Market View
Market View features, from Dow Jones and ICMA-RC’s investment professionals, can help you increase your awareness and understanding of the economy and markets, and how current trends may impact your investments and long-term planning.
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S&P 500 Index Average Annual Returns by Year in the Presidential Cycle from 1932-2007
As the election cycle enters the home stretch, we thought it would be interesting to look at the average annual S&P 500 Index returns each year of a president's term. The chart above illustrates these returns from 1932 to 2007, and the third year of a presidential term appears to perform significantly better than all other years. Although it could be random, some commentators have suggested that the third year results reflect stimulus being added to the economy as Election Day approaches. In the example above the fourth year is an election year.
Market Snapshot