Why the 2016 Presidential Election Matters to Your Portfolio

Both political parties have a history of taking credit for good stock markets. The boom of the 1980’s in the markets is called “The Reagan Years”, just as the tech-fueled bullishness of the 1990’s is called “The Clinton Era”. Even the current President, not one to want to link himself with Wall Street and its allegedly dubious cast of financiers, has repeatedly pointed out how much the stock market has risen during his Presidency (a message that may very well conflict with his fundamental economic message, but at least a message that cannot be denied by the empirical evidence). Indeed, whether it was the advent of the 401k retirement account or the democratization of stock investing made popular by improvements in technology, voters are often investors, and even those voters who do not think of themselves as investors are certainly impacted by markets through their pension funds, the economic health capital markets often represent, and of course what it means to their own company or job prospects. At the end of the day, stock and bond markets are not just for Wall Street, and they haven’t been for many decades. Main Street, where elections are won or lost, have serious skin in the game when it comes to investment markets.