As the outcome of the race for U.S. President becomes clearer, it is interesting to review the past for rates of return on the S&P 500 index under different political parties. The last 50 years were used to derive the following stats. They represent annual total returns for the stock market as measured by the S&P 500 Index.

• Democrat President and a Republican-led Congress: 18%
• Republican President and a Democrat-led Congress: 4.5%
• The White House and Congress controlled by the same political party: 11.9%
• When the House and the Senate were controlled by different parties (regardless of which party is in the White House): 2%

Disclosure note: The above rates of return represent total return which adds the dividend on the stocks in the index to the change in value of the stock index. The S&P 500 index is comprised of 500 stocks and is market cap weighted (each stock weighting within the index is dependent upon the market value of the stock).