No market indicator or theory works every time, but the four-year U.S. presidential election cycle is about as good as they come. In essence, it works like this: In the two years leading up to the U.S. presidential election year, the political party and individuals in office tend to work hard at making voters happy. That’s because happy voters tend to support the party in power and office-holders who are running for re-election. To keep the voters happy, the politicians tend to hold off on negative surprises as much as possible, and to spend government money freely. Consequently, the U.S. stock market, and the Canadian market to a lesser extent, tend to move sideways to upwards in the two years before a U.S. presidential election. In the two years after the U.S. presidential election, bills come due and unpleasant circumstances tend to come out into the open. The government tends to cut spending (or at least spend less lavishly) and raise taxes…