NEW YORK (

TheStreet

) -- We've entered the final 48 hours before the presidential election will be called for either President Barack Obama or Republican nominee Mitt Romney, and that means it's time to take a peek at predictions.

TheStreet

asked a number of its reporters, editors, contributors and others to give us their take on who they think will win Tuesday's election and what they think it means for the country moving forward.

Here's what they had to say in their own words.

Josh Brown

, founder of

The Reformed Broker

:

"Obama takes the vote home in the Electoral College (the only place it counts, thanks to our inability to abolish this slavery-era construct) but the popular vote will be quite close. Meanwhile, the House and Senate split between Blues and Reds. This means four more years of gridlock winter, the continued court battles over health care and a last-minute ugly compromise on fiscal cliff issues before Christmas. The market will sell off into that battle, rally back on its resolution, cause a lot of consternation in the process, but will end up having gone nowhere.

"Thus, frustration shall be the order of the day for Republicans, Democrats, bulls, bears and, most deliciously, forecasters with strong opinions in one direction or the other. None shall have satisfaction this season."

Rocco Pendola

, writer at

TheStreet

:

"As I explained last week in

Obama Won the Election This Week

, Hurricane Sandy, particularly N.J. Gov. Chris Christie's more-than-positive response to Washington's support, cinched the election for Barack Obama.

"This put Mitt Romney in the unfortunate situation of having to a.) step out of the spotlight and b.) put the gloves back on. That, alongside ultimately lame

Fox News

-fueled attempts to make Libya a campaign issue and somewhat upbeat jobs numbers of late, tipped the scales in favor of the incumbent.

"Obama seals the deal relatively early Tuesday night with more than 290 electoral votes. Christie runs as a moderate Republican and a 'uniter' in 2016."

Brian Sozzi

, contributor to

TheStreet

/chief equities analyst at NBG Productions:

"Overall Predictions: President Obama narrowly (think by 1%-2%) wins the popular vote, and wins close to 300 Electoral College votes. Pushing him closer to that Electoral College number are narrow wins in battleground states Ohio, Pennsylvania, Michigan and Virginia. Florida goes to Romney. In terms of Senate/House, Democrats snag a couple more seats, keep the majority. Republicans lose some ground in House, but keep their majority.

"Investment Theme -- The Status Quo.

Housing

: Will have to focus on U.S. based investments seeing as Obama has been slow to sign trade agreements. Housing will benefit from (Federal Reserve Chief Ben) Bernanke staying on board (Romney wanted him out).

"

Health Care

: Obamacare not repealed, more people will have access to drugs/care. Want to think about health care information technology, pharmacy benefit managers and a retailer such as ,

CVS

(CVS) - Get Report

.

"

Consumer

: Given track record while in office, government will continue to play a larger role in society under Obama. That reads as favorable to the food stamp program, and you want to look at dollar stores (which now accept food stamps).

"

Other

:

General Electric

(GE) - Get Report

as housing/alternative energy play."

"Who could be losers: Dividend paying stocks that trade at above market multiples given potential outcome on the dividend tax. Thinking along the lines of consumer staples. Medical device makers, new tax inside Obamacare stays in place."

Jim Cramer

,

TheStreet

co-founder:

"The phrase 'under Obama,' as in 'most oil stocks fared badly under Obama,' or 'you had to buy the drug stocks under Obama,' simply doesn't hold up as a thesis. Sure some stocks have done better with Obama than without him. Others will fare better if Romney wins.

"But for the most part, when I look at individual stocks, which is more my thing than the top down, I see stocks doing better where management excelled and stocks doing worse where management failed to execute.

"There are many, many stocks that are amazingly unchanged over the last five years, which encompasses Obama but also gets the tag end of the Bush era. I think that's an important prism, because if Obama were a trend reversal president there should be a bunch of stocks that should have done U-turns and another bunch of stocks, fewer, that should have blossomed, if you believe that the stock market hinges on Washington, something, again, I do not believe simply because the charts don't say it is the truth."

Timothy Collins

,

RealMoney

contributor:

"We at

Real Money

predict index movements, earnings, action in currencies and precious metals, as well as what the Federal Reserve will say or do. So why shouldn't we predict elections, too?

"I think this one can be summed up simply by saying: Expect more of the same. After the election, the U.S. should have the same balance of power that's been in place over the last four years. Of course, precise numbers won't be the same -- they never are -- but, for the most part, I'm not expecting much change. This doesn't exactly have me boasting about the near-term future of our economy or the equity markets -- but let's get back to the results.

