Obama and the Stock Market - A Positive Correlation

Republicans have called President Obama one of the most anti-business presidents in history. But ...  More »

Republicans have called President Obama one of the most anti-business presidents in history. But the stock market tells us otherwise. This may come as a surprise, but President Obama actually hasn't faired too badly. As of last Friday, the Dow Jones Industrial Average has risen 60% under Obama - that makes him only one of five presidents to see the Dow gain 50% or more in the first three years in office. He is in good company with two other democrats, Clinton and FDR, and Republicans, Coolidge and Eisenhower. As for the losers, Hoover was the biggest loser, with market down nearly 73%, followed by Roosevelt and Carter. Of course all of this has to be taken with a grain of salt - clearly the market and the economy are very nuanced, multiple things at play during all presidencies. For Obama it was Tarp, Bernanke's QE policy, for others, war and the great depression. The stock market is a leading indicator - meaning - market gains do NOT correlate with economic gains. So the fact that we've seen big strides in the market, but not too much growth in the economy, not a big surprise.  « Less