20 Stocks That Always Surge During Election Years

Determining how certain historical events impact the stock market is essentially impossible. There’s no way to separate one from another, and correlation is not causation. So if your desire is to simply identify the stocks that are surefire winners in an election year just by looking at past performance, you might be making a big mistake by assuming that consistent performance every four years is anything other than a coincidence. However, that doesn’t mean that trends are definitely not rooted in something you could apply to your own portfolio.

If you take the current list of companies in the S&P 500 and examine their performance in election years going back to 2000, you do have five different data points to look at. And there are five companies that have actually posted a gain in each of the last five election cycles. Here are those six companies along with their performance in each election year, as well as 14 other companies that have the largest cumulative gains over those five years in spite of at least one having a negative return.

• 2000 performance: 87.39%
• 2004 performance: 36.27%
• 2008 performance: 3.70%
• 2012 performance: 187.80%
• 2016 performance: 3.14%

How is 2020 looking for PulteGroup? Up 16.11%

• 2000 performance: 125.82%
• 2004 performance: 34.94%
• 2008 performance: 4.03%
• 2012 performance: 9.73%
• 2016 performance: 21.48%

How is 2020 looking for W.R. Berkley Corp.? Down 8.34%

• 2000 performance: 96.48%
• 2004 performance: 0.03%
• 2008 performance: 7.11%
• 2012 performance: 3.62%
• 2016 performance: 26.92%

How is 2020 looking for Arthur J. Gallagher & Company? Up 8.14%

• 2000 performance: 25.29%
• 2004 performance: 28.47%
• 2008 performance: 2.95%
• 2012 performance: 72.31%
• 2016 performance: 3.52%

How is 2020 looking for Sherwin-Williams Company? Up 22.74%

• 2000 performance: 61.43%
• 2004 performance: 1.15%
• 2008 performance: 1.44%
• 2012 performance: 3.15%
• 2016 performance: 32.86%

How is 2020 looking for Waste Management? Up 2.73%

• 2000 performance: 24.61%
• 2004 performance: 9.76%
• 2008 performance: 6.60%
• 2012 performance: 0.02%
• 2016 performance: 7.13%

How is 2020 looking for General Mills? Up 10.19%

• 2000 performance: 364.66%
• 2004 performance: 30.69%
• 2008 performance: -1.87%
• 2012 performance: 0.36%
• 2016 performance: 29.18%

How is 2020 looking for Quest Diagnostics Inc.? Up 6.37%

• 2000 performance: 377.22%
• 2004 performance: 34.83%
• 2008 performance: -14.72%
• 2012 performance: 0.76%
• 2016 performance: 3.83%

How is 2020 looking for Laboratory Corporation of America Holdings? Up 9.90%

• 2000 performance: 308.57%
• 2004 performance: 2.13%
• 2008 performance: 30.78%
• 2012 performance: 26.17%
• 2016 performance: -41.45%

How is 2020 looking for Vertex Pharmaceutic? Up 21.88%

• 2000 performance: 211.39%
• 2004 performance: 54.59%
• 2008 performance: -25.41%
• 2012 performance: 22.61%
• 2016 performance: 42.82%

How is 2020 looking for EOG Resources? Down 53.93%

• 2000 performance: 176.63%
• 2004 performance: -37.39%
• 2008 performance: -23.98%
• 2012 performance: 208.62%
• 2016 performance: -32.38%

How is 2020 looking for Regeneron Pharmaceuticals? Up 54.44%

• 2000 performance: -11.11%
• 2004 performance: 322.22%
• 2008 performance: -24.25%
• 2012 performance: 14.65%
• 2016 performance: -10.69%

How is 2020 looking for Monster Beverage? Up 30.83%

• 2000 performance: 118.99%
• 2004 performance: 146.81%
• 2008 performance: -51.77%
• 2012 performance: 65.22%
• 2016 performance: -1.72%

How is 2020 looking for SBA Communications? Up 34.18%

• 2000 performance: 221.07%
• 2004 performance: 5.86%
• 2008 performance: -24.16%
• 2012 performance: 30.75%
• 2016 performance: 18.19%

How is 2020 looking for Everest Re Group? Down 25.55%

• 2000 performance: 150.32%
• 2004 performance: 56.13%
• 2008 performance: -16.46%
• 2012 performance: 18.63%
• 2016 performance: 38.67%

How is 2020 looking for Teledyne Technologies Inc.? Down 7.79%

• 2000 performance: 158.85%
• 2004 performance: 65.11%
• 2008 performance: -12.93%
• 2012 performance: 34.11%
• 2016 performance: 1.58%

How is 2020 looking for NVR Inc.? Up 5.58%

• 2000 performance: 156.05%
• 2004 performance: 52.08%
• 2008 performance: -12.03%
• 2012 performance: 45.79%
• 2016 performance: -7.90%

How is 2020 looking for DaVita Healthcare Partners Inc.? Up 19.74%

• 2000 performance: 39.64%
• 2004 performance: 52.13%
• 2008 performance: -76.28%
• 2012 performance: -11.54%
• 2016 performance: 223.85%

How is 2020 looking for Nvidia Corp.? Up 120.84%

• 2000 performance: 215.09%
• 2004 performance: 41.10%
• 2008 performance: -53.65%
• 2012 performance: 17.65%
• 2016 performance: -0.14%

How is 2020 looking for Waters Corp.? Down 12.00%

• 2000 performance: 91.45%
• 2004 performance: 28.65%
• 2008 performance: -34.95%
• 2012 performance: -1.37%
• 2016 performance: 132.81%

How is 2020 looking for Oneok Inc.? Down 65.26%

More From GOBankingRates

• 44 Ways To Trim Your Living Expenses During the Coronavirus Quarantine
• 94 Money-Making Skills You Can Learn in Less Than a Year
• 24 Ways To Maximize Your Paycheck This Year
• How Long $1 Million in Savings Will Last in Every State

Photos are for illustrative purposes only and may not reflect the company listed.