Regardless of political affiliation, investors on both sides of the aisle are looking ahead to next week's midterm elections 2022 and what the stock market impact may be.
On Tuesday's episode of IBD Live, three-time U.S. Investing Champion David Ryan presented historical data that could help investors navigate their trading decisions as the midterm elections near.
Ryan, longtime portfolio manager under IBD founder Bill O'Neil, says that the stock market historically has performed best when there's Washington gridlock.
According to data referenced by Ryan, from 1977 to 2019 the stock market's best performance came during times when control of Congress was split between Republicans and Democrats, rather than complete Democrat control or complete Republican control.
The second-best performance period was when Republicans controlled the Senate, according to Ryan's data. Watch the video embedded on this page for all of the details.
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Midterm Elections 2022
What does that data mean for midterm elections 2022 and your portfolio?
We could see a stock market rally if the elections result in a split Congress. But there are other factors at play in today's stock market.
"We're down this year going into the midterms, but this is one thing that could help the market going forward," Ryan said. "Records can always be broken, but these are some of the things you should be aware of and be looking out for in the future."
Investors shouldn't solely rely on historical data on midterm elections and stock market performance to make their trading decisions.
This year's bear market has required investors to be extremely nimble with their trading decisions, and that approach should continue as the market digests the results of the 2022 midterm elections.
Please follow Alissa Coram on Twitter at @AlissaCoram for stock market updates and more.
