With All Eyes on Election, Stocks Barely Budge

Stocks closed essentially unchanged Friday as mixed economic news and earnings data failed to distract traders from next week's mid-term elections and Federal Reserve policy statement.

The blue-chip Dow Jones Industrial Average ($INDU) added 4 points to close at 11,118, while the broader S&P 500 ($INX) lost one point to 1,183. Tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite ($COMPX) was unchanged at 2,507.

Theodore Weisberg, president of Seaport Securities, says the market is marking time until the middle of next week, waiting to see how the election and Fed policy statements play out.

After all, shares might have finished mixed on Friday, but for the month of October equities put up more solid gains.

The three major averages rose anywhere from 3% to 6% this month alone. Go back to the start of September and you'll see the Nasdaq's up nearly 20%, the Dow's up 11% and the S&P 500 is 13%.

That's a hot little rally, no doubt, but the reckoning of the election has arrived, Weisberg says. For more on Weisberg's views from the floor of the New York Stock Exchange, see the video below.