Posted by
gilroy man on Saturday, June 07, 2008 4:59:08 PM
Coincidence or cause and effect? The day Hillary Clinton concedes the Democratic nomination, the Dow drops almost 400 points. Do the market gurus know something we don’t?
Historically, there’s not a big difference in market performance between Republican and Democratic Presidencies. You have examples of good performance with both parties(Reagan, Clinton, Bush) and bad performance with both parties(FDR, Truman, Eisenhower, Nixon, Ford, Carter).
Then again, Obama has not been shy about his plans to raise taxes and increase spending. That’s never been good for the market, regardless of who is president. Then there’s the uncertainty factor. With Obama all over the map on foreign policy(ready to withdraw troops one moment, then pandering to the Jewish vote the next) the market makers don’t know what to expect. That spells trouble for investors seeking stability. Love them or hate them, both Clinton and Bush let everyone know where they were coming from, (peace dividend, tax cuts, etc). No one really knows what Obama will do, or for that matter, what McCain will do, now that McCain is on the global warming bandwagon too. Will McCain extend the Bush tax cuts? More than enough reason to A) pull your money out and put it into cash or B) play the market down instead of up.