#FA Center: Why stocks could lose popularity as the market’s ‘presidential election cycle’ enters its second year

Should investors be worried that the second year of the “presidential election cycle” is about to begin? Followers of the cycle answer “yes,” since second years of the cycle are the worst, on average, of a U.S. president’s four-year term.

Since the Dow Jones Industrial Average DJIA was created in 1896, the Dow’s average price-only return in non-second years has been more than nine percentage points higher than in second years.

This…