In November, the Dow experienced its best month since 1987, while the S&P 500 and Nasdaq indexes enjoyed their best month since April of this year.1
With the election behind us and a vaccine on the horizon, the stock market has plenty to celebrate. Many consumers used the pandemic period to shore up their savings, which bodes well for their prosperity in the coming year. There is a low chance of increased taxes or massive reforms given the divide in Congress, and while interest rates remain low, the home-buying market is poised to soar on renewed consumer confidence. All of these factors may be historically good news for investment markets.2
The stock market increases 82% of the time in the first year of new presidential terms,3 and the S&P 500 has averaged 11.7% returns in the first year of every presidential term since the end of World War II, regardless of party affiliation. Furthermore, the S&P 500 has averaged 15.6% returns with Democratic presidents compared 10% with Republican presidents. Industries like technology, health care, financials and industrials tend to thrive under a Democratic president.4
Despite jobs and economic growth taking a hit in 2020, that fortunately wasn’t reflected in the stock market. For more insight on how to plan for the coming year, feel free to reach out to one of our financial advisors for a review.
1 Matt Egan. CNN. Nov. 30, 2020. “Trump said the stock market would crash if Biden won. The Dow just had its best month since 1987.” https://www.cnn.com/2020/11/30/business/stock-market-dow-jones-trump-biden/index.html. Accessed Nov. 30, 2020.
2 Jeremy Siegel. Knowledge@Wharton. Nov. 21, 2020. “Jeremy Siegel: What’s Ahead for the Stock Market?” https://knowledge.wharton.upenn.edu/article/siegel-markets-economy/. Accessed Nov. 30, 2020.
3 Mark Hulbert. Marketwatch. Nov. 28, 2020. “Opinion: Here are your odds that stock prices will be higher at the end of 2021.” https://www.marketwatch.com/story/here-are-your-odds-that-stock-prices-will-be-higher-at-the-end-of-2021-2020-11-24?mod=MW_section_top_stories. Accessed Nov. 30, 2020.
4 Savita Subramanian. Merrill Lynch. Oct. 8, 2020. “The Markets and Presidential Elections.” https://www.ml.com/articles/market-volatility-presidential-elections.html#financial-research-and-insights. Accessed Nov. 30, 2020.
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