Does stock market performance improve when Congress is adjourned?
MSN highlights UC research in market analysis
The House is unexpectedly on summer break until September, and it may have been what sent the markets briefly higher last week. According to MSN, the two may actually be correlated.
In a recent article, MSN highlighted research led by Michael Ferguson, head of the department of finance at the University of Cincinnati’s Carl H. Lindner College of Business.
The study, “Congress and the Stock Market,” examines stock market performance when Congress is in session versus when it is adjourned. MSN summarized that the Dow Jones Industrial Average from 1897 through 2004 produced the equivalent of a 13.8% annualized return when Congress was not in session, versus 2% when Congress was in session. MSN also noted that Ferguson’s team found a similar result for the lifespan of the S&P 500, the other major market average.
Featured image at top of the Capitol and House of Representatives. Photo/Adobe Stock.
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