Will The Stock Market Love Obama Today? Stocks Fall After President Obama's State Of The Union Address - MarketBeat
By Steven Russolillo
The stock market's steep gains under Obama's three years as president have generated a great deal of discussion. From the early look of things, Obama's populist pitch in last night's State of the Union address isn't getting such a warm and fuzzy reaction from stock investors.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average opened lower, recently falling 65 points, or 0.5%, to 12610, while the Standard & Poor's 500-stock index shed 5 points, or 0.4%, to 1310. Gongloff already detailed how the market is showing early signs of fatigue. And the situation in Europe isn't making folks feel too chipper this morning.
Those are the more likely reasons the market has opened down as opposed to Obama's speech last night. But for what it's worth, stocks have had a wide-ranging reaction on the day after previous State of the Union addresses.
The fine folks at WSJ Market Data Group compiled the Dow Jones Industrial Average's reaction following each major presidential speech dating back to JFK's State of the Union address in January 1961. (The data includes State of the Union addresses as well as speeches to joint sessions of Congress.)
The market's worst performance came on Jan. 27, 2000, which followed Bill Clinton's final State of the Union address. The Dow dropped 289 points that day. Fears that the Fed would tighten interest rates dominated the market tone back then.
The best performance, by point value, came two years later on Jan. 29, 2002, which followed George W. Bush's second State of the Union address and occurred only a few months after 9/11. The Dow jumped 145 points that day.
Under Obama's tenure, the Dow dropped following his first two major speeches in 2009 and 2010, but edged higher in 2011.
Here's a link to a chart from our corporate cousin MarketWatch that details the market's response to State of the Union speeches dating back to 1961.
