Markets are extremely quiet this morning following Wednesday’s fireworks.  There’s still been a number of big earnings reports from the likes of Qualcomm (QCOM), News Corp (NWSA), and Square (SQ) to name a few.  Jobless claims came in at 214K, which was right around expectations of 213K.  At 2 PM we will hear from the FOMC where traders are hoping that the statement will imply a slightly less hawkish tone.

Also, we just released the latest episode of our Bespokecast featuring Patrick Wyman, who hosts the popular podcast Tides of History.  Make sure to check it out.  It’s a bit different from some of our prior episodes, but you’ll definitely like it!

Bespokecast Episode 27 featuring Patrick Wyman

With all the talk about market performance around and after midterm election years, we wanted to provide a quick comparison of the S&P 500’s quarterly performance during the first two years of President Trump’s tenure to the media quarterly returns of the S&P 500 during the first two years of the four-year Presidential cycle. Looking at the chart, while there have been a number of quarters where returns have been similar under Trump to the historical norm, as one might expect, there have also been some wide disparities.  This quarter, for example, the S&P 500 is down 3.5% in a quarter where it has historically rallied 7.9%

Start a two-week free trial to Bespoke Premium to see today’s full Morning Lineup report. You’ll receive it in your inbox each morning an hour before the open to get your trading day started.