Some are saying newspaper headlines should be emblazoned with the remarkable performance of the stock market under President Trump.  Here is why they are not.  

1. The Dow Hits Record Highs for EVERY President.

President Trump congratulates himself every time the Dow hits a new record high. But the Dow has hit all time highs at some point for EVERY president for at least the last 100 years, including Hoover briefly at the start of his presidency.  President Obama is the only President whose peak Dow record was in his final week in office, handing his successor a booming Dow. It would only be news for Trump if the Dow did NOT hit a new all time high at some point during his presidency, since it has for at least his 16 predecessors in the last 100 years.  What will matter more is the Dow percent increase or decrease at the end his term.  Every President hits records during their terms.

2. MANY recent presidents had better Dow performance at 2 years and 314 days in.

On a percentage basis, at this point of Trump’s first term, (Dec 1, 2019 — 2 years and 314 days in), the Dow under President Obama and President Clinton rose more than under Trump.  Trump’s Dow is unremarkable even by the most recent standards. Additionally, Trump is one of three presidents after Lyndon Johnson that were handed a generally upward headed market the day they took office, along with only Clinton and Reagan.

President Trump touts great, historic, and unprecedented success. Sometimes even normally non-partisan commentators fall in line, repeating Trump’s claims and asking why newspapers are not doing the same. But the data doesn’t lie.

The press is not touting Trump’s stock market performance for one reason.  It is simply unremarkable.

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