Options allow you to put less dollars at risk, but offer you returns that are a multiple of the comparable return on the underlying equity.

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Interestingly, while majority parties in both the house of Representatives and the Senate didn't seem to have much impact on equity market returns, on average, the party affiliation of the President did: the mean return of the stock market during years with a Democratic president averaged 15.1%, while with Republican presidents, it averaged only 8.6%.

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