SMALL INVESTORS MADE BIG GAINS IN BUSH'S TERM.(Business)

Byline: Money magazine

Unemployment may be high and the recession may linger, but Republicans can claim at least one solid economic achievement for President Bush's administration. Individual investors earned a better return under him than under any other president in the past 20 years, according to Money magazine's Small Investor Index.

Since Bush took office on Jan. 20, 1989, the typical small investor's portfolio has grown at an average annual rate of 10.5 percent. That edges out the 10.3 percent that individuals earned during Ronald Reagan's second term and easily outpaces the 9.6 percent of Reagan's first term, the 8.8 percent under Jimmy Carter and the …