
What happens to the stock market after a presidential election?
Here it what the market does over four years after a Presidential election: The first year of a presidency is characterized by relatively weak performance in the stock market. Of the four years in a presidential cycle, the first-year performance of the stock market, on average, is the worst.
Are election years a good time to invest in stocks?
Despite some consistent patterns, election years are no exception. According to the 2019 Dimensional Funds report, the market has been favorable overall in 19 of the last 23 election years from 1928 to 2016, only showing negative returns four times. 1
What is the correlation between the stock market and elections?
History suggests that the correlations between an election year and the stock market follow strong, predictable patterns. People in the market will do anything to gain an upper hand in investing. They will scour past data and events to find a correlation between it and any trends in the market.
Which presidential cycle is the worst for the stock market?
Of the four years in a presidential cycle, the first-year performance of the stock market, on average, is the worst. The second year also sees historically below-average performance.

Is the stock market affected by the president?
But over the past century, the stock market has mostly run briskly across most of the presidential cycle before losing momentum during election years. Since 1930, the Dow Jones Industrial Average has gained an average of 10.0% in a president's first year and 7.9% in the second, according to YCharts data.
How has the stock market done so far in 2021?
It was a wild year in many respects, but the stock market turned in a solid performance in 2021. Except for a few brief sell-offs, the S&P 500 gained 26.9% for the year. The Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJIA) gained 18.7% in 2021, while the Nasdaq Composite gained 21.4%.
What typically happens to the stock market in January?
The January Effect is the belief that the stock market has a tendency to rise in January more than any other month. While there are many potential causes, it's often said to be a result of investors reentering the market after selling off their stocks at year end to lock in their losses for tax purposes.
What months are historically good for the stock market?
What the Data SaysRankMonth of YearFrequency of Growth (%)#1December79.0%#2April74.3%#3October68.6%#4July61.7%9 more rows•May 30, 2022
Is 2021 a good year for stock market?
Equity market performance was exceptional in 2021, led by U.S. large-cap stocks, which returned nearly 29% for the year. This performance comes on the back of strong years in both 2019 and 2020, when the index returned 31% and 18% respectively.
Will the stock market do well in 2021?
Corporate earnings grew at an unprecedented pace in 2021, and in years with big profit gains, both the stock market and earnings do well in the following year historically.
What will stock market do in 2022?
But the major indexes will likely end 2022 higher than they stand now, as rock-bottom share prices begin to promise a buy-low opportunity that outweighs the risk of further decline, the experts said. As investors eventually jump off the sidelines, the market will stabilize and begin to recover, they predicted.
Is it better to sell stocks in December or January?
Key Takeaways. The January Effect is the perceived seasonal tendency for stocks to rise in that month. The January Effect is theorized to occur when investors sell winners to incur year-end capital gains taxes in December and use those funds to speculate on weaker performers.
Do stocks go up or down in January?
Summary. The January Effect is a tendency for increases in stock prices during the beginning of the year, particularly in the month of January. The cause behind the January Effect is attributed to tax-loss harvesting, consumer sentiment, year-end bonuses, raising year-end report performances, and more.
What is worst month for stock market?
Why Do People Say September Is the Worst Month for Investing?Since 1950, the Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJIA) has averaged a decline of 0.8%, while the S&P 500 has averaged a 0.5% decline during the month of September.The September Effect is a market anomaly, unrelated to any particular market event or news.More items...
Is now a good time to invest in the stock market 2022?
Reasons to Feel Cautious About the Stock Market in 2022: Rising interest rates – In an effort to fight inflation, the Federal Reserve started raising interest rates in early 2022—and there could be more rate hikes on the way soon. While this could slow down inflation, it could also trigger another U.S. recession.
Why do stocks go down at the end of the year?
As the year comes to an end, stock investors hoping to reduce their taxable gains start selling some of the duds in their portfolio so they can report those losses against their gains. That, the theory goes, pushes stock prices down in December.
Market Performance in Election Years
The good news for investors is that historically, the market has performed well in election years with the S&P 500 ending up in positive territory 82% of the time.
Visualized: A Global Risk Assessment of 2022 and Beyond
Which risks are top of mind in 2022? We visualize the World Economic Forum’s global risk assessment for top risks by impact and livelihood.
