Employer Uncertainty? Give Me A Break

[progree]

4. Yeah, the business and investor community detest uncertainty -- S&P 500 up 59% under Obama.

It sure seems the investor and business community have a lot more faith in Obama (S&P 500 up 59% under Obama) than in Bush (S&P 500 dropped 37% under Bush.)

{#} U.S. Stock Market as measured by the S&P 500

# S&P 500: http://finance.yahoo.com/q/hp?s=%5EGSPC+Historical+Prices
# Dow Jones Industrial Average: http://finance.yahoo.com/q/hp?s=%5EDJI+Historical+Prices
# Using the last closing before inauguration (G.W. Bush inaugurated noon Jan 20, 2001, Obama at noon, Jan 20, 2009)
. . # When Clinton left office and G.W. Bush took office, the S&P 500 was at 1343.
. . # When G.W. Bush left office and Obama took office, the S&P 500 was at 850.
. . # Thus under G.W. Bush, the S&P 500 dropped 37%, from 1343 to 850. While under Obama, it rose from 850 to 1355 as of Friday7/6/12 close, up 59%.

(I use the S&P 500 rather than the Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJIA) because it is a much broader index of U.S. stocks, containing about 75% of the total U.S. stock market by capitalization. I would rather use the Dow Jones U.S. Total Stock Market Index (^DWC) but its history extends only back to 2004).

If you want the Dow Jones Industrials Average (an unweighted average of 30 stocks), ticker ^DJI , it is:
Dow Jones Industrial Average: http://finance.yahoo.com/q/hp?s=%5EDJI+Historical+Prices
Jan 19, 2001 10,587 Last Dow close under Clinton
Jan 16, 2009 8,281 Last Dow close under Bush (a 22% decline under Bush)
Jul 6, 2012 12,772 Latest Dow close as of this posting (a 54% increase under Obama)