The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee is a musical comedy. In 2005, it was nominated for six Tony Awards and won two, including Best Book. The show centers on a fictional spelling bee set at the Putnam Valley Middle School. Six unusual and driven adolescents compete in the Bee, which three equally peculiar adults moderate.
In the summer of 2009, after graduating from high school at CVCA and heading off to Cornerstone University in Grand Rapids, Michigan, my son Shane was cast as William Barfée in a production of the show at the Solon Center for the Arts. It is one of my three favorite roles that I have ever seen him perform. When he is called to spell for the first time, we see his unusual practice—he spells the word on the ground with his foot to get a visual before spelling the word out loud. The first time Barfée is called, he is given the word Lugubrious, and we get to witness his technique known as the "Magic Foot". This is not a word familiar to most people, so I have included the spelling, the definition, and its use in a sentence below, just like you would in a real spelling bee.
Lugubrious
[loo-goo-bree-uhs] adjective
mournful, gloomy, or expressing sorrow, often to an exaggerated degree.
Examples of lugubrious in a sentence:
The movie's lugubrious tone left the audience feeling somber as they exited the theater.
His lugubrious expression suggested that he was still grieving over the loss of his beloved pet.
If you have never seen the 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee, a clip of the opening scene from the 2005 Tony Awards is included below. William Barfée and his magic foot come in at approximately 1:50 in the video. Following his successful spelling of the word lugubrious, he is followed by the reverend Al Sharpton. One of the show's running gags is that they pull several audience members to participate in the spelling bee every night.
Spelling Bee on the Tony Awards
Many people today feel the upcoming elections and our political landscape in general are also lugubrious… mournful, and gloomy, and they express sorrow about them. These feelings are aided and abetted by the 24-hour cable news and social media spin cycles. People are driven to watch, click, or like a barrage of negative and largely partisan headlines. This is mainly true no matter which side of the aisle you are on.
One of the questions the CFPs of Impel Wealth Management get regularly is, “What will happen to the stock market and the economy if______wins?” Today, I wanted to give you hope that regardless of the outcome of the upcoming elections, history shows us that you do not need to be so lugubrious about its impact on our future economic and investment landscape. As you can see from our first chart below, provided by Truist and Bloomberg, the black line represents the S&P 500 index, which has steadily risen as we look back to the presidential elections since World War II. This has been true whether Democrats or Republicans controlled the White House.
The Standard and Poor's 500, or simply the S&P 500, is a stock market index tracking the stock performance of 500 of the largest companies listed on stock exchanges in the United States.
The second thing I hear regularly is, “If_______wins, I'm pulling all of my money out of the market and moving to a foreign country.” Our second chart, courtesy of our friends at Morningstar and Charles Schwab, shows that this would not be a wise strategy if we look back at elections since 1961. You see, if you happened to lean to the right and leave your money only invested during times that Republicans were in control, $10,000 invested in the S&P 500 index would have grown to a little over $102,000. If you had leaned left and only invested when Democrats were in control, you would have done somewhat better over the last 60 years, as your $10,000 would have grown to a little over $500,000.
However, if you had the courage to stay fully invested throughout all 62 years, through the political and economic ups and downs, regardless of who was in the Oval Office at 1600 Pennsylvania Ave, your $10,000 would have grown to more than $5.1 M! As I have shared with you before, Presidents love to blame others when things are not going well with the economy or markets. They also love to take more than their fair share of credit when markets are doing well.
We like to remind clients that regardless of which party wins or controls the White House after November 5th, the CEOs and leadership teams of the 500 largest companies in the United States will still be directing their companies to innovate and create new products that consumers want to buy. The pharmaceutical companies will still make the medications you take every day. Consumer brands will continue to make your Raisin Bran, shave cream, and toilet paper. IT companies will continue investing money in faster and smarter phones and the next generation of AI. These have the potential to drive corporate profits and stock prices far more than the outcome of an election.
I trust this will give you a different perspective and allow you to be less lugubrious over the next couple of months. I thought this was an important message to share. As always, if you have questions about your or your family's unique financial situation, please do not hesitate to reach out to the Impel Wealth team. We are here for you as we continue “Moving Life Forward.”
© 2024 Jesse Hurst
Senior Wealth Manager
The views stated are not necessarily the opinion of Cetera and should not be construed directly or indirectly as an offer to buy or sell any securities mentioned herein. Due to volatility within the markets mentioned, opinions are subject to change without notice. Information is based on sources believed to be reliable; however, their accuracy or completeness cannot be guaranteed. Past performance does not guarantee future results.
Neither Cetera Advisors LLC nor any of its representatives may give legal or tax advice. This information is not intended as tax or legal advice. Please consult legal or tax professionals for specific information regarding your individual situation.
Investors cannot directly invest in indices.
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