When the banks win, he wins.

Not only do platforms change in office, but officeholders' impact on individual markets and companies is marginal at best. Slate's Daniel Gross pointed out that the 2003 Medicare prescription drug benefit was seen as a future gravy train for large pharmaceutical companies. But the Amex pharmaceutical index underperformed the S&P 500 in subsequent years. Other company-specific, macroeconomic, and global factors matter far more than government policies.

Perhaps all those stock pickers, combing platforms and sensing the economic winds, are misguided. The Big Money decided to take a different approach. Why not look at the personal connection between President Obama and publicly traded companies? Don't look at his policies, look at what he wears, drinks, and symbolizes.

In other words: Which companies will bask in the reflected glory of the Obama cultural zeitgeist? After all, the Obamas represent more than a mere shift in government; they represent a cultural and generational shift as well. Who's to say, for example, that BlackBerry manufacturer Research in Motion won't benefit from Obama's iconic use of the device as much as Caterpillar will benefit from building shovel-ready infrastructure projects?

So, starting with the opening bell on Inauguration Day morning, The Big Money invested imaginary money in eight Obama-trend-surfing companies. We tracked that portfolio's performance against the market as a whole and against a more traditional Obama "policy-oriented" portfolio. Our yardstick and competitor: Jim Cramer of CNBC's Mad Money, who once asked Barack Obama to make him a sort of czar czar to cure all of America's ails. In November, Cramer recommended his own Obama portfolio of 13 companies ready to benefit from the new administration's policies and the climate the administration is creating. His favorites included John Deere (DE) (to benefit from new infrastructure programs), JPMorgan Chase (JPM) (best positioned in the troubled banking sector), and Wal-Mart (WMT) (as consumers flock to cheap, trusted products during a recession; see the bottom this piece for the Cramer portfolio).

The Big Money's portfolio includes some iconic brands. We know the Obamas are Target (TGT) fans; and first lady Obama chose Target fan Michael S. Smith as the official White House redecorator. She also famously touted J. Crew (JCG) on NBC's The Tonight Showduring the campaign. In anticipation of consumers picking up gear to play basketball just like Barack, we've added Nike (NKE), in whose sweats the president has been photographed. There's also Town Sports International (CLUB), known under the brand name Washington Sports Clubs, as well as similar outlets in Boston, Philadelphia, and New York. Obama has been known to frequent this company's gyms, and his focus on physical fitness could inspire other Americans with looser schedules. And to complement Research in Motion (RIMM), we've got Apple (AAPL), producer of the iPod, Obama's favored music-on-the-go device.

We've also got a few companies that tap more generally into the Obama phenomenon, even if Obama doesn't necessarily use the product in question. Obama made travel back to the 50^th state cool and might even induce a few other customers to make the trip, so we added Hawaiian Airlines (HA) to our portfolio. We haven't seen Obama quaff any Pepsi (PEP) (his drink of choice is reportedly privately held Honest Tea), although he wasdrinking Pepsi's Aquafina branded water during the primary debates. And like Pepsi, you could argue that Obama represents the choice of a new generation.