Monday, January 22, 2007

Is There a Presidential Bull?

Are any of the leading presidential candidates good for the stock market?

Are any of them unambiguously pro-growth, pro-free enterprise, pro-supply side, pro-profits, and pro-large and small business? I’m just asking the question.

We’ve had a tremendous run in the stock market stretching all the way back to 1982, when President Ronald Reagan’s plan kicked in. And, as Don Luskin and others have pointed out, we have enjoyed a tremendous bull market since the Republican congressional takeover in 1994.

Now we have a Democratic Congress, and soon we will have a brand new face in the White House.

There are six leading candidates—three in each party. Clinton, Obama and Edwards for the Dems; McCain, Giuliani and Romney for the Republicans. It is unlikely that any other name will make it into this top tier. (The only possible exception is ALGORE—but he seems not to be running…)

So, we know the players, and we have a reasonable idea about their policy beliefs.

So again, for discussion and debate, I ask: are any of these major candidates good for the stock market?