Here are some tidbits from the 2006 “Stock Trader’s Almanac”
that may be of interest to you stock jocks out there.
Performance: Days of the Week
[Using S&P 500…% of time market finished higher than
previous day]
June 1952 – December 1989
Monday – 44.3
Tuesday – 51.6
Wednesday – 57.0
Thursday – 52.9
Friday – 57.9
But then there was a reversal.
January 1990 – July 2, 2005
Monday – 55.3
Tuesday – 50.4
Wednesday – 53.1
Thursday – 50.5
Friday – 52.9
The Best and Worst Hours
Looking at the performance of the Dow Jones from Jan. 1987
thru July 1, 2005:
The best hour is 3:00-4:00 PM
The worst hour is 2:00-3:00 PM
Nasdaq
There is a distinctive pattern for this index, which first came out
Feb. 5, 1971.
Wednesday thru Friday has historically been superior to Monday
and Tuesday.
For example:
Nasdaq…1971-1989
Monday – 41.1
Tuesday – 51.1
Wednesday – 62.7
Thursday – 64.2
Friday – 67.3
1990 – July 1, 2005
Monday – 52.8
Tuesday – 52.5
Wednesday – 57.6
Thursday – 55.2
Friday – 55.2
—
Best Point Gains – Dow Jones, since 1901
3/16/2000…DJIA close: 10630… +499
7/24/2002….8191… +488
7/29/2002….8711… +447
4/5/2001……9918… +402
4/18/2001…10615… +399
*Best percentage gain…10/21/1987… +186, 10.1% (two days
after the Crash), since 1950. [There were four days during the
period 1929 – 1933 with gains of 11.4% to 15.3%.]
Worst Point Losses – Dow Jones, since 1901
9/17/2001…DJIA close: 8920… -684
4/14/2000…10305… -617
10/27/1997…7161… -554
8/31/1998…..7539… -512
10/19/1987…1738… -508
*Worst percentage loss…10/19/1987… -508, -22.6% [The
Crash, and it’s not even close. Next worst day was an 8.0% loss
a week later, 10/26/1987, since 1950. During the 1929 Crash,
there were three days with losses of 9.9% to 12.8%, 10/28/29 –
11/6/29.]
Best Point Gains – Nasdaq, since 1971
1/3/2001…Nasdaq close: 2616… +324
12/5/2000….2889… +274
4/18/2000….3793… +254
5/30/2000….3459… +254
10/19/2000…3418… +247
*Best percentage gain…1/3/2001… 14.2%
Worst Point Losses – Nasdaq
4/14/2000…Nasdaq close: 3321… -355
4/3/2000…..4223… -349
4/12/2000…3769… -286
4/10/2000…4188… -258
1/4/2000…..3901… -229
Worst percentage loss…10/19/1987… -46, 11.4%
Wall Street History returns next week.
Brian Trumbore
