Donald Trump often used the stock market as a standard in judging the health of the economy and claimed it was “the best in history,” just as he did with pretty much everything else. The stock market is not an accurate judge of economic health, but since it was Trump’s favorite benchmark, one he said would just plummet under President Joe Biden, Forbes evaluated where the new president stands after just under a year with Trump’s time in office.
Biden Has More S&P 500 Records Than Trump https://t.co/v78kcrUweW pic.twitter.com/s94Hq7CV0p
— Forbes (@Forbes) November 20, 2021
It’s sure to make Trump’s blood boil to hear it, but Biden’s presidency has already seen higher S&P 500 gains, which “covers a wider range of the economy and is the most used Index for passive index investing” than the more commonly known Dow Jones Industrial Average. In under eleven months, Biden has already beaten Trump’s “greatest of all time” record (it wasn’t) from his four years in the White House.
According to Forbes:
‘The S&P 500 closed at a record high on Thursday at 4,704.54 (its third close above 4,700) and fell just short of another record on Friday when it dropped 6.58 points or 0.14% to 4,697.96. The Nasdaq closed at a record high of 16,057, its first close above 16,000 while the Dow Industrials is the laggard at 35,601, almost 1,000 points below its record.’
The highest S&P 500 closing under Donald Trump was 11.77% compared to President Obama’s 12.10% and Bill Clinton’s 15.94%, making him now fourth on the list of a market high and not exactly “the greatest in history.” He did beat President Ronald Reagan, another benchmark Trump often claimed, but fell behind all other modern Democratic presidents.
Market Watch reported on the last day of Trump’s presidency that:
‘Like no president before him, Donald Trump used the stock market as a scorecard, arguing that sharp gains were a vindication of his economic stewardship…the Dow Jones Industrial Average DJIA, -0.75%, the more popularly known blue-chip gauge, saw an annualized return of nearly 11.8% under Trump, versus 12.1% for Obama and 15.9% for Clinton. Calvin Coolidge, with the benefit of the Roaring ’20s, topped them all with a 25.5% annualized rise, based on data going back to the late 1890s.’
When I took office, I got right to work getting shots in arms and checks in pockets.
Now, we’re seeing the results every day.
Unemployment claims have fallen nearly 70%, we’ve created 5.6 million jobs, and we’re recovering faster than every other advanced economy in the world.
— President Biden (@POTUS) November 20, 2021
Amidst a rapidly rebounding economy, an economy performing better than any in the G7 group, the market is steadily improving. With COVID-19 at record low rates of death and infection and businesses beginning to see profits again, Biden’s economy is actually quite healthy, despite global issues like supply chain problems and inflation.
‘By President Trump’s favorite measure of success President Biden’s post-election gains in the S&P 500 Index have soundly beaten Trump’s equivalent at just over their one-year election anniversary. While the Dow Industrials captures the most attention, the S&P 500 Index covers a wider range of the economy and is the most used Index for passive index investing.’
One gobsmacking chart shows how Biden's economy is doing way, way better than all the othershttps://t.co/ZQG27XQDrL
— Debbie 🇺🇸 😷 (@debbiez49) November 20, 2021
