A Preliminary Analysis of the Presidential Approval Rating

This study empirically investigates whether the performance of the S&P 500 stock index, whose performance is treated as a surrogate for the performance of domestic stock/equity markets generally, influences the Presidential approval rating. After allowing for a variety of political factors and economic factors in addition to the S&P 500 stock index, it is found that the Presidential approval rating is indeed significantly enhanced by increasing values for this indicator of equity performance