"No man's life, liberty, or property are safe while the legislature is in session."

That old saying has been attributed to Mark Twain, Gideon J. Tucker, and probably others. Whoever said it first, it still holds true today. Here's an excerpt from a commentary, by Amity Shales, that I heard on Marketplace last Friday:

They call it the Congressional Effect: the fact that Wall Street does better in periods like August, when Congress is on holiday. And not just somewhat better.

Nearly all the gains in the Dow over a century have come when Congress was on holiday. That's what two scholars, Michael Ferguson and H.D. Witte, recently demonstrated. The S&P 500 also shows a strong correlation between Congressional breaks and gains.

The market fears Congress and so tends to keep its head down when Congress is sitting.

You can read or listen to Ms. Shales' entire commentary here.