Markets Throw a Welcome Party of Sorts for Biden

The markets performed well under Mr. Trump for the most part. Since his election in 2016, the SP 500 has returned more than 80 percent — including dividend payments. Most analysts credit the administration’s tax cuts — signed into law in 2017 — for a significant part of the gains.

But the last four years have also been a volatile period for markets, with multiple sharp, sudden downturns often linked to policies pushed by Mr. Trump, such as his trade war with China, which helped push stocks to a 6 percent loss in 2018.

This year, the more than 11-year-old bull market collapsed in March, as the SP 500 dove nearly 34 percent in a matter of weeks as the virus raged around the globe, before eventually climbing to new highs.

Mr. Trump’s style was often at odds with Wall Street’s preferences.

He broke with the tradition of virtually all other recent presidents in using the power of the bully pulpit to browbeat individual companies — including Boeing, Amazon, Ford and General Motors — for decisions he disliked, often sending their shares reeling in real time.

Even those on Wall Street who might have supported some of the president’s policies often said they could do without his constant Twitter missives weighing in on the markets. (Since his election in 2016 the president has tweeted or retweeted roughly 200 messages on the markets.)

“It always bothered me that the president tweeted about the markets,” said Paul Schatz, who manages roughly $90 million in assets for clients largely in New York, Connecticut and Florida. “As an investment adviser in charge of taking care of people’s money, I would rather the president would not wade into those waters.”

Michael Crowley contributed reporting.

Article source: https://www.nytimes.com/2020/11/24/business/stock-market-biden.html