For as long as I can remember, presidential candidates, their surrogates and the news media have always proclaimed every election as “the most crucial in our nation’s history”. Incidentally, my presidential campaign cycle awareness dates back to 1972. #-ad_banner-#While I agree that presidential elections are an important exercise, I’m hesitant to label every one of them “crucial”. Case in point: George H.W. Bush versus Michael Dukakis in 1988. I mean…seriously? 2016’s contest has been anything but ordinary and, no surprise, I’m starting to field phone calls from nervous clients about what course of action they should take as the general… Read More
For as long as I can remember, presidential candidates, their surrogates and the news media have always proclaimed every election as “the most crucial in our nation’s history”. Incidentally, my presidential campaign cycle awareness dates back to 1972. #-ad_banner-#While I agree that presidential elections are an important exercise, I’m hesitant to label every one of them “crucial”. Case in point: George H.W. Bush versus Michael Dukakis in 1988. I mean…seriously? 2016’s contest has been anything but ordinary and, no surprise, I’m starting to field phone calls from nervous clients about what course of action they should take as the general election cycle picks up engine pressure. So I decided to go back and look at the performance of the S&P 500 during the general election cycles going back to the 1992 race. I did not include the 2000 and 2008 race, as both were extraordinary in circumstance. In 2000 there was the Gore v. Bush controversy that dragged out the final outcome to December of that year, and in 2008 the Obama vs. McCain contest occured during the depths of the financial crisis. I hope you like charts. … Read More