Can U.S. stocks avert a “sophomore slump” in 2022?
Over the past 75 years, in the second year of a new U.S. president’s term, stocks have tended to fall short of their long-term average annual performance. The pattern, evident in data from S&P Global Market Intelligence, may reflect a tendency by the party that holds the White House to enact—or try to enact—less-market-friendly policies well in advance of the elections midway through each presidential term.