There are lots of things that can move the stock market, from economic data, to Federal Reserve pronouncements, to corporate developments. But for the past 15 months, traders¡¯ fortunes have been largely tethered to the whims of a single person: U.S. President Donald Trump.
Since taking office last January, Trump¡¯s comments to reporters in extemporaneous gatherings in the Oval Office and at formal press conferences, as well as his posts on social media, have been the primary driver behind the five best and worst days in the S&P 500 Index, according to an analysis from Fundstrat Research. It¡¯s a grip unmatched by any modern American leader. No other president has orchestrated this many best and worst days in a dozen administrations going back to President Ronald Reagan in 1981.
"He has the market in a chokehold,¡± said Hardika Singh, economic strategist at Fundstrat. "The president isn¡¯t supposed to have such an extraordinary amount of control over the fortunes of the stock market. It¡¯s completely unprecedented.¡±
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