos claims. SLM surged $4.61, or 10 percent, to $49.22, for the biggest jump in the S&P 500. A higher education bill that will be negotiated next year is likely to include provisions that will benefit the company, Prudential Equity Group Inc. analyst Bradley Ball wrote in a note.
Senate Democratic Leader Tom Daschle's defeat raised optimism that the prospects for the creation of a fund to end lawsuits of asbestos-related injuries would improve. W.R. Grace added $1.51 to $12.10. USG Corp. surged $5.81 to $28.
Defense contractors gained on optimism a Republican-led government will sustain spending in military equipment. Raytheon Co. added 79 cents to $37.55. Lockheed Martin Corp. advanced $1.78 to $55.89. [more]