Are Democrats Better For Stocks?

Back in 2004 I was a source for a Forbes article on presidents and the stock market. The Forbes article reviewed research by UCLA professors that concluded that Democratic presidents were better for stocks.
 
Going back to 1927, they found that the S&P 500 averaged 14.1% per year under Democratic presidents and 11.8% under Republican presidents. Here was Forbes’ 2004 list of presidents and the S&P 500 performance average annual performance while they were in office:

• Bill Clinton (+17.4%)
• Gerald Ford (+17.0%)
• Harry Truman (+15.6%)
• Dwight Eisenhower (+14.9%)
• Ronald Reagan (+14.4%)
• George H. W. Bush (+14.4%)
• John Kennedy (+12.4%)
• Jimmy Carter (+11.2%) 
• Lyndon Johnson (+10.2%)
• Richard Nixon (0.6%)

Since then we’ve had two more presidents (one still in office). Here’s the average annual performance of the S&P 500 under their presidencies:

• George W. Bush (-4.5%)
• Barack Obama (+26.9%)

Simply put, W’s stock market was the worst since 1945 while Obama’s has been the best. That’s something to think about as you go to the polls today.