(CNSNews.com) – President Barack Obama’s first five weeks in office have been marked by sharp declines in U.S. stock markets, as the economy has continued to decline despite numerous legislative proposals from Congress and the administration aimed at stabilizing it.

Since Jan. 20, the nation’s largest stock market, the New York Stock Exchange’s Composite Index has declined steadily, losing 441 points, or $895 billion in value. The country’s second largest market, the NASDAQ, has also declined since Obama was sworn in, falling from 1,440 to 1,321 points, a 119 point drop.

In fact, Obama’s rise has seemed to accompany the economy’s fall, with the NYSE index dropping by 3,732 points since his nomination on Aug. 27, 2008 to Feb. 27, 2009 -- the last day for which official statistics are available – for a loss of $7.7 trillion dollars. 

The NYSE Composite Index lost 2,004 points – for a loss of $4 trillion – from Obama’s nomination to his election Nov. 4 and lost 1,287 points – $2.6 trillion in value – from his election until his inauguration on Jan. 20.

The markets have been trending downwards since Obama’s inauguration as well.

In what might have been a moment of hope, the markets rose slightly in the week following Obama’s inaugural, but then fell again as details of his stimulus spending plan were revealed. On Jan. 28, the day Obama announced his hopes to sign a stimulus bill, the market fell 200 points.

On Feb. 9, the president made two campaign-style stops in South Bend and Elkhart, Ind. Obama made the case for government stimulus in his first national news conference, saying that only government could save the economy.

“It is only government that can break the vicious cycle, where lost jobs lead to people spending less money, which leads to even more layoffs. And breaking that cycle is exactly what the plan that's moving through Congress is designed to do,” Obama declared.

The following day, the NYSE lost 210 and the NASDAQ lost 51 points, with the NYSE shedding $400 billion the next day.

In fact, the market has lost over $1 trillion in February alone, as Obama’s agenda has dominated news cycles as the president signed the stimulus bill and then rolled out new bank and mortgage bailout plans along with his record $3.6 trillion budget last Thursday, which sent the market into a 379 point dive in three days.

Despite all of Obama’s efforts at stabilization, the markets hit record lows earlier this week, declining to levels not seen since the summer of 1997, having lost over $9 trillion since this time last year.

The major markets have all seen huge declines so far this year as the economy searches for a bottom amid the tsunami of new government spending. The NYSE has lost 33 percent of its value this year. The NASDAQ has shed 41 percent of its value this year. Both exchanges continue to decline, essentially guaranteeing that this recession will wipe out the steady growth of the past 11 years. 

Obama, however, has said he is unconcerned with what he called the daily market fluctuations, saying during a Tuesday conference with British Prime Minister Gordon Brown that he was more concerned with the markets’ long term performance.
 
“What I’m looking at is not the day-to-day gyrations in the stock market but the long-term ability for the United States and the entire world economy to regain its footing,” Obama explained.
 
“The stock market is sort of like a tracking poll in politics, it bobs up and down, day-to-day, and if you spend all of your time worrying about that, you’re probably going to get long-term policy,” he added.