S&P 500 Index Annual Growth Rates, Carter to Bush 43

[Lasher]

The S&P 500 closed on December 31 at 903.25, ending the last full calendar year with George W Bush as President. Now it's time to reflect once more on Wall Street performance over the years.



GWB just presided over a 2008 loss of 38.5%, by far the worst annual performance of the S&P 500 since its inception in 1950. The previous record was set in 1974, with a 29.56% loss under Presidents Nixon and Ford. Former second place and now third was the only other year that suffered a percent loss into the twenties, with a 23.37% loss in 2003 under The Decider.

Even The Worst President of All Time has some redeeming value. After all, this truly has been a president who broke records.

[exboyfil]

1. Lets hope Obama's 8 years

are like Clinton's.

How is George W. Bush different than Hoover? Hoover did not start a war.

[Lasher]

2. How is GWB different from Nixon?

Nixon didn't start a depression.

Junior embodies all the bad characteristics of all the worst presidents in modern history.

I'll permit myself a little whining here: I'm surprised I got just your comment and no recs on this one. I put a little effort into building and updating that spreadsheet from time to time. Boo hoo, poor me. Nobody loves me.

OK, self pity session over. I'm OK now. :-)

[exboyfil]

3. Actually Johnson started the Vietnam War

but Nixon did enough other crazy stuff.

I like your spreadsheet very much, and I appreciate you putting it together. It is amazing to think that we lost 12 years in the stock market. This decline has prompted me to put 40% of my retirement into Treasury Inflation Protected Securities. Kind of fire and forget for my portfolio that will hopefully give me a living income when I go to retire. It is hard not the eye the 10%-15% gains that I have had with these bonds in the last two months and not wish that it had been 100% which I now could sell a portion off.

[Lasher]

8. Right, I blame LBJ more than any other single person for Vietnam.

Peace, it's still a good idea. :hippie:

[ThomWV]

10. Nixon started the EPA, Bush wanted to eliminate it.

[Lasher]

12. How ya doin' Thom?

I thought you were gonna quit on us awhile back. Glad you didn't.

[Orsino]

14. Except for the vast and growing wealth inequities part, yes. n/t

[Doremus]

4. K&R

[stubtoe]

5. Happy to be the 5th K&R on this post. Great work, Lasher!

Keep 'em coming.

[Lasher]

13. Thank you.

Wasn't nothin'. :blush:

[Sandrine for you]

6. Thanks

[MindMatter]

7. Notice that the big Bush loss was not in 2001

It was in 2002 (and later in 2008 of course). The market didn't tank because of 9-11. It tanked because of the cumulative effect of neocon policies.

[ThomWV]

9. No shit, and also notice that it did NOT happen on Clinton's watch. Clinton didn't hand Bush a turd

Bush turned the good economy Clinton left him into a turd. The Republicans claim that we were going into recession the day Bush took officey - horseshit.

[Lasher]

11. I agree.

And the market didn't tank because of something Jimmy Carter did. Or Clinton or FDR. All you have to do to see the truth is look at the numbers and not be a neo-liberal supply-sider in denial.