Intrade Swings toward McCain

Bettors at Intrade.com are putting more money on John McCain to win the presidency after handicapping Obama as the heavy favorite for most of the summer, Intrade’s prices show.

Bets on McCain are now trading at $48 while bets on Obama are trading at $52, indicating that Intrade’s bettors think Obama has a 52 percent chance of taking the White House (bets are traded at prices between $1 andd $100). That marks Intrade’s highest price point for McCain to win in 2008 election since it began taking bets on the prospect in 2006, his previous record being $42 on June 1 of this year.

Pro-McCain bets have shot up in price since Sept. 1, the first day of the GOP’s convention in St. Paul, Minn., revealing a swing toward McCain that has followed national polls. McCain’s price has shot up $8 since then, while Obama’s price has dropped around $8.

Intrade’s bettors have consistently predicted Obama as the heavy favorite since he defeated Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton (D-N.Y.) in his party’s primary. Pro-Obama bets have cost between $59 and $69 since June, while bets on McCain have cost between $30 and $38 in the same time frame.