"On the executive side, I expect President Obama to win re-election despite the Washington Redskins losing this past weekend. (If you don't know what I am talking about, then feel free to

Google

(GOOG) - Get Report

that one.) I am anticipating an Electoral College total in the 280-to-290 range for Obama, with a small possibility of seeing a number slightly above 300. I don't think this will feel 'close,' though, as many of those votes will come early and from the Eastern and Central time zones. The popular vote doesn't matter, but I do expect it to be very, very close -- and I'd give the edge to Romney, mostly based on the belief that turnout will be relatively low overall, especially in the states Obama will win.

"On the Senate side, I expect the Democrats to retain control by a 51-to-49 or 52-to-48 margin. So I don't expect the majority to be a strong one, and I predict a few too many fence-sitters. Tack on the fact the Republicans will control the House with an expected 245 to 250 seats, and I think we are in for another grinding four years in which little will get accomplished with any ease."

Roger Nusbaum

,

TheStreet

contributor:

"I believe Obama will win due mostly to Ohio. The market short term would prefer Romney and although I think the country would be a little better off with Romney there would be no economic miracle if he were to win. Obama thought he had more of a mandate in 2008 than he actually did. If this is a very close election that he wins then hopefully he will start leading more from the middle to finish out more effectively than he started."

Richard Suttmeier

, chief market strategist at ValuEngine.com:

"The last-minute undecided votes will put Romney over the top in enough swing states for him to get 300 or so electoral votes and a slight edge in the Senate."

Dana Blankenhorn

,

TheStreet

contributor:

"The president wins, at about the level he won last time. The Senate remains as it is, and the Democrats gain seats in the House, but not enough to take over control. (I'd like to say they will take control, but I hate going contrary to polls.)

"Republicans will blame Sandy, and they'll blame Mitt, but they should really blame Sheldon Adelson and the other billionaires who wasted their money on ads that weren't coordinated in any meaningful way.

"Democrats should credit the Obama machine, on which more later."

Anton Wahlman

,

TheStreet

contributor:

"3 predictions:

"1. One candidate wins by a margin very close to 270-268. I say Romney.

"2. One party obtains 51 seats in the Senate. I say the Republicans.

"3. One party loses a relatively immaterial four seats in the House ofRepresentatives. I say the Republicans."

Richard Saintvilus

,

TheStreet

contributor:

"I think the president will win, but not as with a wide margin as in 2008. I think the president will get just over 300 electoral votes with Gov. Romney earning something in the 230s. If I were to make a guess, I would say Obama, 305 and Romney, 233. Democrats win the Senate 52-46. Republicans will win the House 245-191.

"I'd like to think that the focus will be on Sandy and the victims who are yet in dire need of assistance, but overall, that Gov.

Chris Christie was able to set aside any political rift and work closely with the president in assessing the damage, I think was pretty significant. Perhaps, this might have swayed in his favor those that were undecided. I don't think Republicans will use this devastation as a political platform. But I've been wrong with these expectations before. Sandy or no Sandy, I think the president was going to win - albeit a close victory. But that he was 'distantly' endorsed by Christie last week was huge."

Mark Messier

,

TheStreet

contributor:

"Obama wins with 290 votes. Republicans take House, Democrats take Senate."

Tony Pelz

,

TheStreet

contributor:

"OK: I'll take the (likely) opposite view of everyone else -- Romney in a landslide."

Dan Rosenblum

,

TheStreet

contributor:

"Romney 341. Dems, Senate. House, Republicans."

Jim Van Meerten

,

TheStreet

contributor:

"I think this will be so close that we will end up in court over Ohio and Florida."

Nathan Sadeghi-Nejad

,

TheStreet

contributor:

"Obama, narrowly. Electoral count? I have no idea, but am guessing it will be close (273-265). Senate Democrats, House Republicans."

Stan Luxenberg

,

TheStreet

contributor:

"With the economy improving, the S&P 500 has been rising. That will encourage voters to support Obama. He should take 295 electoral votes and win the popular vote with 50.5%. The Republicans will hold a majority of the House with 225 seats. The Democrats will keep 53 seats in the Senate."

Chris Ciaccia

,

TheStreet

reporter:

"Obama wins very close with 273 electoral votes. House stays Republican, Senate slight Democratic advantage. Market rallies sharply in coming weeks (after falling Wednesday) on beast it knows, versus beast it doesn't know."

Caitlin Walsh

, Web producer at

TheStreet

:

"In Massachusetts, we return to two Democratic senate seats because

Elizabeth Warren (narrowly?) beats

Scott Brown.

"Obama wins with 290. (But might lose the popular vote)."

Jonathan Heller

at KEJ Financial Advisors:

"Romney wins 291 to 247. Senate: Rep 51 Dems 49. House: Rep 244 Dems 191."

-- Written by Joe Deaux in New York.

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