"Stock Market Falls day After Election"

NEW YORK (CNNMoney) A sell-off on Wall Street gained momentum Wednesday, with the Dow falling below 13,000 for the first time in two months, as investors focused on how President Obama plans to avoid the fiscal cliff after he won re-election Tuesday night.

A weak outlook for economic growth in Europe and European Central Bank president Mario Draghi’s warning of a slowdown in Germany also weighed on the market.

The steep selling put all three major U.S. indexes on pace for one of their worst days this year. The Dow Jones industrial average fell more than 280 points, or 2.2%.

That’s its worst percentage drop since June. Will a Republican victory in the upcoming congressional elections help the stock market? Or will the market fare better if Democrats hold on to Congress and continue their much-criticized efforts to fix the struggling economy?

 Guess what? It probably won’t matter -- at least not to investors. The stock market simply wants election day to be behind us: Stocks have rallied after every mid-term election since 1942.

 With stocks largely pricing in a Republican takeover of the House of Representatives, the midterm elections may get only a ho-hum reaction from the markets in what promises to be a very exciting week otherwise.