1704 Be Cause

I read an article recently about investing. It brought up an interesting correlation. Interesting because correlations are not causes. The company I'm working for is currently having one of its best months ever. The same day we found that out the stock market went up 135 points. Coincidence or cause?
So I read the following correlation with a grain of salt. (Which, by the way, is really itchy on the eye.) Turns out stock investors do better when Democrats are in the White House.
If you had invested $1,000 of your money only during the 23 years Democrats were president since 1961, when John Kennedy took office, your would have $10,920 as of February 21st of this year.
If you had invested $1,000 in 1969 at Nixon's swearing in (and boy did he swear) and kept it in only during the 28 years of Republican administrations until George Bush II left the White House, it would be worth a paltry $2,087.
Hmm...Tough to get 1 percentary at that rate.
Why? The fact is, seven of the eight recessions since 1960 started when Republicans were president.
And since good times are about perception, it does make some sense. In a consumer driven economy, when consumers feel like the guy at the top is on their side and not the side of the folks that are vaporizing their 401Ks, they're much more likely to spend more freely.
Then again, folks are always looking for facts to confirm their beliefs. And bestow and withhold credit accordingly. I remember when I went to a stockbroker convention and a presenter kept waxing poetic about "the Reagan years" and how good they were for business. The other big surge in the stock market during the Clinton administration he just called "the nineties."
America ya gotta love it.