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Finance professor’s study on gridlock, stock market performance cited in Washington Post

November 5, 2010
Gerry Jensen

Gerry Jensen

NIU Department of Finance professor Gerry Jensen‘s research was discussed in a Monday, Nov. 1, Washington Post article under the headline, “What does divided government mean for the market?”

In the pre-election article, the reporter shares key findings in Jensen’s co-conducted 2006 research study “Gridlock’s Gone, Now What?”

In this study, Jensen and his co-authors examined the monthly inflation-adjusted returns of 10 stock indexes over the period from 1949 through 2004. Their findings indicate how the stock market performs during gridlock, partial gridlock and periods of governmental “harmony,” respectively.

This particular study by Jensen has generated media interest and media coverage worldwide during every election cycle since his study was published in 2006. Major media outlets referenced his work and continue to do so. Those media outlets range from the Wall Street Journal, the Dow Jones Capital Markets Report, Kiplinger’s Personal Finance Magazine, The Financial Times, International Herald Tribune, BloombergNews and Morningstar, among countless others.

Professor Jensen’s co-authors are Scott Beyer at the University of Wisconsin Oshkosh and Robert Johnson, managing director of the Chartered Financial Analysts Institute.