Why Are Stocks Up 1 Percent on Election Day?

As voters headed to the polls across the United States on Tuesday, the Dow Jones Industrial Average gained more than 150 points by midday. But why?

"It's up because people don't want to miss a relief rally," Stephen Weiss of Short Hills Capital said on CNBC's "Fast Money."

Weiss said he wasn't buying into the statistic that the stock market historically has performed better under Democratic presidents than Republican ones.

"I think there is some confidence going into this," Pete Najarian of OptionMonster.com said, adding that commodities were performing well, as well as financials.

(Read More: Conditions 'Good for Stocks' No Matter Who Wins: Pro)

"I think people positioning into this election have been going more and more into the financial world," he added, saying that he expected bank regulations to experience a pull-back.

Najarian noted the bounce in financials ETF XLF . "It's going higher," he said.

The Dow and the S&P 500 were both up more than 1 percent at 12:40 p.m. ET.

In the past five of the last six presidential Election Days, the Dow moved less than 1 percent. The day President Barack Obama was elected, the Dow gained 3.3 percent, its biggest Election Day move since 1932, when Franklin Roosevelt defeated Herbert Hoover, and the Dow rose 3.5 percent.

(Read More: Some Stocks Pricing in an Obama Victory?)

Two of the next biggest moves on the last 20 presidential election dates were the Reagan years. In 1980 when Ronald Reagan defeated Jimmy Carter, the Dow rose 1.4 percent, and it rose 1.2 percent the day he was re-elected in 1984.

Mike Murphy of Rosecliff Capital said he thought that big money managers were jumping into the market after having stayed on the sidelines.

(Read More: Did Wall Street Just Give Up on Romney?)

"It looks like we're going to have an outcome," he said. "People are positioning themselves for a new regime."

Trader disclosure: On Nov. 6, 2012, the following stocks and commodities mentioned or intended to be mentioned on CNBC's "Fast Money" were owned by the "Fast Money" traders: Stephen Weiss is long QCOM; Stephen Weiss is long BAC; Stephen Weiss is long T; Mike Murphy is long AAPL; Mike Murphy is long WFC; Mike Murphy is long TGT; Pete Najarian is long AAPL; Pete Najarian is long BAC; Pete Najarian is long INTC; Pete Najarian is long SBUX; Pete Najarian is long FB; Pete Najarian is long MSFT; Joshua Brown is long RAX; Joshua Brown is long CVX; Jon Najarian is long call spreads in ANF; Jon Najarian is long call spreads in DLTR; Jon Najarian is long call spreads in FB; Jon Najarian is long call spreads in HMSY; Jon Najarian is long call spreads in TC; Jon Najarian is long call spreads in GLD; Jon Najarian is long call spreads in VLO; Jon Najarian is long STSI; Jon Najarian is long GLUU; Jon Najarian is long CBOE; Jon Najarian is long CME; Jon Najarian is short puts in GLD; Jon Najarian is short puts in AGQ.

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