Visualized: A Global Risk Assessment of 2022 and Beyond
Since the start of the global pandemic, we’ve been navigating through tumultuous waters, and this year is expected to be as unpredictable as ever.
Short-Term Risks
When it comes to short-term threats, respondents identified societal risks such as “the erosion of social cohesion” and “livelihood crises” as the most immediate risks to the world.
Medium-Term Risks
A majority of respondents believe we’ll continue to struggle with pandemic-related issues for the next three years. Because of this, the medium-term risks identified by respondents are fairly similar to the short-term risks.
Long-Term Risks
Respondents identified climate change as the biggest threat to humanity in the next decade.
Risk Mitigation Efforts
People’s thoughts on risk mitigation were gauged in the WEF survey. Respondents were asked to identify which risks our world is most equipped to handle, and which ones they believe we’re less prepared for.
Year 1: The Post-Election Year
The first year of a presidency is characterized by relatively weak performance in the stock market. Of the four years in a presidential cycle, the first-year performance of the stock market, on average, is the worst.
Year 2: The Midterm Election Year
The second year also sees historically below-average performance. Bear market bottoms occur in the second year more often than in any other year.
Year 4: The Election Year
In the fourth year of the presidential term and the election year, the stock market’s performance tends to be above average.
How many presidential elections have there been since the S&P 500 began?
There have been 22 presidential elections since the S&P 500 index began. Eighteen of those 22 election years have shown positive performance during an election year. Four elections had a loss in the S&P 500 during an election year, with the most recent being a 37% loss in 2008.
Who developed the second theory of stock market?
The second theory was developed in 2010 by Pepperdine professor, Marshall Nickles, who wrote Presidential Elections and Stock Market Cycles. Mr. Nickles suggested a profit strategy of investing on October 1st of the 2nd year of a presidential term and then selling on December 31st of the 4th year of a presidential term.
Do stocks perform better in the presidential election?
Contrary to the above, stocks do tend to perform better in periods when presidential power is offset by the opposing party controlling Congress. The president has a lot of impact on foreign policy and trade, but it is the Senate that affects taxes, laws affecting business, and other areas of interest to investors.
Who wrote the presidential cycle?
The Presidential Election Cycle Theory was written in 2004 by Yale Hirsch, the creator of Stock Trader’s Almanac. In it, Mr. Hirsch suggested that the third year of a presidential “cycle” was its best performing year.
Is it better to invest based on past data?
Investing based on past historical data patterns is not a good way to make market investment decisions. A better way to invest is to understand risk and return and diversify invested assets.
Will the stock market keep rising in 2020?
Based on history, we should expect the stock market to keep rising during 2020 with Donald Trump seeking re-election. However, the recent volatility due to fears of the coronavirus has certainly made things much less predictable.
What is the best rule of thumb for investing in election years?
Although a few investment opportunities may arise through an understanding of volatility and performance patterns in election years, Haworth says the best rule of thumb may simply be to stay invested and make sure your portfolio is rebalanced when necessary.
When will the S&P 500 return?
In the period since Joe Biden’s win in the 2020 election, the S&P 500 returned about 25 percent through end of May 2021. The election occurred during a period when the market was already enjoying a strong rally coming off the dramatic COVID-19 bear market of late February/early March 2020.

Recent Election Examples
- Recent history has particularly challenged these patterns. During the presidencies of Barack Obama and Donald Trump, these stock market theories did not hold up. In each of Obama's terms, the first two years were more profitable than the third. For Trump, the first year was more profita…
Numerous Factors Affect The Market
- The problem with investing based on such data patterns is that it’s not a sound way to make investment decisions. It sounds exciting, and it fulfills a belief that many people have that there's a way to “beat the market." But there's no guarantee. There are too many other forces at work that affect market conditions. Furthermore, the underlying assumptions informing these theories mig…
Frequently Asked Questions
- The Balance does not provide tax or investment advice or financial services. The information is being presented without consideration of the investment objectives, risk tolerance or financial circumstances of any specific investor and might not be suitable for all investors. Past performance is not indicative of future results. Investing involves risk, including the possible los…