Great chart - thanks! It would also be interesting to add bubbles for which party controlled the House of Representatives, which is where all spending bills originate, and which party controlled the Senate, where the President's major legislation gets approved. For instance, the first half of President Bush's administration congress was controlled by Republicans. Form Jan-04,2007 - Dec-22,2010 both the house and the senate was Democrat. Likewise, President Obama had a Democratic congress Jan 2009 to Nov 2010 but after Jan 05 2011, Congress was divided, as was the case during much of the Clinton Administration. It may be less about presidential fiscal policy, and more about what both parties are able to achieve with regard to various economic factors, operating in both the Executive and Legislative branches. My hunch is the markets do best when political parties are split, because gridlock prevents major changes from happening... Best regards, db