Louis: Politics has nothing to do with the stock market...the volatility is motivated by greed of the big players.
Louis: Wine and liquor sales in Pennsylvania were a tightly regulated state monopoly. You paid full price, plus tax, at a state owned liquor store, from a state employee. You had to tell the counter person what you wanted, and they went into the back to retrieve your purchase. In Maryland, Delaware, NJ and DC, you could go to a privately owned liquor store, that offered volume discounts and generally lower mark ups, and you could shop around for your purchase among displays. Naturally, the lower prices and customer friendly stores were more attractive than dealing with sometimes grumpy state employees. However, if you shopped out of state, you were cheating the Commonwealth of badly needed revenue.
Pennsylvania also regulated and fixed prices of milk and dairy products, and charged sales tax on tobacco. Delaware didn't, so again the Commonwealth was unhappy with residents that took their business across the state line.
Boris