ROCKVILLE, Md. (MarketWatch) — Wall Street abounds with “Obamanomics” critics, and Main Street made clear its discontent with the president’s policies in the midterm elections last November.

But detractors of President Barack Obama should remember one thing — Wall Street has been booming under this president. Since Obama took office on Jan. 20, 2009, the Dow Jones Industrial Average DJIA, +1.67% is up about 48%, the S&P 500 Index SPX, +1.35% is up 60% and the tech-focused Nasdaq Composite Index COMP, +1.53% is up 90%.

Of course, it’s worth noting that there was plenty of room for improvement after the market meltdown before Obama took office. The broader stock market is only now struggling back to levels seen in the summer of 2008.

U.S. President Barack Obama speaks next to Chinese President Hu Jintao. Reuters

So is it just a trick of timing, with America buying into Obama at the bottom? Or has he actually helped investors and the economy in ways he doesn’t get credit for? Let’s take a look at the numbers across five crucial sectors touched by the president’s policies and see for ourselves.

Good for financials

Some folks may not remember the Troubled Asset Relief Program was actually signed into law a month before Election Day in 2008. Obama and his economic team have held watch over the financial sector and TARP over the past two years, but in many respects were playing with a hand they were dealt by the previous administration.

Obama's to-do list on China

So how has the group done? Well, from a shareholder perspective, they have done well by the financial sector. Bank of America Corp. BAC, +1.58% stock has doubled since Jan. 20, 2009, as has Goldman Sachs Group Inc. GS, +2.50% . Wells Fargo & Co. WFC, +1.82% is up even more, 138%, and J.P. Morgan Chase & Co. JPM, +1.31% is up 150%. Citigroup lags these, but its 83% gains almost double the returns for the Dow Jones — an index it was removed from amid the financial crisis.

It’s worth noting that some attribute recent strength in the sector to the blunting of the president’s power, however, as Republicans have taken control of the House. But regardless of intentions or politics, the fact is that bank stocks have had a market-beating run for the last two years — and after a rally in the sector to close 2010, it appears financials are looking to build on that momentum in 2011.

Mixed on health care

Health care is perhaps the only industry that “missed” the Great Recession. Though economic troubles in 2008 and 2009 slowed growth in health-care spending, the industry did continue to grow overall and become an even larger part of the American economic engine.

But as Obama pushed through his landmark health-care-reform bill, many fretted the move would monkey with a free-market health-care system that has seen big growth lately. That, and add crippling debt to an already fragile U.S. balance sheet.

So what’s the score with health care? Well big pharma has really been hurting — but that’s more the fault of expiring patents and generic competition than anything the president has done. Pfizer Inc. PFE, +1.20% , Merck & Co. MRK, +1.05% and other drug majors finished 2010 worse than they started and showed anemic growth in 2009. On the other side of the coin, the boom of some small-cap biotechs like Alexion Pharmaceuticals Inc. ALXN, +1.38% is driven by innovative treatments or Food and Drug Administration approvals rather than the guiding hand of the administration.

But as for insurers UnitedHealth Group UNH, +2.50% and WellPoint Inc. WLP, both have seen market-beating returns north of 71% since Obama took office and were on the front lines of Obama’s landmark health-care reform. Still it’s not a clear stamp of approval, since other major insurers Aetna Inc. AET and Aflac Inc. AFL, +1.31% have both underperformed the market slightly since 2009.

The takeaway? Just like Obama’s health-care policies overall, we’ll need some more time to figure things out. It’s a mixed bag right now for health-care stocks and success or failure seems to depend more on the company itself than politics. But at the very least, it appears Obama’s health reforms took the Hippocratic oath to heart by first doing no harm to the state of health-care stocks.

Great for gold and metals

No surprise here for any of you gold bugs, but the last two years have been quite good for precious metals. The Federal Reserve’s policy of easy money and big U.S. debt are weighing on the dollar, and the prospect of commodity inflation is rearing its ugly head. Coupled with investor appetite for hard assets and the budding stages of economic recovery boosting demand for industrial metals like copper and steel, it’s likely we haven’t seen the end of the rally in metals and mining.

At home, aluminum giant Alcoa Inc. AA, +1.79% has nearly doubled since the inauguration, and United States Steel Corp. X, +2.17% is up 85%. Among foreign heavyweights in the commodity space, Southern Copper Corp. SCCO, +1.32% is up 240%, and Brazil steel giant Companhia Siderurgica Nacion SID, +10.74% is up 180%.

And let’s not forget that gold as an investment itself is up about 60% since Obama took office, and silver is up almost 150%. Of course, whether or not your typical gold investor is a card-carrying Democrat or happy with the direction of the country is a separate conversation. From an investing point of view, these folks should be happy with the performance of their gold investments. Read five reason silver glitters more than gold on InvestorPlace.com.

Good for big oil

With gas prices creeping up on $4 a gallon again, it’s no surprise that big oil has enjoyed a nice run since Obama took office.

Strangely enough, the only laggard truly sitting out the party is Exxon Mobil Corp. XOM, +0.70% — tallying a less than 10% gain. ConocoPhillips COP, +1.35% , Hess Corp. HES, +1.53% , and Marathon Oil Corp. MRO, -0.84% are all up more than 60%, and oil service stocks Schlumberger Ltd SLB, +1.31% and Halliburton Co. HAL, +1.50% have both seen gains of nearly 150%.

And despite fears of off-shore drilling becoming off limits in the wake of the Deepwater Horizon spill in the Gulf, it appears the administration is softening language on the issue. But again, that probably has a lot to do with a change of leadership in the House and a need for a bipartisan bargaining chip. Read why $5 gas could be coming to pump near you on InvestorPlace.com.

Good for housing stocks

Depending on your local real-estate market, you may think that housing is still in a free fall. But judging by housing-related investments, it’s been a very good two years under Obama.

While there are some ramshackle stocks in the sector — like PulteGroup Inc. PHM, +2.16% that may never turn a profit again if the past several quarters are any indication — the broader swath of equities related to the housing market have rallied nicely. Take the diversified SPDR S&P Home builders ETF XHB, +1.67% , up about 75% since Obama took office. Or big builders Lennar Corp. LEN, +3.11% , up 130%, and D.R. Horton Inc. DHI, +1.87% , up more than 210% in the same period. Then there are suppliers like Home Depot Inc. HD, +2.23% , up 75% or USG Corp. USG, -1.07% , which has doubled in the period.

Many homeowners may be hurting and the Obama loan-workout program was largely unused by underwater homeowners and banks, but housing-related stocks certainly aren’t struggling. Read about the best stocks under $7 on InvestorPlace.com.

Can Obama claim credit for the boom?

In short, probably not. But it’s hard to argue that he hasn’t had a hand in Wall Street’s recovery. While some of the gains are indeed a trick of timing — Obama took up residence the White House less than two months before the market’s lowest point during the Great Recession — the president has managed to keep these five key sectors humming along even amid major policy changes. That indicates that he has done a decent job of balancing his agenda with a need to get the economy back on track, or at least not gumming up the works.

Detractors will contend that we should consider ourselves lucky Obama didn’t accomplish as much as he intended — a single-payer health-care system, for instance, or the prospect of a “Volcker rule” that would kill prop trading altogether. These actions could have upset the market and prevented any of the aforementioned gains. What’s more, perhaps the biggest reason for strength in the market lately has been the Republican seizure of power in the House just a few months ago.

But whether you think the market has been booming in spite of Obama’s leadership or because of it, the numbers show it has been a very good two years for investors of all stripes. Whether the next two years are as kind to Wall Street is a different story — and could have a lot to say about whether the president is granted a second term.