The following chart illustrates how the stock market has performed during mid-term election years. Since 1950, the first nine months of the average mid-term election year has tended to be flat and choppy. That choppiness was then followed by a year-end rally. One theory to support this behavior is that the party in power will make difficult economic decisions in the early years of a presidential cycle and then do everything within its power to stimulate the economy during the latter years in order to increase the odds of re-election.