PT  - JOURNAL ARTICLE
AU  - Scott B. Beyer
AU  - Gerald R. Jensen
AU  - Robert R. Johnson
TI  - Don't Worry About the Election
AID  - 10.3905/jpm.2004.101
DP  - 2004 Jul 31
TA  - The Journal of Portfolio Management
PG  - 101--109
VI  - 30
IP  - 4
4099  - https://pm-research.com/content/30/4/101.short
4100  - https://pm-research.com/content/30/4/101.full
AB  - In this election year, it is interesting to examine historical security market returns in terms of the political party of the President, the general monetary policy stance of the Federal Reserve, and political gridlock, when different political parties control Congress and the executive branch. It is an innovation to evaluate the three variables jointly. Such a combined analysis reveals that long-term security returns are strongly related to shifts in Fed monetary policy but generally invariant to changes in the political landscape. Investors should thus focus their attention on Fed actions rather than political outcomes.