Solid January Starts Not Rare, February Could Be Tepid
Bullish sentiment is running high and why not. A new decade has begun, January has been bucking the recent trend of volatile performance and the market is trading at or near all-time record highs. Big round numbers like 29000, 3300 and 9000 are also emotionally satisfying. Our Santa Claus Rally and First Five Days indicators were both positive and the market is well on its way to completing a historically bullish January Trifecta. A positive January Barometer is all that remains to complete the January Trifecta.
As of yesterday’s close DJIA was up 2.3% year-to-date. S&P 500 was up 2.79% and NASDAQ stood at 4.44%. Although these gains are above average, they are actually not all that uncommon by the thirteenth trading day of the New Year. Since 1901 (119 years), DJIA has been up 2.3% or more on the thirteenth trading day 33 times before this year. DJIA’s largest gain on the thirteenth trading day was 11.4% in 1976 (+17.9% for the full-year). S&P 500 has equaled or exceeded 2.79% on the thirteenth trading day 26 times since 1930 while NASDAQ has bested 4.44% 15 times since 1971. Depending on index, gains equal to or greater than this year come about approximately once every 3.3 to 3.6 years. 2012 was the last election year where all three indexes were up more on the thirteenth trading day than this year.
In the following Seasonal Patten Charts of DJIA, S&P 500 and NASDAQ, we compare 2020 (as of yesterday’s close) to All Years and Election Years. Here it is clear that the market has gotten off to a solid start with well above average gains so far. Throughout 2019, the market tracked its historical patterns quite closely which suggests some mean reversion could occur this February as the month has been historically tepid for DJIA and S&P 500.