Democratic presidential candidate Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) addresses supporters during his caucus night watch party on February 03, 2020 in Des Moines, Iowa. Iowa is the first contest in the 2020 presidential nominating process with the candidates then moving on to New Hampshire. Alex Wong | Getty Images

The momentum of Bernie Sanders in the Democratic presidential field sets up a potential clash of polar opposites in November, one which Wall Street might relish. A clash between President Donald Trump and the Vermont democratic socialist gathered more attention Tuesday amid reports that Sanders showed impressively the day before in Iowa and is pushing closer to the front of the Democratic pack. "There is a lot of chatter that a Sanders nomination would roil markets, but there's another way to consider that possibility," Nick Colas, co-founder of DataTrek Research, said in his daily market note. "Investors may assume that Sanders' platform of radically remaking American society/commerce will not resonate with voters during a time of relative economic prosperity. That would make President Trump's reelection more likely, preserving a market-friendly tone to government policy."

Stocks have been on a tear this week. While it's impossible to tell how much the changing political dynamics tie into that (if at all), there's clearly a sentiment across the investing community that a Sanders presidency, with its expected broadsides against wealthy Americans and big business, would be trouble for the market. Wall Street, of course, has done well during the Trump years. The Dow Jones Industrial Average has risen about 58% since Trump's election. Anything that suggests status quo, then, would garner support from the Street. "There's enough of an analogy to hang your hat on," Colas said in an interview. "People reject an old-school socialism-oriented politician in factor of, 'Look, follow me. The future is bright and it can get brighter.'"

Predicting Trump vs. Sanders