As this week marked the inauguration of Donald Trump to President of the United States, researchers at MarketWatch.com thought it useful to take a look at the stock market’s performance during the first 100 days of a new President’s term. The results were surprising. Most would assume that the pro “Big Business” Republican Party would have the highest gains, but it was actually the Democratic Party that had the higher returns. Sam Stovall, chief investment strategist at CFRA reported since 1953 the S&P 500 has gained +1.6% on average during the first 100 days of a new President. The first 100 days of Republican presidency in that time period have returned a loss of -0.4%, while the first 100 days under Democrat presidents returned +3.5%. Shall we expect a similar result now? As Stovall reminded readers, history is only a guide and “never gospel”.
