Obama's First 100 Days and the Markets

How much difference has President Obama’s first 100 days made? There are a lot of ways to answer that question — but when it comes to the stock market, it’s possible to put a number on it. On Jan. 20, the day of his Inauguration, the Dow Jones Industrial Average opened at 8279; now it’s at 8178 — down just over 100 points.

The idea of measuring a president's performance after the first hundred days in office hasn't been this relevant in 76 years. That's because the custom started with Franklin Roosevelt's first term when he had a sweeping mandate to deliver the nation from the deepest throes of the Great Depression.

Having inherited the worst economic crisis since FDR (and with a similar public mandate), it's little wonder that President Barack Obama would be judged along the same timeline. When the 44th president took the oath of office, the recession was already more than a year old. When he got to the Oval Office, job losses in January were set to break a 59-year monthly record (741,000 jobs disappeared that month). Meanwhile, by the time of the inauguration the Dow Jones Industrial Average had lost more than 40% from its all-time high — and it would continue to drop seemingly relentlessly for another month and a half.

Like FDR, Obama is using deficit spending to lift the nation's fortunes. His $787 billion stimulus spending plan — with its money for health, education and public works — might not be the New Deal, but it's a close cousin. Whether it works or not remains to be seen.

"What makes Obama unique is that his support, relative to the few who have been similarly measured [in the first 100 days], is quite strong," said Tom Gallagher, of International Strategy & Investment, in a Wednesday report to clients. "That gives Obama stronger political capital. That he has such capital and how he deploys it over the next year will matter more to markets than how he has used it in his first 100 days."

Here, then, is a look at some key milestones in the president's first 100 days. As much as has been accomplished in so short a time, Obama is the first one to say that we all still have a long way to go.

January 20
The Inauguration
Dow falls 330 points
Barack Obama is sworn in as the 44th president of the United States. But fears surrounding the banking sector overshadow the moment. Dow experiences its worst inauguration day performance in its 113-year history.

January 22
Adios Guantanamo Bay
Dow falls 102 points
Signs an executive order that the detention center at Guantanamo Bay -- a sore spot in international relations -- be closed within a year.

February 3
Nomination Consternation
Dow rises 142 points
Tom Daschle withdraws his nomination for Secretary of Health and Human Services and Nancy Killefer withdraws her nomination as Chief Performance Officer because of tax problems. They won’t be the last candidates to reveal such problems.

February 12
So Much for Bipartisanship
Dow rises 1 point
Obama's pledge to work with the minority party is shaken when Sen. Judd Gregg, a Republican from New Hampshire, withdraws his nomination for Secretary of Commerce, citing policy disagreements.

February 17
A Stimulus Is Born
Dow falls 293 points
Signs the $787 billion stimulus plan. Pledges to rebuild the nation’s schools, health-care system and infrastructure.

February 18
Help for Homeowners
Dow rises 9 points
Announces a $75 billion plan to help homeowners avoid foreclosures.

February 24
Congressional Coming Out Party
Dow falls 79 points the next day
Delivers his first speech to a joint session of Congress.

February 27
Exit Strategy
Dow falls 118 points
Announces the intention to end the U.S. combat mission in Iraq by the end of August 2010.

March 9
Bottoms Up
Dow falls 79 points
Stock market closes at its lowest level in more than a decade -- a prelude to its best multiweek streak since 1933.

March 11
Deficit Spending
Dow rises 7 points
Signs the Omnibus Appropriations Act of 2009. The $410 billion spending bill passes the House by a vote of 245-178 and the Senate by 62-35.

March 30
So Long, Rick
Dow falls 251 points
Ousts General Motors (GM) Chief Executive Rick Wagoner as the clock ticks down on whether the nation's biggest auto maker (already on taxpayer provided life support) can become a viable business by June 1.

March 19
First Foot in Mouth
Dow falls 124 the next day
In one of his first gaffes, appears on "The Tonight Show with Jay Leno" and compares his own bowling game to the Special Olympics.

April 2
Global Coming Out Party
Dow rises 215 points
The G20 Summit of world leaders convenes in London to effect a coordinated response to the global economic crisis.

April 3
Unemployment Skyrockets
Dow rises 37 points
Unemployment hits 8.5%, a 25-year high. More than five million jobs have been lost since the beginning of 2008. However, dismal expectations were already baked in by traders.

April 13
Havana Spring
Dow falls 25 points
Lifts decades-long restrictions on Cuban-American travel to Cuba, as well as sending remittances to the island nation.

April 14
First Puppy
Dow falls 137 points
Weightier matters are briefly overshadowed as some segments of the media cover Obama fulfilling a long-standing campaign pledge: getting his daughters a 6-month-old Portuguese water dog named Bo.

April 17
Chavez Photo Op
Dow rises 6 points
In another move to shore up relations with Latin America, Obama shakes hands with Venezuela's President Hugo Chavez -- a harsh U.S. critic -- at the Summit of the Americas.

April 27
Swine Flu
Dow falls 146
News that the swine flu originating in Mexico is spreading around the globe prompts the White House to ask Congress for $1.5 billion to fight the outbreak.